ATT TRD OWNERS!

[Adamsy]

Hey lads,

Just thought I’d give you guys a bit of a heads up.

No biggie Toyota is just fixing an issue i know all of you have had dramas with and go frustrated with.

They have come up with a fix for how awkward and difficult the centre wheel cap ornaments are to get off the 19in wheels on the car which we all know often ends in damage so there's a fix for that (has new design rings and a special tool to get them off with) and also TRD all 623 of them are now included in the VVT-i oil hose campaign of course it's a different part because the TRD setup is slightly different (90445-8Y002) so expect a letter in the near future but as we know from N/A 2GR's this is a no biggie fix so don’t stress when you get the letter.

Cheers

[Djs]

Hey Adamsy,

Thanks for the good news! When you say "new design rings" do you mean there is a whole new cap ornament that is available for purchase? I will need to get new ones for mine... recently took them off (for the first time) only to discover half the tabs broken off and they had been put back on with dabs of a thick black bitumen type sealant (looks like some type of gasket goo or something). Now the only people that have ever taken them off (to rotate wheels etc) is the Toyota dealership. But its my word against theirs - I can't prove a thing and they definately won't admit it... so hopefully they are not to expensive.

[TRD 269]

Hey Adamsy,

Thanks for the good news! When you say "new design rings" do you mean there is a whole new cap ornament that is available for purchase? I will need to get new ones for mine... recently took them off (for the first time) only to discover half the tabs broken off and they had been put back on with dabs of a thick black bitumen type sealant (looks like some type of gasket goo or something). Now the only people that have ever taken them off (to rotate wheels etc) is the Toyota dealership. But its my word against theirs - I can't prove a thing and they definately won't admit it... so hopefully they are not to expensive.

Mine are starting to get a little on the crappy side as well, cracks in the paint from trying to pry them off and damaged tabs that dont hold the cap in position anymore. 3 out of four of mine spin around and gives me the ****s looking at them not in the correct spot.

so im with you Djs, i hope they arnt too expensive like the 90k service of around $900-$1000.

Edited June 12, 2011 by TRD 269

[SASO1]

I put silycone on mine otherwise, the'll fall off.

[DJKOR]

I've never had issues removing the caps. Just grip the cap with the palm of your hand and twist it until gaps are formed where you can insert a plastic tool. I use the nozzle from a caulking tube. Once you insert it into three points, the cap usually pops off.

The spring steel does lose it's tension after A fair few removals though, but I've found that you can get the tension back in them by removing them and trying to straighten them if you get what I mean.

[TRD 269]

I've never had issues removing the caps. Just grip the cap with the palm of your hand and twist it until gaps are formed where you can insert a plastic tool. I use the nozzle from a caulking tube. Once you insert it into three points, the cap usually pops off.

The spring steel does lose it's tension after A fair few removals though, but I've found that you can get the tension back in them by removing them and trying to straighten them if you get what I mean.

Spring steel, what spring steel?? Mine doesnt have spring steel.

[TRD 269]

I put silycone on mine otherwise, the'll fall off.

I did stick chewing gum in the little slot a while back to stop them from spinning arround, then one day i noticed something that looked like chewy down the side of the car so i quickly removed all chewy from the wheels which wasn't easy.

[Djs]

Yes there is a steel ring/circle (with a break) that slips on around the outer side of the tabs. I should take a pic for you. Because I have a couple tabs broken on most of mine the steel ring is the only thing that really keeps them on the wheel because the next nearest tab manages to still put enough outward pressure on the spring to keep them in place (if that makes sense!).

Makes you wonder what the hell goes on with our wheels when they are in the shop.

[DJKOR]

Makes you wonder what the hell goes on with our wheels when they are in the shop.

Whenever my TRD goes in to a tire shop etc, I always remove the wheel caps first. Got that bit of advice from David (SupaTouring) after he had a service department scratch up his wheels.

[Adamsy]

Hi guys,

Sorry for the late reply BIG WEEKEND!! lol

Ok there not actually replacing the entire centre ornament just made a "tech" change as to how the retainer rings (which TRD269 you appear to be missing for some reason :-/) and how they sit in/on the ornament. the change is design to hold them better in place so they don’t spin around but also easier to remove for serving, they are also supplying a blue special tool to help remove them so people please put down your screwdrivers DEALERS INCLUDED lol and yes DJ has the right approach to taking them off and once you have made a gap they you will simply use the tool to prize them off.

DJS - yep sounds like they’ve used some Toyota Black to glue them back on... my dealer has damaged one getting it off thankfully they had the actually alloy covered so it only scratched the ornament but we also found some marks on another two which we didn’t know if we had done or not and the customer also didn’t know so we just replaced three of them to be done with it.

But yeah if you have had problems with your tyre store or dealership it might not be such a bad idea to take the ornaments off at home first just them if they do get scratched you can hate on yourself not the store lol

[Djs]

Hey guys,

Well had mine in today again to fix the Check VSC lights on the dash and they did the VVTi oil hose replacement. Didn't get any letter and I didn't even ask for it to be done so thats good I guess!

Got them to look at the wheel ornamanents and they were aware of the fix but it could not be done to mine. They still need to call me to explain what happened with them but they are putting in an "out of warranty" request to Toyota to probably get them replaced... will let you know what the deal is.

[MJC777]

I've had 3 already replaced by a tyre shop who cracked them after I cracked the 4th trying to replace a flat. I'm now waiting for Castle Hill Toyota to get 4 new ones in as they stuffed all 4 doing a wheel balance and puncture repair. Bad news is about $95 each......

The really annoying thing is "they've" damaged the alloys removing the @&$!ing things in the first place....at least I've had success getting them replaced. I'd hate to have to pay for it myself when it's obviously a defect.

[Djs]

Update... Well as my wheel ornaments could not get the fix done to them (which is to cut off some of the tabs and install a modified ring) the dealer put in a claim to Toyota and they replaced all four of them at no charge. Another happy customer (almost) :)

[JaSeNoFaCe]

I got mine replaced a few weeks back, all 4 were broken and all replaced for free, they all so did the VVTi oil line as well. Happy days.