Air Dam falling off at highway speeds, 89 miles on odometer

[MikeSmot]

Kind of hate/love with it off. Made an appointment at the dealer on Monday the 21st, sent them the photos, I’ll keep this thread updated

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[DSGTSD]

I am interested in the breaking point. Is it at the point the bracket is screwed in and maybe caused by over torquing the screw or was it the bracket failing due to stress?

I would definitely take to the dealer.

I was planning on keeping mine on. I am in the minority not doing off-road or travelling in crazy deep snow.

The dealer I went to has never heard of this problem. I showed them this forum but I am guessing everyone will need to report it to their Toyota for an official bulletin to be generated. As of now my case is a “one off” at this current dealer. They sent it up the chain on their end and I’ll report back the final decision in a few days.

 

[DSGTSD]

Kind of hate/love with it off. Made an appointment at the dealer on Monday the 21st, sent them the photos, I’ll keep this thread updated

The dealer I went to has never heard of this problem. I showed them this forum but I am guessing everyone will need to report it to their Toyota for an official bulletin to be generated. As of now my case is a “one off” at this current dealer. They sent it up the chain on their end and I’ll report back the final decision in a few days.

 

[MikeSmot]

The dealer I went to has never heard of this problem. I showed them this forum but I am guessing everyone will need to report it to their Toyota for an official bulletin to be generated. As of now my case is a “one off” at this current dealer. They sent it up the chain on their end and I’ll report back the final decision in a few days.

I had spoke to the service manager when I made my appointment, he pretty much said the same thing, that it’s the “first report so far”. He said I have to do the protocol which is bring it in for them to make a report to Toyota, and probably then Toyota will decide if it’s gonna be a warranty fix or not. Hopefully it’s in our favor! Keep me updated if you get a reply, I won’t be bringing mine in until Monday the 21st

 

[Hacksaw]

...Toyota will decide if it’s gonna be a warranty fix or not.

If the vehicle is still completely stock, I can't imagine them denying a warranty fix. But it may take a long time since they probably need to also revisit their assembly process and add an extra step to check torque at final inspection, and possibly start using a different fastener.

 

[dc503]

Perhaps I should have, but I didn't want to bother my purchasing dealer or wait for service, so I went ahead and stopped by my closest dealer and purchased the oem bolt/washer(s) since it was just down the street. For anyone that cares, they gave me P/N 90159-60603 for a whopping $1.52 per bolt and they are exact. Whether I run with or without it on, I wanted to be able to keep the holes covered or have the h/w together.

 

[DSGTSD]

Toyota is replacing my damaged air dam, not sure if they’ll make it a service bulletin for all new models.

 

[Vincenzo]

It’s flimsy as 5hit. The entire front fascia it’s attached to moves as well when you apply the least amount of pressure. Like noted before. This piece will see a lot of pressure at speed.

 

[ToyoX3]

There are a couple different threads open on this very topic. I had the same thing happen to my new 4R6G, too.

Here is an image of the bag that contained four screws that I got from my Toyota dealership’s parts department to reattach my front air dam/ valance.

 

[Maxine_Offroad]

I had something similar happen to me. The night I got the vehicle from the dealership, I noticed a screw laying in front of my tire and thought it was odd. I did so looking and noticed it was the far left screw that fell out of the air dam. I put it back by hand and left it. The next day, while out driving, the same screw, plus 3 more fell out causing the air dam to come down far enough that at speed, it was being pushed back into the tires and rubbed. Thankfully, I was across the street from my local dealership and was able to get a screwdriver from a sales rep, and I took the remain screws out and took the air dam off the vehicle. I contacted the dealership from which I purchased the vehicle at the time, and they told me to call a tow truck since I had Toyota Care.

I will be making an appointment with my local dealer to get a new air dam, but I think I will be keeping it off the vehicle, as I think it looks better.

 

[jdhume]

Checked all bolts / verified tight before a 150 mile drive. At the end, one of the driver side bolts was about two full turns loose. Proves that the bolts are coming loose during driving and not just missing or loose from the factory or transport.

 

[brumey]

Tight meaning what torque? Its relevant.

Bolt or screw? I think its a screw into a plastic base.

Were screws over tightened and stripped the plastic base? If so, they will continue to fall out. This also leads to the fix options. Thread locker may not work. A good glue might.

Toyota need to step up on this.

I am checking mine before and after every trip. I should not have to do that. I will spend time to look at options to correctly secure in a few weeks.

 

[LLL1990]

Toyota is probably saying, "why are they leaving them on?". We put the stupid thing there to satisfy the government regulations and intended for everybody to take it off as soon as they got home.

It's just a joke, don't come after me.

 

[jdhume]

Tight meaning what torque? Its relevant.

Bolt or screw? I think its a screw into a plastic base.

Were screws over tightened and stripped the plastic base? If so, they will continue to fall out. This also leads to the fix options. Thread locker may not work. A good glue might.

Toyota need to step up on this.

I am checking mine before and after every trip. I should not have to do that. I will spend time to look at options to correctly secure in a few weeks.

You’re right - technically a screw. I didn’t torque them (any idea what is spec?) but made sure they were good and hand tight with a screwdriver. Definitely not stripped, but I worry about this if they will need constant retightening.

I’ll report it to the dealer on Monday - they already replaced one missing screw a few weeks ago, so hopefully they can at least document a second occurrence. I’ll ask about torque spec too.

 

[brumey]

Good luck. I know going to the dealer is a pain.

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