Downey Off-Road

Above is a picture of what is left of the springs. The hole in the center is where the spring centering bolt goes. The left end of the upper spring is missing completely. Both ends of the lower spring are missing completely. On the upper spring is a plainly visible crack going partially through the right side.

Since I have added a bit of weight to the rear of my Toyota Tacoma (Stout Equipment Bumper, shell, carpet kit, and lotsa junk inside) I decided I needed stiffer and/or higher rear springs. I contacted Downey Off Road who had a 2 inch lift add-a-leaf. It featured ends with some kind of plastic pads designed to rest against the OEM (Toyota) springs, and not make any noise where it touched. It seemed like a good idea, and I ordered it. When I looked through the installation instructions, I decided to have professionals install them. It seemed to me that the springs were too long. I called Downey Off-Road and they said they were designed to fit OEM springs. They said if I returned the springs that I would have to pay to ship them back as well as the shipping I already paid to get the springs. I didn't want to pay about $20 to ship them back. (A friend said I could have called my credit card company, refusing the charges, claiming they were the wrong part and make Downey pay to get them back. I suppose I could have done that, and in retrospect I should have, but I just wanted them in the truck and thought I may have been mistaken about the measurement.)

I decided to take them to my local suspension mechanic. They told me the add-a-leafs were too long to fit on my OEM springs, because they were longer than the spring clips on the OEM springs. They suggested cutting down the Downey springs. This would eliminate the plastic pad, but there was no other way it would fit. Just as I thought.

Above is a picture of the end of the spring after being cut. The hole is where the plastic pad is supposed to attach to the leaf.

Well, they were installed, and did make the truck stiffer. It also raised the height. There wasn't any noticeable noise. So I thought everything was good. I called Downey and told them that I was correct, their leafs were too long to fit.

Time passed. Recently I noticed my truck was riding very oddly. When I hit bumps on the freeway going fast, my truck would wiggle from side to side quite a bit. I looked down at the suspension and noticed my rear anti-roll bar end link was broken on one end (not OEM part, since there is no OEM anti-roll bar). I decided to replace my Bilstein shocks with my old OEM shocks. It helped a bit, but there was still too much wiggling. I drove to a friend's place for another set of eyes. He noticed my springs were broken. I said no way. He said yes. Upon further examination, the rear section of the Downey leaf had a massive crack running across it. The front section of the Downey leaf was cracked through and completely missing. The other leaf was cracked through on both sides and missing.

Above is a picture of the ends of the spring where they are broken through completely.

Since the very center of the leaf was present, there was a space roughly 3/8 inches thick raising the OEM spring above the OEM overload leaf. This made the suspension very soft in the rear, as the OEM spring should contact the OEM overload leaf. It was also about 2 inches higher on the side that still had part of the Downey leaf. We took everything apart, and removed the remaining Downey leaf. The car is not as high, but rides as well as it did when new.

I have never heard of a leaf spring breaking unless there was extraordinary events, like a massive crash, a huge fall, or the like. Since the OEM springs are undamaged, I suspect the problem is bad metallurgy or bad heat treating of the spring. Springs are highly stressed suspension members. They can sag a bit during their lifetime, but they should never catastrophically fail.

I will fix the anti-roll bar end link this week. I contacted Downey. They said sometimes leaf springs just break, but they will have their tech guy take a look at these pictures. I would be happy if they refunded me my money (including shipping).

Well, I got a reply from Downey Off-Road.
They said:
"NO WARRANTY

Downey DOES NOT offer a money back satisfaction guarantee. Downey is in the "hard core" off road business. When you modify your vehicle, you are the designer and final manufacturer of the vehicle and we assume you understand what you are ordering.

Downey's official warranty is limited to pre-installation! Downey accepts no responsibility for question installations, negligent driving and / or unpredictable off road terrain.
Thank you,

Downey Off Road Mfg."

Eibach offers a 'Million Mike Warranty' on their springs and anti-roll bars for truck, SUV, and performance car products. All aftermarket shocks that I know of, including Koni, KYB, Bilstein, Gabriel, and others offer lifetime warranties on their shocks. So Downey's lack of warranty is a bit surprising to me. It is clear that their warranty is lacking, so one must wonder about the quality of their products.

Edelbrock Headers, take two

Well, I was doing some minor 4wheeling at Silver Canyon in Bishop CA. The road goes up 6000 feet in 6 miles, which means an average slope of 20%. Of course there are parts that are much steeper. So I was going a bit slowly while the engine was putting out a bit of power. My clutch got very soft (went to the floor with very little resistance) a few times. After letting the car cool down, the clutch got better. I noticed the clutch hydraulic fluid was a bit low...

When I got home, I realized that the Edelbrock drivers side header got quite close to the clutch line and slave cylinder. The factory exhaust goes over the top of the transmission, while the Edelbrock header goes below the transmission. No doubt it is easier to route the pipe below the transmission, but it reduces ground clearance, and as it turns out, can cook the hydraulic clutch line.

Edelbrock no longer makes the headers. I checked and the companies that still make headers all route the header over the transmission, to preserve ground clearance and keep the clutch from cooking. I am sure it is a bit of work to get the exhaust over the top of the trans due to clearance limitations.

So what was I to do? I looked to see if I could insulate the header. There is a small amount of room. I probably should buy some heat insulation, but it is pretty cramped. What I did was to replace the hydraulic clutch fluid. It turns out that it is simple DOT-3 brake fluid. As fluid gets old and absorbed water, the boiling point goes down quite a bit. I bought some Valvoline synthetic brake fluid (not silicone based) that is rated DOT-4, but is has 5 degrees lower boiling point than DOT-5.1 brake fluid. (DOT-5.1 has the same boiling point as DOT-5, but uses non silicone based fluid). With a friends help, I bled the clutch. The fluid that came out was pretty dark. After a while, the fluid came out clear.

Hopefully the higher temperature and newer clutch fluid will prevent the clutch fluid from boiling. I think if I replace it every few years I won't have any boiling problems. This raises yet another question about the quality of Edelbrock engineering. They should have realized that the header was too close to the clutch. They didn't make any mention of it. Along with the problems below, one must question buying Edelbrock products.

Edelbrock Headers

I decided I needed some headers for my 1997 Toyota Tacoma 4wd with a V6. After all, the stock exhaust was nasty looking, and everyone knows that headers help power. So I ordered the Edelbrock headers, since the TRD headers were always a few months away from production (they are supposed to be available now). The Edelbrock headers are also stainless steel, which is very durable.

For those of you that don't know about Edelbrock, they are one of the first and largest makers of performance parts for cars. They started making intake manifolds and now make a wide variety of car performance parts.

So I bought the headers from Summit Racing, one of the largest mail order parts suppliers. I got the headers, and decided to have a muffler shop install them. They followed the directions, and after a few hours of their sweating, I had my headers installed.

Everything went fine for 8 months with no problems, except weird exhaust noises. Everyone with the headers hears weird noises. Its probably the exhaust gas bouncing around in the stainless steel tubing.

I was at a stop light. When it turned green, I pushed down on the clutch to get going, and a large cloud of smoke came out from under the hood on the drivers side. The car stalled, and the clutch pedal was stuck on the floor. I had it towed to the Toyota dealer, thinking it was a Toyota problem. It turned out that the clutch hydraulic line was run under the header, and had wore/melted through. Time for a new clutch line. When I was looking under the truck, I saw that the parking brake line was also melting at the end. But how could this be?

The clever mechanic at Joe McPherson re-routed the clutch line around the top of the header tube, rather than under it. But I was determined to find out exactly what had gone wrong. I drove straight to Edelbrock, and they took a look at it. They said that I had screwed up, and not followed their clear instructions that said to re-route the clutch cable above the header, and to move the parking brake cable further from the header. They were kind enough to give me a copy of the instructions, as well as to fix my car to be right.

Now although I didn't install the headers myself, I do remember reading the instructions very carefully. And they didn't look like the ones that Edelbrock had given me. It turns out that I bought my headers on 5/11/98. The instructions I got were dated 3/97. They are the evil instructions. The good instructions are dated 9/97. I have no idea why I was shipped headers with instructions that were so old, when the new instructions had been out for 8 months.

Now the old instructions don't say anything about re-routing the clutch line, nor do they say anything about re-routing the parking brake. Now the parking brake is a minor annoyance, but the clutch line failing can have very bad consequences, especially if one is out four-wheeling. I didn't see any mention on Edelbrock's web page about this possible safety problem. Now I think that the muffler shop that installed the headers are partially to blame. They should have noticed that the clutch line was touching the exhaust system, and they could have re-routed the clutch line. But they did follow the instructions that they got. So I am now out $300 to have the clutch line fixed, the towing, and the rental car for three days. Summit said they were sorry, and they would give me 10% off on my next order... Like I'm going to order $3,000 worth of parts...

Perhaps this is an isolated incident with Edelbrock, and they really are good guys. They said they were sorry, and they *did* fix my Tacoma after I spent $300 of my own money, and got stuck in gods-country. But they wanted to do what they could. I said I would like a discount on their new, sexy high-performance shocks for my Tacoma. Well, it turns out that they don't make shocks for the 4wd version, since the front shocks are pretty weird. So I asked if I could get an exhaust system for my Tacoma. They said they were sorry, but they were discontinued, and they had sold all they had.

Edelbrock Exhaust

Now if you look at Edelbrock's web page, specifically Import Car Exhaust, as of Jun-18-1999, they still list #5629, which is a cat-back exhaust system for the 95-96 Tacoma. They said they hadn't updated their web page, and they were really gone. Well, after some more checking they found that although their computer insisted that they were all sold, there were a bunch of them sitting in their warehouse.

They weren't sure it would fit my 97 Xtra cab, but I decided to take a chance. I asked them to send me the exhaust. After waiting for over 2 weeks, and not getting the exhaust, I decided to call. Well, they didn't ship the exhaust, because their computer knew they didn't have any left. They promised to ship me the exhaust right away.

So now everything must be right, huh?

No such luck. I got the system, and started to bolt it into my Tacoma. After a bit of knuckle-bashing, I carefully looked over the instructions and the parts. I noticed that I needed a 2.5" exhaust clamp. The bolts on the clamp are metric, and I figure it may be hard to find in an auto parts shop. But they included, on a shrink wrap piece of cardboard an exhaust clamp, two metric studs, and a gasket. The problem was the exhaust clamp was a 3.25" clamp. So it looks like they may have included the wrong clamp on more than just my exhaust.

So I called them, and they were kind enough to send out a 2.5" clamp, like the instructions called for. I got the clamp, and installed the exhaust system this evening. When it was time to install the 2.5" clamp, I noticed that it was a bit smaller than the other 2.5" clamp that they provided. Upon further examination, I noticed a marking stamped into the clamp saying 2 1/4, which I surmised means 2.25". So the clamp they sent me was the wrong one (again).

Well, its Friday night, and I won't be able to contact them until Monday. I sure hope that not too much exhaust gas will leak out in the meantime.

I got the correct exhaust clamp. I bolted together the system. They never said that it would work on a 1997 Tacoma, and for good reason. The exhaust is roughly 4 inches too short. After much violence, I have dealt with that problem.

The mounts to hold the exhaust system in place are not as secure as the OEM mounts. The OEM mounts are steel rod about 3/8" thick or so, with a flared end to prevent it from pulling out. Edelbrock knew about it, because the end of the exhaust has the correct mount. The mount used to hold the muffler on has the correct 2 rods, at the correct distance between them, however there are no flares at the ends of the rod. I sure hope it doesn't fall out.

I finally ended up getting the muffler welded to the exhaust pipe before and after the muffler. This stopped the pipe from getting lose and rattling.

Each incident taken alone can be considered to be a minor problem. When so many incidents happen in a small amount of time, I fear it is a pattern, and not a pretty pattern at that. I used to consider Edelbrock to be first rate. I fear this is no longer the case.

Hellwig anti-roll bar

My 1997 Toyota Tacoma is a nice truck, but it has a very soft suspension. It comes with a front anti-roll bar, but no rear anti-roll bar. When I bought it, only one company made anti-roll bars for it, Hellwig Suspension Accessories. I bought their rear anti-roll bar. It wasn't very difficult to install. It might cut down a bit on ground clearance around the rear axle. I have seen drawings of Addco's rear bar, and it looks like it would have less ground clearance problems, but likely requires drilling holes in the frame. The Hellwig bar has two sets of big U-bolts that go around the axle and secure the anti-roll bar. The bar attaches to end-links. The other end of the end-links attach to clamps that attach to the truck frame.

I have had the end-link clamps loosen up. I have tightend them down and it hasn't happened again. When I got my Downey add-a-leaf spring installed, the installers managed to damage the end-links. They broke shortly thereafter. I called Hellwig, and they sent me new end-links. No cost, no proof of purchase, just on my word. Years pass. The Downey add-a-leaf spring broke and I removed what was left of it. One of the end-links was broken, no doubt as a result of the Downey add-a-leaf spring breaking. The other one wasn't in good shape. I called Hellwig, and they are sending me new end-links. I plan on fabricating a quick release end-link to increase rear end articulation when driving off road. I will include a description and pictures when it is done.

Hellwig has great customer support, something companies like Downey need to learn from.

Quaker State Oil Filters

I have a 1997 Toyota Tacoma 4wd with a V6. Getting to the oil filter is a bit of a pain. You can remove a bunch of skid plates, and skin your knuckles, or you can use a 'cap wrench' for the oil filter. With the cap wrench, you can access the filter from above the motor, and remove or install it. I bought a cap wrench that fits a Fran 3614 oil filter, which is what my Tacoma uses. It turns out that the exact size of oil filters, as well as the cap flats are not standardized. Yesterday, I bought 4 Quaker State Safe-T-Screen Oil Filters , and I changed my oil and filter this morning. Imagine my surprise when I couldn't tighten it, because the can was a bit smaller than the Fran, and so my cap wrench was much too big for the filter. I called them up, and they said they make about 5 different sizes filters, and that can was just a bit smaller than the other 3614 cans made by different manufacturers. They also said they make the US version of the Toyota filters. Well, thats nice, but I had assumed that the size 3614 denoted a filter that both worked mechanically to filter oil, as well as the outside package dimensions. So now I have 4 cans, one of which is slimed with oil. Looks like I will need another can wrench or something...

It turns out that this is a very popular filter size. My Shelby CSX uses the same filter. Most Toyotas made in 1997 use the same filter. I was actually considering the Mobil-1 Filter , but it has no flats at all. They said something about no flats making the can stronger... But very tough for me to remove, and with its $10.00 price, it was easy to pass up.

TJM Bumpers

TJM Products, Australia makes heavy duty bumpers (among other products). Since my Tacoma front bumper weight under 10 lbs including the plastic stuff below it, I thought it would be a good idea to get a heavy duty bumper. TJM's main competitor is ARB (also from Australia) and they don't make a bumper yet for the Tacoma. ARB bumpers have a reputation for being even heavier-duty, as well as heavier. I didn't really need a super-massive bumper, so the TJM seemed like a good idea, besides, they were the only guys that made a reasonable bumper...

You see, in Australia, there are some Very Large Rodents, which are a bit of a pest. They breed like rats, and they sometimes get in the road. Sometimes cars hit them, and are damaged as a result. So the resourceful Australians make "roo bars" to protect their cars from the pesky Kangaroos.

Well, it was just my luck, because I read some email on Mar-11-1999, about some used TJM bars being sold for cheap by Hella USA, the USA distributor for TJM. I could care less about a few paint chips...

I called and ordered a T15 bumper in steel. It didn't have the "wing extensions", so I paid some extra, and ordered some new ones. I also ordered the roller fairlead and the winch frame, thinking I was getting a good deal and that I might put a winch on the bumper one day.

Well, the bumper arrived Mar-27-1999, but there were no instructions, no bolts, no roller fairlead and no winch frame. I sent Hella USA some email asking for the missing stuff. Now this is a substantial bumper, and I didn't want to take a guess as to how safely install it.

Finally on May-06-1999, I got the instructions, but only 2 of the 3 pages. Also I got some bolts, but not all the bolts that the instructions called out.

On Jun-05-1999 I got most of but not all of the missing bolts, so I decided to bolt my new bumper on. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the mounting adapters didn't fit my truck. I had removed my bumper (which is held on with 4 small bolts, and 2 tiny bolts at the ends. I also removed quite a bit more stuff, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the mounting adapters to fit. I finally got 3 of the 4 bolts in on one side, but the adapter was crooked, and was clearly not right. I determined that I definitely had the wrong part. I sent Hella USA every number stamped on the mounting adapters as well as on the bumper.

They determined that the mounting adapters were not the ones for my Tacoma, and sent me the right ones.

On Jun-17-1999 I bolted on the new mounting adapters, and found they fit perfectly. I was over-joyed. I would have my bumper! I grabbed the bumper, and started to mount it on my Tacoma. But wait! The gap between the vertical plates that the bumper mounts to were very different from the plates on the bumper! The plates on my car were 31.5" from each other. The plates on the bumper are 26" from each other. It doesn't take a rocket-scientist (which I happen to be) to determine that something is wrong. So I called Hella USA (again). They suggested that I turn around the mounting adapters. After awhile playing around, it was clear that they only mount in one way.

So I called them today (Jun-18-1999), and they claim that TJM Australia says that everything should work just fine. Clearly those folks have been in the sun in the outback for a few days too long. Hella USA says they will call again, and clearly explain exactly what is going on. In the meantime, I still have my OEM flimsy bumper in place. Its been over 3 months since I ordered mine, and I still don't have the right parts. And I still don't have the other parts that I ordered yet.

Well they said they will just send me a new bumper. It finally arrived Sep-17-1999. For some strange reason, one of the mounting adapters that I thought fit perfectly, didn't line up on one bolt-hole. Fortunately, they sent me 2 mounting adapters that did fit perfectly. It did take a bit of drilling to make my license plate fit, and the license plate adapter that came with the winch frame didn't fit my California license. Fortunately, the license plate isn't very thick...

Now I have a nice new TJM bumper, properly mounted to my Tacoma. So everything must be swell? Well remember the roller fairlead and winch frame? The winch frame did come, along with the correct bolts, but there was no roller fairlead. I called Hella, and they said that they came together or something (I wasn't really sure). I said thats nice, but I bought and paid for a winch frame as well as roller fairlead. They said they would see if they could find one lying around, and that there weren't sold separately anymore.

They also said that I got a new bumper, rather than a used bumper (which is true), even though it did take 6 months for the correct one to arrive. So I may not get a roller fairlead, even though I paid for it... (Postscript: I never got the roller fairlead).

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