[Motch6]

I’m still in California after picking up my bZ… flooding everywhere…. Went through a little bit today, but not deep or bad…

although!! I lost my front Under cover and my front left fender liner!

not sure exactly what happened but it’s possible too much water pressed though the front vent? And soaked the liners… by the way, at least the fender liner is some sort of felt type material! And the front left tire grabbed it and ripped it right off!!

I don’t have a picture yet because it was raining so much!!
Anyway!!! Taking bets on if they cover this under warranty?

anyone else seeing this issue???

 

[B.Wilkins_85]

Wow, I am sorry to hear that. For an AWD vehicle that sells itself on having X-Mode and good ground clearance, it doesn't exactly instill confidence that the inner wheel wells got ripped off after driving through a puddle.

Are felt wheel wells common on vehicles these days? I've seen plastic before, but this is the first time I've ever seen textile.

If I recall correctly, the specs for the vehicle note that it can go through something like 16" or 18" of water. I really hope you find that this is covered under the warranty.

 

[Vern748]

Not sure if that is a manufacturer issue. Sounds more like user error.
Count yourself lucky. Just saying
Live in Sonoma County and was out at the coast. From Petaluma all the way to Mendocino was bad, but manageable.

 

[Motch6]

Wow, I am sorry to hear that. For an AWD vehicle that sells itself on having X-Mode and good ground clearance, it doesn't exactly instill confidence that the inner wheel wells got ripped off after driving through a puddle.

Are felt wheel wells common on vehicles these days? I've seen plastic before, but this is the first time I've ever seen textile.

If I recall correctly, the specs for the vehicle note that it can go through something like 16" or 18" of water. I really hope you find that this is covered under the warranty.

the water was just coming over curbs.... plowed through it at a slow speed. no where close to 16"

this is a weird material ... NOT your normal plastic. The wheel wells are a felt material…
The front under carriage is plastic…. We found it washed up over the curb!

see photos…. It now exposes the charging wires!!

 

[Vern748]

The front splitter damage tells me the water was over the splitter.
Just paint that, it will rub right out

 

[qs933]

My bet would be that the dealer and Toyota would push back on a warranty claim, but it’s worth a try.

On one hand, I’m sure these vehicles are designed and tested under various adverse conditions and this is an unlucky fluke.

On the other hand…a four month recall after production started because the wheels fell off…so…

 

[Motch6]

My bet would be that the dealer and Toyota would push back on a warranty claim, but it’s worth a try.

On one hand, I’m sure these vehicles are designed and tested under various adverse conditions and this is an unlucky fluke.

On the other hand…a four month recall after production started because the wheels fell off…so…

They didn't really push back hard. They did say they couldn't tell if it was defect or user error and felt Toyota may decline the warranty.... they did mention i could call corporate and discuss the issue and that they take things case by case... and that they could give me a freebee.... but typically that is limited to ONE freebee per car.

I had already known this because i spoke with them about what their releationship to the customer was a couple weeks ago.

I will still call them, so its a reported issue, but i won't take my freebee on this.... All and All the parts cost me about $900 and My brother-in-law and i are doing the work today... (i'll report back on how it goes).


PS: by the way, from all the things we were able to see, its a defect of some sort... there is no way that water passing through should have caused these parts to come loose and push under the wheels (which resulted in the full rip-off)... I have now reviewed closely what it looks like fully attached, have reviewed what came off the car, and we definitely didn't hit anything... result was from water pressure, pushing up against the FELT wheel wells allowing for some fasteners to pop-off, and allowing the wheel to catch the felt and yank it under the car, resulting with it yanking the under carriage splash guard completely off (which is only held by very thin tabs at the front). anyway....

 

[B.Wilkins_85]

Thanks for keeping us updated. Would you mind taking a few photos when you do the repairs (and posting them to this thread)? That will help others who may end up with the same problem down the line.

 

[n6nl]

You could very well have driven over something in the water which then got caught between the tire and the wheel well liner, which ripped the liners off.

 

[Motch6]

You could very well have driven over something in the water which then got caught between the tire and the wheel well liner, which ripped the liners off.

Nope, this was simply dirt in the water, we checked the next day after the flow of water had gone down, nothing was stuck in the gutters or washed up over the curb, other than my plastic under cover and wheel wells.

 

[Motch6]

Some photos from the repair…

 

[Motch6]

wanted to write up a separate post of what we had to do...

1) Jacked car up (of course ). Removed Wheels (noted in new manual the torque specs so that when we put them back on they were correct.
2) removed any left over clips that we could use
3) removed any left over screws (in the old under cover)
4) because all of the plastic flaps that were screwed into the front grill had busted off. We had to replace the Front Grill as well. The grill was the hard part to remove. Lots of clips up underneath, stretching to reach and there were a couple silver screws on each side that attached to the Black Fenders (along with several clips). Once this was removed, popping the new grill on was fast and easy... slipped right in and clips popped together We still had to reach into some hard places to replace a few clips and screws.
5) Then attached the Fender liners (felt stuff) to the front under cover (plastic part).
6) we then attached the under cover to the chassis and the front grill (all screws hold this in place).
7) wrapped the Fender liners up into the fender areas and started popping the clips back into to place. there were about 4 or 5 screws on each side as well.
5) in the end, we had all the clips except about three on each side (picked up some extra clips from Harbor Freight). There was ONE specialized clip/retainer with a hook shape that attached to the Black Fender, these were gone and we had to order one for each side (not critical but would like it all put back to like new).

It took us about 4 hours to complete the job. And yes, it was a two man job in several areas to hold and peal back some things so we could get to screws and clips to remove stuff. Glad i happened to be in California to do the work, as my brother-in-law had two floor jacks and a few extra tools i wouldn't have had at home. In fact, i don't think my Torque wrench at home goes up to 103 ft./lbs to torque those Lug Bolts properly.

 

[n6nl]

It sounds like the weak spot might not have been the overall “felt” liner (which looks like FRP without enough plastic), but where the clips hold it all on, the thin material gives way.

Otherwise, a coating of something like Rhino Lining might thicken the overall liner, but might not solve the real problem.

Glad it turned out OK for you.

 

[enakffej]

Thanks for posting and helping create a knowledgebase for us.

Curious about the pink and green paint on the lugs. I assume that’s a post-recall thing for us to see if lugs are loosening and backing out relative to others. Did they align like before when you put the wheels back on? Has anyone just removed the paint or seen any official guidance about it?

 

[Motch6]

Thanks for posting and helping create a knowledgebase for us.

Curious about the pink and green paint on the lugs. I assume that’s a post-recall thing for us to see if lugs are loosening and backing out relative to others. Did they align like before when you put the wheels back on? Has anyone just removed the paint or seen any official guidance about it?

Yes, post recall… original paperwork stated they were only to paint the old Lug Bolts Yellow…. But I have now seen this on multiple recalled cars…

it’s a weird substance, more like a thick chalky material. All it took for me to remove it was a wet paper towel and some light rubbing.

 

[Vern748]

think my Torque wrench at home goes up to 103 ft./lbs to torque those Lug Bolts properly.

Humm, where did you find the 103 torque number ?
-Updated- Oops. I needed to convert to Nm. My bad

2022 Toyota bZ4X - Wheel & Tire Sizes, PCD, Offset and Rims specs

Wheel size, PCD, offset, and other specifications such as bolt pattern, thread size (THD), center bore (CB), trim levels for 2022 Toyota bZ4X. Wheel and tire fitment data. Original equipment and alternative options.

www.wheel-size.com

 

[Motch6]

Humm, where did you find the 103 torque number ?
-Updated- Oops. I needed to convert to Nm. My bad

2022 Toyota bZ4X - Wheel & Tire Sizes, PCD, Offset and Rims specs

Wheel size, PCD, offset, and other specifications such as bolt pattern, thread size (THD), center bore (CB), trim levels for 2022 Toyota bZ4X. Wheel and tire fitment data. Original equipment and alternative options.

www.wheel-size.com

It was on one of the very last couple pages in the new Manual.

 

[Motch6]

It sounds like the weak spot might not have been the overall “felt” liner (which looks like FRP without enough plastic), but where the clips hold it all on, the thin material gives way.

Otherwise, a coating of something like Rhino Lining might thicken the overall liner, but might not solve the real problem.

Glad it turned out OK for you.

After putting things back together, we noticed it seemed on the LEFT side that there were some plastic style Fender washers that sit on the outside of the felt, between the washer and screws that seemed to have not been placed correctly or were missing all tegether... on the RIGHT side, the part of the felt that didn't come off, you could see that these were firmly in place.

Interesting thought, may have been install error on the left side and caused these to slip loose and allow the tire to grab them.