GEN 2 My 2019 Repair Saga

[NM_Life_Defender]

Truck is a 2019 with 49k miles, Goosetuned stage 1, AFE 2FG exhaust, R1 Concepts brakes with stainless steel lines

TL;DR - Cam phasers, other noises, 3 weeks at the dealership, cracked valve cover, R1 Concepts brakes issues, $3,400 in (extended) warranty repairs, still having a weird noise. Here's the full story...

A couple months back I started getting the rattle with cold starts. Ignored it, and it never was too bad. Just a few seconds and would then calm down. As the weather warmed up, and I occasionally drove with the windows down, I noticed a clicking noise that was cyclical with the rotation of the wheels. I have some travel upcoming, so decided to bite the bullet and make an appointment at the dealership.

I took it in on May 15, and as I pulled into the service bay, the service advisor confirmed that he heard the clicking noise and had the service manager come listen as well. He also confirmed that he heard it. I showed them a video of the cold start, and they confirmed it was cam phasers. I left the truck with a list of things to have done: cam phasers, oil & filter, air filter, tighten door check on passenger front door, find and fix the click.

By Monday the 20th they had the phasers and everything else done except the clicking noise. They continued chasing it until last Friday, including replacing wheel bearings in 3 of the 4 wheels. They told me it was fixed, and I should come pick it up, but when they were doing the last road test, they heard one more rattle. I asked them to find the rattle and fix it as well.

Yesterday they called and said to come drive the truck. It was ready. At the same time they sent me a picture of one of my front brake rotors showing cracks in the interior veins and said, since the rotors are aftermarket, they didn't know if that was an issue or if it was normal.

I went and drove the truck. Started it up remotely, and it sounded great! Drove it, and it felt great and sounded great. Pulling into the parking lot with the windows down I still heard a cyclical noise...service advisor said he was sure that was rocks in the tires.

They had traced the clicking to wheel bearings and the other rattle to my aftermarket pod lights in the front bumper rattling against the bumper when going over bumps.

I reviewed the bill and was shocked to see that when they did the cam phasers, they also replaced a cracked valve cover! The SA said it was in the back and a very small crack, so I wouldn't have noticed it. My bill total was $168 with another $3,400 that was thankfully covered under powertrain warranty or extended warranty. He encouraged me to get the brakes checked out.

Drove the truck home, and pulling into the neighborhood with the windows down, I still hear a cyclical click (not the same as before). It only seem to click when turning. No click in a straight line.

I had purchased the brakes from "Got Exhaust" in early 2023, so I contacted them yesterday afternoon. They have been super responsive so far and said they had never seen cracks in the rotor interior veins like in the picture I sent them. They are following up with R1 Concepts directly. Now I'm waiting for the outcome.

End of story, for now. Regarding the clicking, I'm inclined to just drive the truck and stop worrying about it.

 

[smurfslayer]

I don’t like cracks in the brakes, period.
so you get a cyclical clicking now, but only when you’re turning?

that sounds a lot like a CV issue

 

[NM_Life_Defender]

Thanks for that. I'll keep listening and decide whether or not to take it back soon. Do you know if CV's fail gradually, or does it usually happen suddenly? Does all this seem like a bit much for a 49k mile truck? It has definitely not been abused. Off road 2 or 3 times per year. I like to drive fast, but I'm certainly not full throttle all the time. I put new tires on it last October (Toyo Open Country R/Ts, which I love) and was hoping to drive it another year to get good use out of those before upgrading to a different truck.

 

[Old-Raptor-guy]

Those are not cracks, just look at them. The rotors are cast., molten iron is poured into mold from both sides. As the metal flows through the mold it cools a little it meets the molten iron flow from the other side. This is the line where they meet.

It is normal on cast rotors, you will never ever see a failure here under normal usage. (I Have seen a rotor failure here, on a corvette that was at a race track, happened after about 30 minutes of amazingly hard usage)

I will say that this is normal in mid to low end rotors so if you paid for high quality name brand rotors then you did not get that.

But for me this is a case of a shop finding one of the smallest almost insignificant things and using it to get into the customers head and creating doubt when in fact there is a 85% chance they do low quality work also. I just have never had good experience when one "professional " throws another "professional " under the bus to further themselves.

This is also a case of getting what you pay for. Did you pay for Bosch/ Wagner/ Rabestos rotors?? Or did you pay for and get Chinesebrakes.com rotors?

 

[bakwaas4eva]

I like that professional never throws another professional under the buss just to get ahead