I’ve heard that the coathooks on the rear right ceiling handles of 2002 Toyota 4Runners tend to start falling apart at 85,000 miles. What can I do to prevent this from happening?
How much mileage are you putting on the coathooks, anyway? Also,how much of a load do they carry, and how often?
Use the left side? Aside from that, unscrew it, put a bunch of JB Weld on the screw threads, then tighten it back down. I don’t know what exactly “fails” there, the plastic cracking or the screw pulling out of the sheetmetal, but either way, that couldn’t hurt.
Or go to a junkyard and get another one and have it on hand for when yours fails. That’s at least one thing that won’t set a check engine light.
You should only use the left anyway and not the right. Hanging clothes on the right blocks your vision.
This is a gag, right?
I think that the OP should alert the media and NHTSA to this serious safety hazard.
;-))
I think this shows the decline in quality of automobiles. My first car, a 1947 Pontiac had well-made metal coathooks. I purchased a clothes bar that attached to both clothes hooks on either side and hung my entire wardrobe across the back seat when I went to graduate school. It didn’t affect the rear vision, because this car was a fastback and the rear window was more a skylight. I had to rely on outside mirrors that I purchased at Western Auto to see what was behind me even when I wasn’t carrying my clothes.
It would be helpful if Consumer Reports would include clothes hooks in its frequency of repair charts.
Another compelling reason for the popularity of SUVs. They all have heavy duty coat hooks.
Yes, SUV’s need heavy duty coat hooks for hunting jackets.
Time To Trade!
I would consider selling or trading at just under 85,000 miles.
Or gradually convert your entire wardrobe to wash/wear micro-fiber! You can just wad it up and stow it under a seat!
Ha,ha,ha,! too much time on your hands?
Wear fewer cloths. Or trade your dry clean clothing for wash & wear.
Seriously, just replace them if they break, and don’t overload them in the meantime.
Sell the car at 84,000 miles.
I don’t even know if my car has a coat hook. The last time I used one was on my 1970 VW.