Bed uneven height side to side relative to cab

Hi all,
Brand new here. Just picked up a 2009 Tacoma Access cab a few weeks ago and absolutely am loving it. It came with a topper which I removed a week ago. After that, I noticed that when looking at my truck from the rear, the bed appears to be lower on the passenger side than the driver's side. This is most notable when comparing the front of the bed to the rear window. The whole truck is not leaning, it appears that the bed is uneven side to side relative to the cab. Attached are pictures. I have since added a tonneau cover so it is a little harder to see when comparing to the window, but the difference is still there. I believe it is about a 1/4" difference in the front of the bed, and maybe a bigger difference in the rear of the bed (measuring up from the ground). I spent a couple hours yesterday googling and searching forums and mostly saw posts related to beds being misaligned horizontally side to side, or front to back. I didn't see much about the vertical alignment problem I am having and I don't think this has anything to do with the common "taco lean" I've heard about. Does anyone have any ideas what would cause this? Are there specific things I should measure to try to narrow it down? Does the bed have any vertical adjustment (other than adding washers)? Could it be frame? Leaf springs? Does the cab have any vertical adjustment (bushings or spacers that might need replaced)?
The truck has a clean title and as far as I know has never been in any accidents.
Thanks,
Josh

 

Josh, it appears that your truck may have been heavily loaded at one time while hitting a chuckhole. Happened a lot to older pickups. There are shops that specialize in frame straightening, check it out.

 

The cab is mounted with rubber isolators, if one or more of them have failed, it could cause this.

Are the bed mounting bolts tight? If one or more are loose, that could allow the bed to sit high on one side, or low if the loose side has been moving and wearing at the mounting point.

A bent frame is a possibility, I'd also confirm that it isn't rusted out.

Good luck, I hope for your sake it's something simple.

 

i remember way back in 2006 when i bought mine, there were complaints about bed being missaligned in ways you mentioned you found on google, but not exactly like that.

try putting a level on the rim of the bed behind the can in the center and see if its level. then try maybe along the rear window rubber seal to see if its level. maybe see if its the cab or the bed thats off.

if your really worried about it, a good shop charges about $250 (give or take) to check the frame. most likely its just like the other guys said, alot of weight was put in the bed and the rubber body mounts are shifted or 'smooshed'. if thats the case, i'd just remove the body bolts on the bed and put a couple big washers or something to level it.

also try dropping a plumb bob from the fender flare, getting the line dead center on the center of the wheel hub, measure the line from the bottom of the fender flare to the center of the hub on each wheel. that will tell you exactly how much clearance you have between the hub and body. if the measurements differ from side to side, those measurements can help get an idea of what corner maybe leaning.

hope that helps

 

Thread revival alert. I FINALLY got sick and tired of my Tacoma leaning 3/4" in the rear after I shimmed the right side of the bed up with 3 stacked washers to make it even with the cab lines. Took a bunch of measurements today and confirmed that this is indeed a result of unevenly crushed cab mounts. Frame measurements are consistent and I have no reason to believe it to be bent. Woohoo! I'll be ordering the energy cab mounts tonight.
Thanks guys.