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Weak bumper = wrecked quarter panel

Discussion in 'Technical Chat' started by STEVON, Aug 28, 2013.

  1. Aug 28, 2013 at 12:38 PM
    #1
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    I recently backed into a tree at 2 mph and bumper and driver's side quarter panel collapsed. Why is the bumper so weak? I thought American cars had to sustain a 3mph impact with no damage? I bent the bumper back by hand, what a phony piece of tin! My 1987 Nissan 1 ton pickup bumped into things several times with no damage to the bed. I think there should be another class action lawsuit against Toyota for not putting a sticker on the bumper "Warning! Impact of this bumper over 1mph will cause $2500 dollars in damage" " "Use extreme caution when backing up" The accident pushed the gas cap off and now my check engine light is on.

    Question: is there a normally strong aftermarket chrome bumper available to use after the quarter panel is fixed?

    july 006 sm.jpg
    july 007 sm.jpg
    july 008 sm.jpg
    july 009 sm.jpg
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2013
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  2. Aug 28, 2013 at 12:39 PM
    #2
    Gaunt596

    Gaunt596 Well-Known Member

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    i say screw an OEM replacment and go plate steel. wont ever have problems again.
     
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  3. Aug 28, 2013 at 12:44 PM
    #3
    Benson X

    Benson X My build thread sucks...

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    If you don't draw blood, you're doing it wrong!
    Wow, that is surprising. I have smacked my OEM rear bumper on lotsa stuff off-road, and never kinked my quarter-panel.
     
  4. Aug 28, 2013 at 12:47 PM
    #4
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Soft Taco,

    I have an SR5 package and want to maintain the look with chrome bumper. It pisses me off that Toyota is allowed to make such a weak tail gate (250lb max), A worthless bumper and no strength in the quarter panel what so ever. While I was repairing some previous damage I reinforced the crappy tailgate, see pictures

    Tacoma Bed repair 005 sm.jpg
    Tail Gate Re-enforce.jpg
    Tail Gate Re-enforce 1.jpg
    Tail Gate Re-enforce 3.jpg
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2013
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  5. Aug 14, 2014 at 1:00 PM
    #5
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Well I finally got around to fixing the smashed quarter panel. With a come-a-long and some body hammers I beat the beer can steel back into place. This is a very expensive truck but poorly built. Sheet metal is too thin or at least it should have more carbon in the steel like GM did to make use of thinner material without sacrificing durability! Went to my local steel supplier and for $32 in material I started my rear bumper weakness solution. I do not want to go through this again. Tacoma = disposable truck? Not for farm use or construction work for sure. The steel I bought was made for trailer hitches already cut and available in 1 ft, 2 ft, etc. and some scrap pile cutoffs. Welded up the trailer hitch into a real reinforcement and hammered out the tin like bumper with standard body hammers! how's that for toughness! You can see the project photos at:
    http://www.tacomaworld.com/gallery/showgallery.php/ppuser/29806/cat/500

    Cheers,

    Stephen
    July Steel Rr Bumper a.jpg
    July Body Work Rr Bumper i.jpg
    July Body Work Rr Bumper j.jpg
    July Body Work Rr Bumper Bdy Clearance f.jpg
    July Body Work Rr Bumper Undercoated.jpg
    July Tacoma No Tag.jpg
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2014
  6. Aug 17, 2014 at 6:39 PM
    #6
    noSKills858

    noSKills858 battlescars

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    Damn trees jumping out of nowhere.
     
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  7. Sep 14, 2018 at 9:42 AM
    #7
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Well it happened, a real live test of my bumper reinforcement in a rear collision! the chrome paper "bumper" cover is trashed but the rest of the truck is fine, no bed panel damage! Not so good for the car (Nissan Sentra) that hit me her hood, fender, bumper cover, headlamp and grille is trashed on her car. I'll post pictures later
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2018
  8. Sep 15, 2018 at 1:54 AM
    #8
    Wyoming09

    Wyoming09 Well-Known Member

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    Maybe things changed by 2006 ??

    Have you had the truck from New ??

    My 2000 had a rusted out bumper and has taken many hits to loading docks till I threw the bumper away.

    Never any damage to the bed sides but the dents from fork lifts and deer impacts

    That just looks really strange I wonder if the bed side was replaced ?
     
  9. Sep 15, 2018 at 5:27 PM
    #9
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Wyoming09,

    Things changed for the 2005 model year Tacoma. They were so hell bent on weight savings for gas mileage that they "Tinned out" the body and removed all unnecessary support.Tailgate has little to no internal structure, Bed is a plastic tub with bolt on sides (no unibody structure), bumper is a shell, sheet metal is thinner, etc. There is no Federal requirement to have any rear bumper at all on a truck so if a POS bumper lookalike is installed, Toyota is not technically breaking any laws. The trailer hitch does have DOT requirements so they couldn't skimp there.IMG_1021.jpg IMG_1022.jpg IMG_1019.jpg if you look closely at the damage you can see the steel that I originally added shows through the chrome "facia" of the bumper wrapped around it. The added steel support kept the bed and cab from damage and the truck from being totaled as "too costly to repair, total loss"
    I too have tapped the bumper on few occasions since the added steel support was installed with little or no damage. I would've had to replace the bed sides 3 or 4 times by now at $800ea plus paint cost! when you hit either side on the back bumper the bed takes the hit and crumples, there simply is nothing from the factory to stop it!

    so called bed.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2018
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  10. Sep 17, 2018 at 11:17 AM
    #10
    96carboard

    96carboard Well-Known Member

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    The bumper itself on 2005+ isn't so bad. The soft spot is in the decorative extensions to the bumper.
    The real bumper only runs the length of the space between the frame rails -- everything beyond that is just decorative. If you hit something with the decorative extension beyond the bumper, that part will crumple and will take the bed sides with it. But if you hit something dead on with the bumper, it'll be fine.
     
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  11. Sep 17, 2018 at 11:32 AM
    #11
    96carboard

    96carboard Well-Known Member

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    You sound pretty jaded. I don't entirely blame you, since I'm sure its frustrating, but I can say that you are blowing it out of proportions to some degree.
    Some of the things you are complaining about, really don't make any sense to be complaining about.
    The bed, for instance... you complain about it by describing it as a "plastic tub with bolt on sides (no unibody structure)"... well you are definitely misrepresenting it in that statement. And I mean besides the fact that OF COURSE it doesn't have a "unibody structure" -- its a body-on-frame truck, not a unibody minivan.
    First of all, the bed is not plastic. Its fiberglass, and that fiberglass bed is one of the great features of this truck, because it takes a lot more abuse than a tinfoil steel bed, doesn't rust, and doesn't damage the stuff you slide in and out.
    Bolt on sides. That is actually a good thing, because unlike other trucks with steel beds, if you damage this one, its incredibly simple to replace the sides. On anything else, not so easy and far more expensive. Tell me on how many trucks you can crumple a quarter panel and come out the other side for less than $1000.
     
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  12. Sep 17, 2018 at 12:14 PM
    #12
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    96cardboard,

    When I had a body shop and worked on pickups, it took a much heavier collision to cave in a bed side. With a frame machine, light pull and some Bondo you were good to go. A parking lot ding from a curb or pole didn't do hardly any damage, much less cave the bed side in.There definitely are advantages to the new design (fiberglass tub as bed and bed liner in one) but it is not what I'm used to from the past. The older beds are an assembly of spot welded parts together making it a tough "uni body" type structure. My only real complaint is the bumper ends being unsupported and when tapped over a thousand dollar repair bill is at hand. With the steel reinforcement that I added, that won't be a problem for me as long as I own the truck. Did confuse the body shop though, they were concerned how to fix the extra support if that got damaged. They said "only OEM repair is authorized" I told them just unbolt it and I'll take care of that. They will replace the lightweight ornamental parts which should restore the clean looks as original. I didn't see any damage to my frame or the extra steel support when I looked at it.
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2018
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  13. Sep 17, 2018 at 12:21 PM
    #13
    96carboard

    96carboard Well-Known Member

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    Still wouldn't describe it as unibody, since that is a term reserved for chassis structure being implemented in the body, and that is only the case for a few models of not-really pickup trucks, like Ridgeline and Subaru Brat.
     
  14. Sep 18, 2018 at 10:32 AM
    #14
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    The body shop finished the estimate for the repair $1899.47 I'm not paying for it but sheesh! They said that if I did not have the added reinforcement the truck would probably have been totaled. Why the flare was removed I don't know. Last week (before accident) I finally replaced the radio and added a backup camera. It was about $140 in parts for the upgrade. Bluetooth phone interface included for hands free phone use!

    Damage 9-14-18 c.jpg
    Damage 9-14-18 d.jpg
    Damage 9-14-18 e.jpg
     

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    Last edited: Sep 20, 2018
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  15. Sep 20, 2018 at 12:53 PM
    #15
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Steel support looks fine

    Tacoma damage.jpg
     
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  16. Sep 20, 2018 at 1:07 PM
    #16
    PackCon

    PackCon Well-Known Member

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    How about you don’t back into shit and look where you are going?

    Its not the strength of the bumper, the quarter panel bent. Which I’m assuming you were traveling more than 2mph. Coast speed gets faster than that quick.

    Modern cars are designed to crumple to spare the passengers. Unless you’d rather sustain bodily damage in a wreck rather than hurt your truck...


    You weren’t going no 2 miles per hour...
     
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  17. Sep 20, 2018 at 1:24 PM
    #17
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    PackCon

    Before I made the reinforcement/extension shown here I tapped a 2 foot high pole in a gas station at about 2 miles and hour and damaged/crumpled the left side of the bed. You could not see the pole while driving the truck. After the extra support was added, several taps and even the recent solid 15mph collision did little damage. IF the car that hit me ran away I would just touch up the chips, purchased a taillight and be on my way without having to buy a bed side and paint/install it!
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2018
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  18. Sep 20, 2018 at 1:29 PM
    #18
    Marshall R

    Marshall R Well-Known Member

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    Vehicles today are designed with a "crumple zone". The entire vehicle except for the passenger compartment is designed to crush easily in a collision. This makes a huge difference in the forces passengers have to withstand in a collision. It results in more body damage in some types of collisions, but also results in fewer injuries and deaths to passengers.
     
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  19. Sep 20, 2018 at 1:42 PM
    #19
    FastEddy59

    FastEddy59 TTC #0061

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    "Impact" at 0mph. $1700 damage to the illegally parked Prius taxi cab.
     
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  20. Sep 20, 2018 at 1:58 PM
    #20
    STEVON

    STEVON [OP] Well-Known Member

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    FastEddy59,

    Yeah I've been there done that too! Hopefully with the backup camera for $21 from Amazon and the new radio, I'll avoid future events like that! I have crew cab/long bed which doesn't help.
     
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