Calling all Pelfrybilt swing out owners

First things first, Pelfrybilt is an absolutely awesome company and have been extremely helpful to me and I have nothing bad to say about them. I love the product it just has a small issue that I'm the first to experience in all of their bumpers.

I've got the Pelfrybilt swing out on my 14 access cab and I've always noticed it had some flex and give and that the swing out would sort of wobble back and forth. Let them know about that and they've been extraordinarily helpful and sent out a gusset they had been working on to weld inside the bumper to give the swing out more rigidity. It stiffened it up for sure but the wobble is still there and now instead of the bumper flexing to absorb it, it's sending the wobble right into the truck itself. On certain sections of freeway it will actually build a resonance and shake the truck pretty wildly. This isn't at all to say Pelfrybilt stuff isn't awesome, because I absolutely love the bumper minus this issue. They have also been absolutely great and have offered a complete refund if I want...but I would really like to avoid that so my question is if anyone else with this setup has noticed this back and forth swing out wobble and if you've found any way to fix it? I love this bumper and really want to keep it but the wobble/shake in the cab is annoying at low speeds and not really bearable at freeway speeds when it builds that resonance. Thanks for the help in advance guys!

 

Do you have the old design with the round tube swingout or the newer rectangle tube swingout?

 

Rectangular, put the bumper on about a month or so back.

 

Sub'd

 

Did you buy the truck new? I'm curious if you had the truck long before the addition of the bumper to compare. I ask that because of "bed bounce". I had an 08 Tundra that would shake up and down on concrete freeways. I could see the addition of the bumper amplifying that. Although I can't say my Tacoma does that, but I'm also not stock suspension wise.

There was a video a while back that showed a round swing out Pelfreybilt bumper. On bumps/obstacles it would flex forwards and backwards. Although I thought someone said that's why they switched to square.

Is it a standard or high clearance? What size and type of tire do you have? What about the jerry can/rotopax? I personally don't have the bumper but am hoping to get it within the next week. Bought it in January and should be receiving it shortly.

 

@northwesttaco

 

I would guess that replacing your cab and bed mount bushings would greatly reduce the amount you feel this in the cab. I know your truck is 3 years old, but on my 2012 the bushings are pretty much non existent. I mounted Tyler's bolt on sliders on my truck and the cab hit them due to the bushings being smashed. Energy suspension has poly bushings to replace them. The body mount kit does not include bushings for the bed.

There is so much play from the old bushings being disintegrated, that my cab actually bounces. I'm sure this excess of movement is amplifying an otherwise minor issue.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/polyurethane-radiator-support-mounts-cab-also.361346/

 

Bought the truck brand new and I'm also running Icon suspension. Never had any issues with anything likes this at all until the addition of the bumper. The wheel is the stock spare with a 255/85 ST Maxx. Jerry can's have been empty the entire time I've had these issues. It's a relatively small tire with nothing in the can's so I really don't think I'm adding much weight at all. I don't think it's the bed mounts either because a month ago right before putting the bumper on, the truck was smooth as butter with icons and everything. It's pretty clear that the swing out is wobbling back and forth and giving the truck a forwards and backwards vibration. I can stand back there and give the tire a nudge and watch it wobble back and forth for a second or two. On the freeway I think it's just building up and creating a resonance that transfers into the truck. I can feel it on other bumps too wobbling back there.

 

I don't have a Pelfrey but I'm thinking mine is a driveline vib... Happens at about 38-45mph and feels like the back end is hopping/bouncing. Is that kinda the same that you get?

 

Nah this is speed irrelevant for the most part. It's surface dependent. Rougher the surface the more the truck vibrates because of the swing out.

 

Hmm.. Just trying to get a clear picture, when you shake the swing out, is it the latch that isn't tight enough? Or is it the hinge that flex's?

 

I don't know how the spindle works not having the bumper yet. Is it possible there's play in the spindle bearings? I would assume there's a castle nut so it shouldn't loosen. However, maybe it needs to be snugged up?

 

So when I first put the bumper together there was slight play in the spindle itself so I opened up the bearing assembly again and torqued down the castle nut and the play was gone. It's not in the spindle anymore, the flex is all in the actual metal of the bumper itself. The gusset they sent out that I welded in stiffened the system but there's still a lot of flex on the gate.

 

I don't disagree that it's the bumper. I'm just saying the bed mount bushings are probably magnifying the problem, but replacing them would be a small band aid on a big cut I'm sure.

 

The "bed bounce" I mentioned wasn't the actual bed moving. It looked that way but was actually the frame flexing. I'm guessing this isn't what's happening though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWjTbiYo3x0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNgHHtvzmu4

 

@TacoSTIG may have an idea..

 

Swing out here, but on a HC. Ive driven with and without the swing out and the truck has felt the same so I'm a little unsure what your talking about. Have you tried to removing everything off the swingout or removing the swing out all together to narrow down your findings.

You say the swing out wobbles, which way does it wobble. If the swing out is closed and you push it against the truck does it wobble? or does it have play as in a slight open/close movement at the handle?

 

Wish I could post a video. If you're looking at the gate from the side it wobbles towards and away from the back of the truck, the top of the spare doing the most movement back and forth. If I'm standing behind the swing out and push the top of the spare towards the truck it'll wobble towards and away from the truck until it stops. Imagine a piece of rebar buried in the dirt and you grabbed the top of it and shook it back and forth and then let go and watched it wobble back and forth until it dissipated. That's sort of what it's like but that vibration goes through to the cab and shakes the whole truck. I'm certain sections of freeway it'll build up that back and forth movement and the truck will compliment the wobble and make it worse and worse. Like someone back there pushing and pulling the truck rapidly. I've tried to narrow down where it's flexing but I can't really tell, it seems like the whole system is allowing it. I'm going to take the spare off and try driving around with it. I'm anticipating that taking the spare off will get rid of the issue but that sort of also defeats the purpose of the swing out.

 

Would it be worth while to double check the torque on the bolts that mount the bumper to the frame? I would imagine that any steel with enough mass and length could cause an oscillation. But there's guys out there with 35X12.5 mounted on these that haven't said anything. You did say the whole bumper is flexing, right? That would make me lean toward loose mounting hardware??

 

Not like the entire system is pivoting but o can see parts of the metal flexing all over. Pretty sure it's mounted solid, it's just metal flexing.