Dealer Frame Swap *UPDATE - Complete!*

Aaaand now you have me second guessing prices again. I'll get a second quote. His exact quote was $150 labor, $20 goop, and $42 moulding.

TO be honest, I was HOPING it was a valve cover, because that would be cheaper to fix. I've never gotten in there and tried to diagnose the exact location, but I'm not surprised to hear it might be the head gasket. If I recall correctly, the tech said he could actually detect a loss in engine compression on one side, but I wasn't taking notes at that point so I don't remember. Yes, replacement of the gasket would involve removing the cylinder head on that side and installing a new gasket.

Rental vehicle is a 2015 Camry with about 15,000 mi. It has all sorts of fancy bells and whistles to figure out - my '02 Tacoma is the newest vehicle we own. They estimated 3-4 months as the current frame fabrication time.

 

I just had my windshield replaced at a glass shop due to various cracks from rock chips. I paid my $200 Insurance deductible to have it replaced.
The insurance company's cost was $478. Maybe your auto insurance would cover the seal?

 

From my past experience with windshield replacements if you run it through insurance the price jumps a couple to a few hundred dollars. Depending on what your deductible is it might be worth it or it might not.

 

Well, I'm heading down to the dealership this morning to have my frame inspected. With the hole in the frame just above the rear wheel I'm hoping it will go well and dreading all the hassles that a dealership can put you through! They sold me this truck new in 2003 and have done right by me in the past but I'm still wary.

 

OP, I think you made a good call getting the job done. My 2001 Tacoma is getting the job done as we speak. My frame came in yesterday after about 9 weeks of the truck being there. I have them installing coil overs, tubular arms, rear shocks/ blocks, a diff drop and power stop brakes while its there all at no labor charge since it'll already be apart. My dealer has been awesome through the process.

 

I thought I'd give you all an update since a lot has happened.

I got a call a few weeks back from my Toyota guy who told me my frame was in. He said I ended up getting it 69 days earlier than it was planned to be done. Apparently, when they got my order down in Texas, my truck specs were an exact match for a frame they'd just completed that was laying out on the yard. It was ordered for a guy in the midwest who moved to Canada during the warranty process. Once living in Canada, it was no longer Toyota USA's problem to fix the frame, so they cancelled the order and informed Toyota Canada. Then they loaded that frame on the train and sent it to my dealer.

So all that time I thought I had to research what I wanted to replace and to save up the money I needed? Yeah, out of time. I immediately ordered a new exhaust from Rock Auto, and found out it wouldn't be delivered for about a week. I also had to turn in my rental 3 months early. I wasn't too sad about that. It had paddle shifters and a nice stereo, but it also had a 4 cylinders and no ground clearance.

I don't remember the order all this happened in, so I'll just tell you all what I remember. I found out the truck frame wouldn't get replaced at the dealer itself because their shop didn't have the space they like to spread out to do these jobs. Instead, they use the garage of their Toyota Certified Used Dealer a couple minutes down the street. They told me the name of the guy that would be doing the frame replacement (Wilt) and introduced me to him. I gave them permission to get started.

The next day, Paul (cust. service guy) called and told me there were some things that would likely have to be done, and that Wilt had more information. I spoke directly to Wilt, who offered to let me stop by the shop so he could just show me what he was talking about. Paul also gave me a run down of expected labor costs, which were crazy high. Like, a few hundred just for replacing the exhaust system, which I couldn't understand because THEY HAD TO TAKE IT APART ANYWAY. Total, the estimated labor costs came out to nearly $1,000, "but we won't know what they really are until we're done with the work."

Anyway, so I got to go to the shop. Of course, I brought my camera with me.

Below are a few photos of the shop visit. The body and cab were removed from the frame and set aside in another part of the shop. The new frame was put in the next bay over from the old frame, and there were two guys working on the vehicle. Wilt was one, but was only doing some of it and supervising, and another guy was dedicated to it during the day. One of the interesting takeaways from me on this was that the entire drivetrain stayed with the body. I was really surprised on that one - Wilt told me they do it that way so that Toyota can't be held liable for drivetrain problems after the vehicle is reassembled. They used an interesting contraption to hold the engine in the engine bay, and just ran a strap through the cab to keep the back end of the transmission from dragging.

It was absolutely crazy to see my truck all in pieces.



I tried to talk to Wilt about the labor costs, but he just shrugged and said he has nothing to do with that, he just replaces the frame. While I was there, he said there were a few things he wanted to discuss with me. First was the rear bumper. It was already messed up from getting rear ended years back, and he told me that, not surprisingly, it wasn't salvageable. He also said that my rear hitch assembly was too rusted and bent, and couldn't be transferred onto the new frame. Here's a couple photos I took under the car right before I dropped it off.




Next was a front CV shaft. It was leaking, and I asked if he would replace the boot. He thought for a second and said, "For the cost Toyota would charge you for me to replace the boot, I'd recommend you go out and just get a new set of CV shafts from NAPA (he pronounced it EnAyPeeAy throughout the conversation). Then they'd be new, without incurring the crazy Toyota OEM prices, and I wouldn't have to worry about leaks for a while. He said I could bring them directly to him through the back of the shop once I picked them up. He also pointed out the inner tie rod ends. "I'll bet anything I destroy those coming out. I've done a lot of these frames, and those aren't going to make it." He also pointed out the sway bar links, which were shot and needed to be replaced. Lastly, he said I needed a new strut cap on one side, and while he could rebuild it, the cheaper option would be a new one so he only has to install it. For all these items, again, he suggested I go to NAPA and just get the parts and bring them to the shop. He said if I use his name there, they'd give them to me for the prices they'd charge him, which is a professional discounted rate.

So then began my adventure trying to track down the parts, which required going to 3 different shops, but I got it done. I even ordered a new tail light since I saw those had been removed. I did that since one of the reasons I failed inspection was for a busted tail light.

I brought it all to Wilt, who replaced it all as part of the frame job. No incurred cost above parts. He also told me that my emergency brake was seized inside the drum on my passenger side, and that my valve cover gaskets were leaking pretty good. I told him not to worry about either of those since I would have had to pay full labor for them. He made sure I wanted to keep my current rear suspension setup, since new leaves came with the kit. I ensured him I did, including my greaseable shackles.

Two days later I got the call that it was all done, aside from the exhaust system, which still hadn't come in. The next day it was delivered to my house, so I drove over to the shop early in the AM and just left the exhaust in the truck bed. They replaced it that day, and then I went to get my truck. When Paul called me to tell me the news, I told him I felt the labor charges were unfair based on the amount of extra they were doing above what was already necessary. The exhaust system was 6 extra bolts, for goodness sakes.

By the time I made it over to the dealer to pick up the truck and pay for everything, Paul had worked it out so the total charges from Toyota were $300, or about 2.5 hours of work. I felt that was reasonable. When I received it, the rear plate lights and tow harness were just hanging down from the frame, since there was no bumper to attach them to, but Wilt had zip tied my license plate on for me. I tucked up the lights so they shine on the plate and got the harness out of the way.



So I got my truck back, on a new frame, for $300, plus whatever I paid for all those parts from NAPA. I still need to fix the engine and the rear drum, but it's back! Paul and Wilt were both great throughout the process, and I felt like they were in my corner against the shop manager and Toyota corporate. I'd recommend McGeorge Toyota to anyone in Central VA that needs a frame replacement.

Oh, and I saved so much money I now have one of these on order, to replace both the bumper and the Class III hitch. So sweet...

 

That's so great to hear!! I love hearing stories when it all plays out nicely. Congrats!

 

Took the words out of my mouth. "I've done it in 4 Tacomas and 3 4Runners" and you call him a showboat lol.

Congrats OP! I hope your frame swap went as well as mine did. I've had mine back for about 5 days now and I've found no problems

 

That's good to hear and hope to see you holding the 1 million mile sign on a TW thread.

 

Nah, my cars will outlive me. They're Toyota. I'm just a old fart.

 

My first thought was:

"Boy that guy up in Canada got fucked over!"

Congrats on the new frame and stuff.

Hopefully he isnt on the forums and you dont end up with a PM in the future...

 

He would still get a new frame in Canada, just not from the USA source.