2002 Tacoma Step Side wreck bed damaged

Bought this very clean step side Taco for my 16 year old son 2 months ago. A week ago a young lady ran a stop sign and hit him in the drivers side door and bed. Everybody was ok.

The young lady got a ticket and her insurance will be responsible for paying claim.

Just returned from autobody shop and they gave estimate of $5,300. They said would be putting OEM new parts.

The estimator at the autobody shop said this is the first step side he had seen. I asked what if you can't get a new bed, he said he was not sure, he would have to talk to his boss because he had never had a situation like this.

My question is, does anybody know if Toyota still has some of these beds?

...and what if they don't?


Truck had 185k miles runs great and was in near mint condition.

 

I rarely see those on Tacoma's, usually I see them on Tundra's. I wonder if you could swap it for a "normal" bed. Hmmmm. I am sure someone here will know.

 

That is a good looking truck - I would make sure to stay with that style bed - pretty rare.

 

The stepside was a very rare option on these trucks. I don't think Toyota sells the bedsides still but I'm not sure, i would think it would be new old stock.

Normal fleetside beds will bolt up just fine.

 

I really don't want a fleet side but I guess if that is my only alternative.

 

Step sides used exist. I see them pop up on Craigslist every now and then. Call scrapyards around the area and surrounding states I would be VERY surprised if you couldn't find a used one if you do your research. Yeah they were rare but they made a couple hundred thousand 1st generation Tacomas, it's no Ferrari F40.

 

Dear Jerry,

Sorry to her about your son's truck getting smacked. Wow, it is a step-side. All the members that have responded to your thread are correct in their analysis on the rarity of the step-side beds. Here is what you are up against. The step-side bed was only an option on the 2001 to 2004 models. In fact, it might not even have been an option on the 2004 model year. There were not a hell of a lot of them produced. The one advantage is that if you can't find the correct step-side bed, a fleet side bed will bolt up without any trouble.

Good Luck,
Paul

 

Step side's are cool man

I got one
Good luck getting another bed for it .

 

Call the dealer and have the VIN ready. The dealer can still get all the body parts for a conventional bed for those years. I don't see why the dealer can't do a search and let you know.

 

I saw a few on car-part not too long ago when I was looking for a rear fender flare for my 01. Search there and call around to junkyards like everyone else has said. You might have to travel a bit to look at one though.

 

If anyone can find out whether or not Toyota still carries step side Tacoma beds, Gary @gunny1005 can. He works for the Parts dept for Camelback Toyota and gets all kinds of parts for members on TW.

I always loved the look of the stepside bed on the Tacomas....the Tundras on the other hand look god-awful ugly with stepsides, especially from the back.

 

Aren't dealerships on the west coast still open? Give one a call.

 

Any good parts yard will have a Locator Service for all the USA parts yards - The Auto Body shop can do the same search.

 

Unfortunately you cant get a complete bed for the step side anymore..

 

Thanks for checking Gunny!

@bowhunter65 looks like you'll have to check the scrap yards, I see a few stepside Tacomas around SoCal every now and then so they're definitely out there...but it'll be hard to find one compared to a normal bed, especially if you're looking for a specific color. As much as it hurts to do so, it will likely be much less of a headache to just swap on a regular bed.

 

Dumb question but can you get just drivers side of the bed?

 

I would not mind used and the body shop can paint it.

If I have to put fleetside - do I have to retitle?

 

hmm...that's a good question, I don't know. You might "have" to but you don't necessarily "need" to, if you catch my drift lol. But I have no experience with that sort of thing.

 

Why would you have to re-title? Used parts are used on vehicles all the time. Changing box style is no different.

 

I'm curious, why are you having the dealer search for the whole bed? Each side is a separate part. @gunny1005 searched and said no boxes where available. Was a search for just the side made?