Frame Replacement Fail

Well after many delays, I got my '01 frame replacement done. While there were many screwups on their part, the issue that concerns me most is that the body and bed are crooked. Passenger side is 2" higher than driver in the back and 1" higher than driver in the front. This is by measureing top of the tire to wheel well and measuring from the ground to the corners of the bed. Also the gap between the cab and bed is 1" on the driver side and 3/8" on the passenger. (Truck has never been wrecked)

I know about the "Tacoma Lean" but this seems excessive when you consider that this is a new frame and new leaf springs with new shocks and struts.

Those of you with 1st Gen with new frames, what experience and measurements have you had?

Taking it to back to dealership today but he said that they doubt there is anything that can be done about the lean and crooked bed. "They just install the parts Toyota sends them." Will update later.

Will

Note: driveway is perfectly level left to right and trailer isn't on the ball so no weight is being transferred in this pic.

 

If it wasn't crooked before the frame replacement and now it is.....Hmm.... sounds like their installation procress screwed something up.

 

Take it back and tell them it is unacceptable, Period. There isn't anything else that needs to be said.

 

Check your body mounts. You're not complaining about the ride so I think the frame is ok.

 

I have had very good luck handling poor service by dealerships. Once I took my old Dakota to the local Dodge dealer for an alignment, after the 2nd bad alignment I got pissed. I went back to the dealership, walked into the service managers office and told him I wasn't leaving until we fix the problem. He talked me into a 3rd alignment which was also WAYYYY off. I demanded my money back and have never been back sense. I would go back to the dealership that replaced your frame, and do the same thing I did, walk right into the service managers office and demand to fix the problem NOW. Yes it will require you to take time out of your day, yes you will hear loads of BS, but who the hell wants a crooked truck.

 

Try a different dealer? If this is the best these hacks can do and still send it out that way saying that lame all we can do shit then I wouldn't want them fucking it up worse. Really retarded the shit some will push out and "justify" it as normal and acceptable...UNLESS IT WAS THEIR FUCKING TRUCK!

 

There was a guy on here that got a bad paint job from a dealership, he created a thread that bashed the dealership BAD. Needless to say he got his paint job fixed and the dealership got a pretty bad rep until he posted that everything had been resolved. If the dealership gives you sh!t remember this site is powerful and reaches everyone, you could use that as some very powerful leverage.

 

Sounds like they dropped the frame of the vehicle prior to repairs, you need to get that back to them immediately. I have done 3 of these in my shop and you would never know the frame was changed.

 

Yeah, that's definitely not cool. Don't accept "there's nothing we can do", it shouldn't look like that.

 

Here's some motivation for you to go back and get in their faces, and you may even wan to say it to them directly:

The crooked body immediately devalues the truck. Any potential future buyer (or insurance adjuster, for that matter) will take one look at that misaligned body and think "This truck has been in an accident." Period. No matter what your carfax or anyone says. If I saw a truck like that for sale, I would walk away...

It is beyond unacceptable for warranty work for one problem to be the cause of a new problem caused by the dealer.

Go talk to them. If they don't cooperate, post the dealer's name here, and let the shitstorm begin!

 

x2

 

Unacceptable.

Go back and tell (don't ask) then to fix it.

...or tell them you could always park it out front and explain to all entering that this is the type of work they do at that dealership.

I suspect they will see your point of view in a hurry.

 

1) take pictures, pictures of measurements, and pics of anything else that proves it off
2) go back again to the dealer and bitch them out (start off polite and understanding, then move to being an ass hole AFTER you've tried reasoning with them)
3) if that doesn't work, write a formal letter to Toyota USA and COPY the dealership on it, provide all the information of what was done under the recall and how the truck was 'fixed'
4) wait for your phone to ring from the dealership telling you to bring the truck back in to get fixed properly....OR....you could refuse to take it back to that dealer and you can tell Toyota USA you want to take it to another dealership and that they should charge the original dealership to pay the new one


but have you looked under the truck yet to see if anything is out of order? body mounts etc?

good luck

 

Don't think that I'm going to take this laying down. I'm taking it in at 3:40 this afternoon and letting them look at it. If they try to jerk me around, I'll raise hell. I wanted to give them a chance to see the issues and give the oportunity to fix things the way they should be fixed.

The other issues are:
1. Trailer wiring harness has is only partially funtional (no tails or right turn)
2. Splash guard in front wheel well not installed completely and flaps as you drive
3. Bilstein 5100 were installed in the front. I provided them to the dealer set on the middle notch and said install just like they are. They are on the 3rd notch. With the stock rear, and the 2.5" lift in the front, the headlights aren't even illuminating the road.

I'll update how the appt goes this evening.

 

I've crawled around and taken 10+ measurements ground to frame and they all match. Doesn't seem to be a frame issue. I'm wondering if they dropped the bed when they took it off...but the front is a little outawack too. Not an expert on what to be looking for in terms of frame to body/bed hardware.

 

^^^^Yes, very good legal documentation evidence. Documentation could be critical later in the process if there is pushback. Take these extra steps now. Judges and lawyers love documentation.

It is too bad this is so typical of customer service this days. Incompetent work followed by no accountability. No wonder the economy is in the shitter. Good luck, I'm sure this is a major pain in your ass.

 

In my opinion..if rustoyta wanted to keep owners happy...they should have a factory guy there to supervise the work or better yet to do the frame swap.

 

that would be VERY expensive and unrealistic for them to fly/travel a fleet of techs around North America to take care of these issues

normal techs SHOULD be competent enough to handle this swap

 

Well I went to the dealer for my 3:40 appt where I thought something was going to get fixed...

Asst Service Mgr didn't remember talking to me on the phone yesterday and I had to go through it all over again. He brought the "frame tech" out and the three of us looked at the truck. They both said that "this is pretty normal to have this much unevenness but that it only happens on some trucks. The first three times it happened, they though they were bad frames and swapped them out for another new frame with no change." The tech suggested shimming under the bolts that mount the frame to the bed to level the bed out. He said if the frame is level there really isn't anything else that can be done. I explained that I had a perfectly level and square truck before I had it "fixed". They also agreed that if they both just looked at the pic at the top of this thread, they would think the truck was wrecked. We agreed that I would bring it back again on Friday to have him work on it but they made no garentee's that it would be perfect.

What are your thoughts on shimming the bed?

Has anyone here experienced this 1-2 in out of level on a replaced frame? If so, what was the fix if any?

I'm going to call another dealer for a second opinion and call Toyota Customer Service to get their take on it. On one hand, I can understand that if the frame is square, then the body should be square. But I also don't know anyone that would say the picture of my truck looked normal or acceptable.

Any opinions / thoughts are appreciated.