New member with a crooked mudflap

Hey 1st gen folks, I recently bought a 2000 SR5 4x4 in great shape but missing the OEM mud flaps for some reason. So I picked up a full set of OEM mud flaps off a 2000 Tacoma (thanks @itr1275!) and OEM rear brackets off a 2001-2004 from Craigslist. I installed them yesterday and noticed the rear left flap is crooked.









All the hardware seems fine. Does this mean my bed is bent up? Everything looks straight as far as I can see. Appreciate any advice.

 

bend it like Beckham

 

Possibly took a hit on that side

 

Very common for the mud flaps on 1st gens to get knocked off when you do any kind of moderate crawling trail, I haven't knocked mine off yet but I have bent them and one is crooked like that as well.

It's far less likely something is wrong with your bed, the bracket for that mud flap is probably tweaked a bit...likely from wheeling I'm guessing but I doubt it's your bed.

 

Trim off the “4WD”. It makes it more noticeable.

 

Images didn't show up. But check to make sure your brackets are straight. The only other thing could be the flaps are drilled different for that year?

 

Imagine a time when a slightly out of plumb mud flap was the biggest problem on a twenty something year old truck....

 

It's bent. This happens when you back up into something and the pressed, 3D shape of the metal bracket causes it to bend inwards. Gently pull back on it and keep an eye on how it's adjusting when your lasers are all shooting off and you'll figure it out.

 

Mine did this same thing. I just pulled on it outwards from the inside and fixed it like that. Didn’t think it was that simple but I guess it is lol.

 

Y'all are right. I was able to just bend it a little just by pulling on it and now its almost perfectly plumb. Thanks!

Flaps are supposed to be the same for all 95-04 4wds but there were definitely some revisions. The rear brackets from an 01+ I purchased on Craigslist also came with rear flaps (in worse shape) and the finish as well as the cut are different than the ones from your 2000.


01+ on bottom

My 2000 truck also came with the rear brackets which look slightly different than the 01+. You can also notice how bent up my originals were and how the new ones are also a little bent.

01+ on left

I was more worried about a slightly out of plumb bed lol. At first I thought the camber on the rear tire was way off and my eyes were deceiving me so had to bust out the laser level.

 

What everyone else said. Just bend/beat it back into shape.

It took me about 10 years to realize I should just remove the mud flaps before a wheeling/camping trip. Lost track of how many times I’d have to walk back on a trail to retrieve a ripped off flap. Then get home and beat the bracket back into shape...as if I was making a samurai sword from scratch.