2005 Toyota Tacoma Crossmember cut for lift

Wow, stop making it so complicated. Aaron has the only worth while reply in this thread so far.

Stop screwing around with dealerships. Take it to just about any fabrication/frame shop and have them weld you up a piece of box tubing in place for a stronger than stock crossmember. Will probably cost you a few hundred dollars, but it will be far less hassle and higher quality than what any dealership will do.

 

I'm sorry but that's bull crap. Any work they do they have to be willing to stand behind from a liability stand point. Whether the vehicle owner is paying or not. Don't do business with that dealer if they're really willing to do anything even if they know it's unsafe.

Scary...

 

^^ This. I did mine the same way long ago

 

It looks like the rusty angle iron was used as a mount for the front diff, the integrity of the frame is maintained on a drop bracket lift by the bracket itself (which is now missing). Technically speaking, as long as the lift kit was on the vehicle, the frame was sound. The structure was compromised, however, by whoever removed the drop bracket, along with the rest of the lift kit. This is one of the downfalls of this kind of lift kit - its difficult to go backwards. Whoever took the kit off should have repaired the crossmember properly. I agree with colinb17, get an estimate from a fab shop, maybe a phone call from a lawyer would "encourage" the selling dealer to pay for the fab work.

 

OP bought the truck from a private seller, not a dealer...

 

Eh. Not a big deal as stated above. Anyone with some welding and fab skills can handle it. It's a Toyota, not the space shuttle.

 

If you care to go this route: if you can get a reputable (see: legal expert) to claim it is unfit for the road with that kind of repair and the seller said "Perfectly good!" you have material misrepresentation.

End of story. You either repair it by hand or rip someone's arm off to get your cash back. Your call.

 

I personally wouldnt trust a dealership who cut that bracket and slapped it together to fix it again, unless they gave you a whole new frame. Best bet is to have someone who can cut and weld you back a decent or better cross member. Going through the dealer and trying to claim them to fix it on their dime will take some time.

 

Who is making it complicated?

 

everyone talking about going to dealerships, and who is responsible for prior work done to the truck.

truck was purchased as is, and the new owner did not inspect the frame. quit playing the blame game, fix it, and start enjoying the new tacoma

 

But that isn't true.

 

Reading comprehension is difficult I take it. Lol.

 

About as difficult as grammar seems to be for you.

 

Grammar such difficult, read more hard for you.

OP bought the truck from a private seller, not a dealer...

 

Yikes! Start up the welder and get to fixin it! If not find a buddy with one! I agree with others if it wasn't drivin and abused without the lift support bracket on, it should be fine. Get some square tube and paint and go to town! Be the first thing you do to that truck to make it YOURS.

 

Just want to add to this thread with a question. Last week my son and I took a 2004 access cab tacoma to our local mechanic for a look over. We were planning on buying the truck from a private party. There were some issues that could be fixed rather quickly. His biggest issue with him was that he stated to accomidate the 4" lift and lower the drivetrain, they cut the crossmember of the frame. Lowered the drivetrain and just left the frame as is with the crossmember cut out. I dont know anything about lifting a truck. Is this repairable? Expensive? Do you bolt on a new dropped piece to replace the crossmember? Truck was gorgeous. Owner said they bought it that way and didnt know anything about it. Mechanic said it shouldnt pass inspection that way. It was basically covered up with the skid plate.

 

As said above in much of this thread: the only solution is to cut out/clean up and weld in a new cross member while removing the lift. It isn't necessarily cheap. But having a drive-way stricken vehicle that can't pass inspection in your state is probably even more expensive.

 

i need this done to my Tacoma was it just as strong or stronger then it was before the cut ?

 

I’d bet it’s stronger depending on steel thickness used