Father's Day Tacoma Misfortune...

I have a 2012 double cab with the off road package. I love the truck, but....

I was hauling a mattress home from St. Louis for a friend on Father's Day. I pulled off of 64 east at exit 34. I got to the stop sign on the off ramp, and turned left. All of the sudden I heard a loud thumping noise (literally thought a rear tired shredded. So I pull over to the shoulder and get out of my truck. Get out to see that the front ratchet strap wasn't there...

I see that the front right bed cleat was snapped in half, rubber all around my rear sliding window was dented (luckily no broken window), dents/scratches on the cab under the window, and a 3 inch portion of the top rail of my bed liner cracked and shredded to the fiberglass.

I look under my truck to see the entire strap wrapped around the drive shaft, muffler dented to hell and metal plate covering the gas tank dented to hell also. Sick to my stomach. The extra strap got sucked between the bed and the cab.

I guess things could have been worse. No broken window, minimal (to the eye) cosmetic damage, and from what I can tell, the drive shaft is fine. I'm taking it to a friend that is a mechanic to inspect.

From what I can see, it is going to be about $3500.00 to fix, and like I said, the damage is very minimal. The entire bed liner will need to be replaced, new sliding rear window, bed removed to fix dents on cab, new ehaust and guard plates. A canopy top would hide all of the damage, I just hate to leave it unfixed on my new truck.

I will post some pictures for you guys tomorrow, if anyone is interested in my misfortune...

 

.........uh.......Pictures??

 

What? And how would a mattress do that I have a barbeque in mine and it was fine

 

I'm guessing a loose end of the strap got caught in the tire/wheel.

 

Agreed...the cleats are pretty hard to break by just tying something down

 

I will post pictures tomorrow.

I actually feel fortunate to have had it strapped to the pastic cleat rather than the metal hooks in the bed. The plastic cleat snapped. I can only imagine what damage might have happened if one end of the strap had stayed hooked in the bed.

My guess in that the extra strap flew up in the air and fell down between the bed and the cab. It's my own fault for not tying the extra strap to the tightened strap.

 

The mattress didnt cause the damage, the strap did.

 

Yeah, the cleat is great, but the extra strap wound around the drive strap and snapped the hook off of the cleat, breaking it.

 

Hey guys,

sorry it took me so long to post some pics. Here are a couple of my bed liner and back window. I'm not sure what the best way to fix it would be, besides turning it into insurance. I just hate to replace the back window when it didn't break the window. And I hate to replace the entire bed liner when just a 2 inch piece on the top rail is messed up...

 

Wow. You really are lucky it didn't break the rear glass - that would be costly.
Bed Liner - $1200

Metal Plate on Gas tank can be replaced with a much more stout ATO version for <$200 (http://www.armortechoffroad.com/2005-Tacoma-Access-Double-Cab-Gas-Tank-Skid_p_9.html)

Your muffler is dented but is a new exhaust really necessary? That can even be replaced with a TRD exhaust for <$400. Or else $200 to have muffler replaced.

I don't see the trim available separately but it can be pulled from a yard possibly.

Back damage can be pulled with a stud welder or tapped from the inside of the cab and DIY repaired fairly easily - compared to repairing other body damage, it shouldn't be as difficult. If you are able to DIY, that wouldn't actually cost too much.

Basically I'd guesstimate $1800 if you did as much work yourself as possible. That is a hell of a lot. The truck bed is a bummer . I might personally take this one to insurance unless you can get your hands on a bed liner for less $$. Hope it works out well, OP.

 

Damn.

I will be remembering to tie down the tie downs.

 

That's what what we pay insurance is for. really sux though. I had a strap get wound around my tire in my old dodge Dakota. bent my bed and metal hook before it broke. I wasn't going fast either, just driving through neighborhood.

 

There is a LOT of lift produced by a mattress.
Any time I see one on top of a car or pickup on the road, I steer clear because I assume they are not secure (and unless they are in an enclosed truck/trailer, they are not secure.)

The bed cleats could be rated to 600lbs and a mattress at highway speed would exceed that. The broken bed box told the story.

 

How do you replace the bedliner? It's a composite bed.

 

That's why it's a $2000 job.

 

I really appreciate your help. My thoughts were exactly the same on the muffler, not too sure that I need to replace it.

Do you think I need to replace the gas tank cover? It didn't do a lot of damage. I can take a picture tomorrow and post it and one of my muffler.

You can see what got messed up on my bed liner in the picture also. I thought about seeing if a Line X dealer could spray just the top rail? The dents also are not too noticeable, but to me, they are. I'm not sure what to do yet.

 

That's exactly what happened to me. I pulled off an exit ramp and was going about 30mph. Luckily I wasn't doing 70+mph on the interstate...

 

That's why I am considering seeing if the top rail could be fixed at a Line X dealer. I have a good body shop here, but the estimate is $4,400.00 and I hate to have a window that ISN't broken replaced and my entire bed being removed on a truck with 15,000 miles.

 

Back when I used to do auto glass, I cant tell you how many back windows I replaced because people left the left over strap loose and just floating around in the bed, eventually, the strap will find its way between the bed and the cab and wrap around the driveline. Thus ripping the strap or mount to peices and shattering a back glass.... moral of the story, always secure the leftover end of ratchet straps!

 

You would have to replace the bed. Sucks! That's the only down side to these beds. They are light and pretty durable. But certain abuse does have a pretty adverse effect. A metal bed would bend or ding. These gouge or shred. It's a toss up.