Hood/fender/grille surround/front bumper alignment TRD Sport

Hood/fender/grille surround/front bumper alignment on TRD Sports. I have messed with trying to get these pieces in near perfect alignment off and on for nearly two weeks. I have checked out the twenty 2018 TRD Sports on my dealer's lot a couple of times. Most of them have these four pieces out of alignment one way or another. On my own Sport, I have found that if I get the fenders and hood in pretty good alignment, the hood sits a bit high where it joins the grille surround. No matter what adjustment I make to the hood and fenders, the hood surround still does not center right to left on the bumper. All is these alignment issues are minuscule, but still there should be none. Legos have a much better fit, than the Tacomas' fantastic plastic pieces. So what do I do about it? Quit lookin'...or at least try to.

 

What is you're definition of "minuscule" ? If you're using gap gauges and straight edges and stressing out....

I have not looked at the Tacoma's blueprints, but a lot of other automotive body-panel print tolerances for the profiles and edges is about 0.5 to 0.7mm (.020-.030"). So if you have an "eye for tight details" coupled with OCD you'll have to look in the $150K+ vehicle range, or get some body shims and washers. (body shops that restore old cars will give you some pointers on doing this as sometimes it can be "counter intuitive" and you just 'chase' an issue around the truck).

If you take into consideration all the minor tooling, manufacturing and material variations with production volumes... I'm amazed how well modern vehicles actually "gap out" and "line up".

I was impressed with how well everything lined up on my truck, never even had the Bed or rear Facia (I refuse to call it a bumper) misalignment issues on mine.

What I was not impressed with, was the factory orange peel on the paint.

If you want the alignments and gaps to look much better on your truck....
Go walk around the Ford and GM dealership lots,
Then take a look at the NEW Toyota CH-R's (new tooling and new plant, with assembly issues)
Then take a look at your truck again.

I thought I was a poor man because I had no shoes, then I met a man with no feet.

 

I didn't mention the orange peel, especially on the hood of my truck. My wife and I have had five Tacomas prior to my 2018. No problems with panel alignment in any of them...nor were there any paint nibs or other paint problems. The last three were assembled in the Mexico plant. Both the 2011 and the 2015 did have more orange peel that the others. Maybe Toyota is simply trying to crank out these Gen 3 trucks a bit too fast. And I most definitely agree with your last comment. I am indeed very fortunate to have such a nice truck and to a have it paid for.

 

Any pictures of what your concerned about?

 

Pics show lower grille surround....difference between right and left and no way to adjust. Because of adjustments I made to the hood and the fenders, photos will not show the other alignment issues. Like I said, the issues are minuscule but still there shouldn't be any.

 

Reviving because I just installed the Body Armor Hiline bumper and now have the same problem - did you find a solution?

 

Just wanted to say I found a solution to the pinching - I shaved off more of my bumper a few times trying to minimize it, but nothing was working. I ended up added about 4 washers to the mount to the frame and it resolved the pinching issue. Looks back to stock and because of the trim BA sent You can’t tell how much more was shaved off one side.