AutoBody shop swapped frame, didn't torque the U bolt nuts

Some of you might have read my other thread about the fate of my poor Crumpy.
TLDR my truck got a total frame swap at a collision center and now I´m just finding the most joyful things.

The latest one is that my U bolt nuts (you know, the thing that keeps my rear axle from yeeting itself from under me) weren't torqued. And that´s an understatement. I was able to remove one of them with just my bare hands and the others were looser than a bucket of fishing worms. Now I can't help myself but wonder "What the fuck else did they forget to tighten?"

I considered taking my truck to the dealer for an inspection, but once I explained the magnitude of the work they did they said that they cannot possibly inspect everything they did (that is, without taking the entire truck apart again and making sure everything is done right)

At this point, I just don't know what to do, and I come to TW in search of your wisdom. In a fit of rage, I considered suing the technician, the shop, their mothers, and their cows, but I think that's counterproductive and also probably expensive.

Anyways, thanks for reading my tirade, and I can't wait to see what TW comes up with, although I can already see some of the answers (I'm not selling my truck)

 

I’m not sure about taking the whole truck apart I’d pull the wheels off and go through all the suspension, cab/body mounts, engine tranny mounts and if anything feels off or what not look into it a little deeper

 

They probably used the spec in Service Manual, which isn’t right.
If they torqued them to 37 ft/lb, they were probably loose by the time you got home.

Tight with an impact.
(Or 73 ft/lb is what I’ve heard it should be)

 

Oh yeah, as soon as I noticed I gave them a couple ugga duggas, and then also noticed that my leafs are almost horizontal, so I’m gonna need to get a better pack

 

That’s probably what I will end up doing. By the end of it I’ll probably know where and how tight every nut and bolt has to be

 

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
If it comes loose you’ll know what it is

I had a bolt come loose before. Didn’t get mad about it. Checked other stuff which was mostly fine. But in your case there may be a little more to check on a frame.
I’m just saying my experience.

think about it this way. If you had the means, you would replace your own frame.
You got a new frame out of the deal and didn’t have to pay for it. Many of us are jealous. Mine hasn’t rusted enough to qualify and is probably out of the warranty period.

so just add to your to do list looking up a frame replacement DIY and checking bolt tightness. Sounds easy.

you’re still gonna have to deal with a bunch of pain in the ass shit later on anyway that will happen on its own with no one to blame.
And we can probably both agree that once your rear axle seals start leaking figuring out how to do a rear bearing job is gonna be much harder than checking some bolts tightness


Because practically speaking you may not have any recourse
-give it back to the same guy to leave another one loose?
-take it back to them if they claim another guy will get it just to let it sit outside and claim it was checked when it wasn’t? Who’s gonna pay for it? Toyota warranty? No. Dealer internal, the same dealers in it to profit? No

luckily nothing bad happened
With such a big job it’s not surprising a bolt was left loose versus something small quick and little.
Toyota warranty time is also notorious for paying garbage unrealistic times that rush techs like 4 hours to pull the dash and replace an evaporator. Resulting in them making money and an unhappy customer from a rushed job. You gonna tell them? They won’t give a fuck.

You also gonna complain about the multiple issues these trucks have that Toyota after so many years hasn’t even bothered to easily redesign an updated part for like other companies do?

Toyota corporate japans slogan is fuck the customer
Or whoever is in charge
Why do you think they over price $8k vehicles as $40k and “reliable” when they not necessarily even are, especially modern ones
Because they laugh to the bank and at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about

shit rolls down hill. From above the dealer.
Go work for a dealer. Ask about the employee discount. Find out that there isn’t much of one because the grandfather company in another country wants to sell you an $8 bolt for $100.
If they don’t care about their employees that represent them and wear their logo then they do not care about a customer

you are best off doing as much of things yourself as you can because that way you know it’s done right and put care into the vehicle

You can try taking it back if you want. Maybe it’s worth the hour of traffic and hopefully they give you a loaner car while the tech who probably remembers the job and has a repair manual goes through it real quick giving everything a double check. It’s your call

 

Yeah, at this point I just gotta become my own master mechanic. It’s just a sad tale of woe. Also, to clarify, they didn’t tighten any of the bolts, not just one.

At this point I’m just seeing this as a opportunity to get to know my truck better and to not rely on anyone else to repair it

 

that’s usually how it goes but from a price standpoint
The first time people get an estimate for $3k on something not that hard is the fork in the road where people decide to either start honing their skills or just pay those bills, because there’s always more estimates, more stuff breaks, it just keeps coming.
Next thing you know it’s $3k this $3k that $3k something else that could be $1k to DIY including tools to keep and use/benefit from for life
plus knowing the car more to get it moving if it breaks down on a trail parking lot or side of the road if a tow is an hour away

even if it’s just better navigating conversation with a mechanic or advisor that knowledge still helps

if it’s a lot/many I might bring it back so at least it can hopefully get to a better starting point
Maybe they won’t get too embarrassed, will fix it, and just use it as a learning experience to move on from

if the same guy is doing that to every car they can only find out when a knowledgeable person like you brings it back; maybe they’ll improve the quality of work the shop puts out by getting rid of the guy if they find out he’s that bad
If it was anybody else but you without car knowledge they might not even know about it and then it can turn into lies of additional cost “it’s something else”