'04 bed angle vs. cab

Hi all,

This is my first post here so I wanted to say thanks in advance for having this community as a resource.

Here's my story. I purchased my first Tacoma on 3/19/2020. It's an '03 with 231,500 miles. Really nice condition though overall. Long story short, someone rear ended me on 4/7/2020 and totaled it, so I started shopping for another gen 1 because I liked the first one so we'll.

I found an '04 4x4 Xtracab V6 automatic this past Friday. 214,500 miles. Has had the frame replaced as part of the recall. Really good condition, except after I bought it I noticed from the side that the bed doesn't seem to sit at the same angle as the cab. The bed seems "flatter" compared to the cab I guess. Also, when standing behind the truck the bed rail on the driver's side seems a bit lower than the passenger side (I don't have a picture of that at the moment unfortunately).

In the attached photo, it's sitting beside my totaled '03 and if you look closely, the bed rails on the '03 sit slightly higher than the '04.

It rides incredibly rough over bumps. Much worse than my '03. If you hit a bad enough bump or rough bridge at 75-80 (on the interstate), it feels unstable like the wheels temporarily lose contact with the road. thinking it could be the leaf springs needing replaced, but they look new with no rust or anything. I suppose it could also need shocks and/or struts but I really know nothing about suspensions.

Bonus question, what would you do with the wrecked '03? Engine needs valve covers replaced eventually, but they're not leaking too badly yet. Passenger rear strut was bent in the wreck so it would need replaced. Probably needs an alignment because the front passenger tire got whacked during the accident. Body damage is about $7k done right, or $4k patched back together good enough to drive. Previous owner had recently replaced shocks, brakes, alternator, water pump, timing belt, plugs,a wires and some pulley under the hood that was squeaking. It was really great for 231,500 miles so I hate to scrap it. Insurance wants $1,360 for me to retain the vehicle.

 

Hmmm, as far as the new one goes, if the bed isn't sitting right it shard to tell why from these pictures. I'd want to look at the mounts for the bed and see that they're right to the frame and not damaged.


As far as the old one goes. If you've got time and patience you could part it out. Or put it up on Craigslist and see if someone wants to buy it outright .

 

Yeah you're right on this I think. I kind of wanted to have it fixed and then decide which one to keep and sell the other. But with 231,500 miles it probably isn't worth fixing I guess. I really enjoyed it for the short time I had it, but financially it probably doesn't make sense to fix. Thanks for the advice on both questions!

 

Honestly z I think it would be fun to fix as a project, but justifying it on a financial basis alone it's gonna be tough. You might be able to sell it for more than it took to fix, but probably not by much

 

The bed not riding at the same height is likely worn leaf springs. But feeling unstable at speed I would think would be more likely to be in the front end. I would check to see if you have a sway bar, and if the sway bar is connected, and also would check LCA bushings.

Would be curious to see some more pictures of the totaled one.

 

The '03 was pretty great I think for 231,500 miles. Have receipts from previous owner for new plugs, wires, water pump, shocks, exhaust, and probably some other things I'm not remembering. All done in the last two years. I'm not sure what I'll do, but if I can figure out a way to put it back together I think I like it more than my '04 with 214,800 miles.

 

Hope you're alright! I thought your first pictures showed a lot of front end damage considering you were rear ended. Looks like your trailer absorbed a lot of the impact.

 

Yeah my friend's 13yo son was with me so that was the scariest part, but neither of us were seriously injured thankfully. The trailer did take the brunt of it, but he still hit the bed hard enough that it put the dent in the rear of the cab on the driver's side. Then he pulled it back left and did a number on the front passenger fender and tore the front off, too.

 

Oh and I notice you're in Louisville. I bought the '04 in Richmond, KY and I live in Bloomington, IN so just drove through Louisville a few days ago.

 

• ouch

 

so was a hit and run? on the road? yeesh

 

No he swerved right to try to avoid us and just caught the rear passenger corner. But I think he was about to hit a mailbox or go in a ditch or something and tried to get back on the road which is when he tore the front up. He managed to get stopped about 200 feet down the road after he went around me. Wasn't too nice or apologetic about any of it.

 

texting and driving, lucky that's all that happened. back on topic, you could probably make more than the ~$1400 by parting out the wrecked truck. But that's up to you and your time/skill/wants

 

sorry to hear about your truck, you were way more polite and nice than I would have been. this is exactly what kinda scares me, is how will I react if someone totals my 03 DC. it would really piss me off, and I might spend a night in jail for assault depending on who the driver was. These trucks in nice condition are getting harder to find with low milage.

 

The part that really blows is his insurance company's settlement offer. Since my truck had 231,500 miles on it, I have battled with them just to get to 6,300. NADA clean trade is 6,700 and clean retail is 9,200. Of course they have their own valuation company (CCC One) who unsurprisingly originally valued it at 3,900 and I've fought tooth and nail just to get them to 6,300. I really think in its condition prior to the wreck, the truck was worth $7k-$8k.

 

I'll probably hang on to it one way or another. My heart wants to fix it, but pretty sure with the miles it has on it (231,500) it doesn't make sense financially. It's just that overall I like it better than the '04 I just bought. The seats especially - the '03 had bucket seats and the '04 has more like a 60/40 split bench I guess. But the '03 seats are so much more comfy to me.

 

It might make sense, especially if you fix most of it yourself. Needs a new fender, headlights, grille, taillights, leaf springs and rear shocks from what I can see. I bet you could source all of that for around $1000. Get a body shop to bang that rear bed corner out so you can fit the tail light, give that corner some white touch up paint. It wouldn't be perfect but I bet you could sell it for at least 4k at that point.

 

you can swap the seats and console pretty easy since they are the same truck essentially. all the bolt holes should be there