2008 Rear Ended - Thoughts?

Picked the Tacoma up from the body shop today which cost me $378! Had to pay for their time taking it apart plus the tow. Luckily I wasn't charged for storage at $75 a day as they had it over a month! Bumper had to be pried off and now sits oi the bed of the truck tied down!

I called the other insurance company to have them send me the full $5,000 check her policy has. They are going to do so. On the way home from the body shop today, I hit two local auto body shops to see if either could repair it within the $5,000 I will have. One is a bit iffy on the frame and if he can straighten it out without it cracking. He's supposedly looking into something and will contact me to bring the truck in for a better viewing once he has whatever info he's seeking. I think he's looking at whether he can cut the frame and weld in a new piece. The second shop is like Toyota, they are iffy on the frame repair as then liability goes back to them if the truck is hit in the rear again and something happens. This repair would go to CarFax so it would be readily available. Makes complete sense to me.

I asked Toyota to send me a full and complete estimate for the entire repair they would charge so if I have to go to small claims court to collect the overage from the insurance, I'll use their estimate as I'm sure it'll be higher and for OEM parts. I think it was at about $12k but they say they always run into issues when the frame is replaced. I'm expecting maybe a $15k total fix from Toyota.

I'll have to sue her for $10k plus the expense to get the truck. Pa. has a $12k limit in small claims so I should be within limits. I figure with all the witnesses that saw the accident, she shouldn't have a foot to stand on. I have my attorney looking into all of this.

The concussion bit is a real SOB guys! I am having major issues still to this day. Can't do regular PT, tried chiro care but can't do that, been off work for two months now. One doesn't know how severe these concussions are until you have one yourself. I wouldn't wish it on anyone!

Thanks, fellas!

Anyone know of a body shop in and around Pittsburgh who may take on the frame repair???

 

Totally.

 

As one seeing my wife go through the same thing medically, you def need to be seen by a top neurologist if you haven't already. She's still out of work.

 

Guys, I found this place out of RI that makes sections on the Tacoma frame for rust replacement.

https://www.autorust.com/safe-t-cap-kits/

I'm going to order a set of the rears for my Tacoma as the body man told me today that they should work as needed. It states in the directions for these that they can be overlaid on existing rails or cut out and welded in place. $240 shipped to my door for both parts!

Of course they have the typical liability statement on their webpage that they cannot be held liable down the line if these are used. This seems like a standard thing with frame repair instead of replacement. I want to keep my Taco so I'm going to just go this route and have these installed.

Thoughts?

 

Anyone in the Pittsburgh area know of someone who would be willing to cut out the bad sections of the frame and weld in these new pieces? Cash job, under the table, nobody has to know! I'm desperate here!

 

Let me ask my buddy.

 

Thank you, steelcity2. Let me know as soon as you find something out.

Does anyone know what size these weld on nuts are for the hitch? They are welded on both the frame and the reinforcment plates.

 

M12x1.25mm
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bed-rear-bumper-and-hitch-bolt-sizes.640320/

 

Gotta hand it to the state -- figure out reasonable liability limits in 1927, and then just never update them again for the rest of time.

 

https://pineautospecialists.com/services/welding/

Reviews seem pretty good on this place. No experience with them myself. Good luck....hope this is helpful to you!

 

Guys, the rear bumper on my truck, I'm hearing the TRD Sport SR5 has a different bumper??? What's the difference between that bumper and this one on ebay?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/283320753655?fits=Model:Tacoma|Make:Toyota&epid=1379683549

I ordered one of those but am now trying to cancel the order as I'm hearing the SR5 package has something different that requires a special bumper.

Anyone know what the hell this is about?

 

So, I'm at Harbor Freight today looking at the frame straightening kits they have in case I need to try this repair myself. I'm talking to a employee about welding and some guy comes up to me and says he could do the repair for me at his shop. He's a motorcycle fabricator. He says he can cut out the bad rear rails and weld in the replacements I have. Didn't give me a price yet but he's local to me being only a mile away from home!!!

I'm going to keep him on the back burner in case the body shop I made an appointment with in April decided not to do the repair. I kind of want this shop to fix the Taco as they are older, experienced, guys who want to laser measure everything to ensure it's right! I also removed the rear most bed bolts today and low and behold the bed that was bent up a little further up the frame popped back into shape! Those rear rails were bent upward from the hitch so it pushed the rear of the bed down. I see no other damage further up the frame as I went over everything today with a fine tooth comb!

So, I need some opinions here. If I let the fabricator do the work, would he do the proper measurements to ensure the bumper, hitch and tailgate all fit back correctly? I take it fabricators are all about measurements as they need to ensure what they're welding is correct. This guy builds motorcycle frames so I'm leaning towards trusting him.

Thoughts?

 

I like the body shop idea of laser measuring. Plus they do this stuff day in and day out , plenty of experience. Now this professionalism comes at a price . I'm not saying the motorcycle fab guy can't do it . You talked both ,what's your gut telling you ?

 

They both could and should yes, but I'd tend to go with the shop route..reason being if they F up you have some kind of recourse.

 

I believe the bumpers are the same, but the mounting method is different. One mounts to a bar that's attached to the frame and the other mounts to the tow hitch assembly.