2016 Tacoma Tailgate Replacment Bushing #66143-04020

If you own an early build of the 3rd Gen Tacoma, this thread may interest you.

After having my Tailgate stolen, I recently purchased a new tailgate and discovered another can of worms.

The bushing my tailgate came with did not fit my Tacoma's male hinge pin. The original hinge was too large for the bushing.

After doing some research I discovered that the bushing on my Tacoma was superseded by a slightly different design and there was no way of purchasing the older style bushing. The Dealerships solution was to replace the hinge on the truck setting me back another $250.00 on top of the cost of the new tailgate. So I went a different route.

Here is the background on the bushing in question.

Tacoma's built between August 2015 and February 2016 were equipped with:
Bushing # 66143-04020
Hinge Part # 66101-04020

Tacoma's built February 2016 and after were equipped with:
Bushing # 66143-04021
Hinge #66101-04021

The Tailgate itself and the hinge attached to the tailgate did not change and remain the same.

What does this mean?

If your Tacoma was built with the early version of the hinge & bushing and you need to replace your bushing, you will need to replace the hinge on your truck. Replacing the hinge requires the removal of your rear bumper.

After studying the new bushing and the old hinge, I realized I could fix this myself.

Below is a design I drew up in CAD based on the measurements of the new bushing and the old hinge. I printed out a number of prototypes before I ended up the the one here.

On the left is my 3d Print and on the right is the new bushing design from Toyota





Here is the my new 3D printed version installed on the tailgate


Here it is installed on the truck hinge.



The new piece fits snug and works. I even added a pin hole to accommodate some kind of cotter or spring pin to secure it. I wish I could compare this to the original, but I do not have any pics of it. If anyone here has a pre-February 2016 Tacoma I would appreciate if you could take a pic of the bushing installed like above and post it here for comparison.

If anyone is looking for this bushing, please PM me.

 

Great work man! Looks good

 

I've gone ahead and made this Bushing design available on Shapeways.com

If you need to replace yours at sometime in the future, you can acquire it there.

http://shpws.me/MImI

 

Awesome! Thank you for researching this and building the data for the item! Very helpful for some people.

 

THIS NEEDS A STICKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Good job. STICKY for others in need

 

I wish most of the posts on this board would be like this one. Informative and helpful...but most aren't.
Congratulations for an excellent post!

 

If i get a chance i can take a pic for you, i picked up my truck last january, build date of dec 2015.

 

I'm grossly impressed. (and thanks again for the coin organizer you "printed" for me)

How long did it take you to learn CAD? I'm toying with a CNC router and the holdback issue is wondering what the CAD learning curve is going to be like.

SB

 

Ignorant question: but are tailgates a hot commodity? Who just steels the tailgate. Anyway, might have to start locking mine i suppose.

 

Actually, now that I'm learning to make molds for my coinholder design, I plan to experiment with making a mold of the tailgate bushing. Only problem is, I do not have the original bushing to work from. I can use the 3d printed one, but I would prefer to use the original.

If anyone in Los Angeles has a Tacoma with the original bushing, I would love to borrow it for a day or two. I can compensate you with a free bushing and a coinholder. I can provide you with a temporary bushing to use in the interim. PM me if interested.

 

I first learned CAD back in highschool (90's), I'm not expert on it, but each time I try a new design I learn more about it. If you want to try CAD, start with Sketchup. Sketchup is a great platform to learn before you spend money on more advanced CAD software. Before you start CNC, you should learn to use a 3d Printer. Setting up CNC's is not easy, but today there are many software tools to help you with it.

 

They take (2) min to remove, making it easy pickings. When I filed my police report, I was told this happens all the time.

 

Awesome engineering there buddy that looks good. fortunately my 2016 is a late 2016

 

Here's the bushing installed on my tailgate:



I also have the Mobtown tailgate reinforcement plate, so the damper doesn't really work anymore without a hand guiding the tailgate down.

I'll let you know how this new bushing holds up.

 

Amazing info. i got mine in Nov. 2015, might get a picture for you. In Puerto Rico they are stealing them like it's hot! they go on the market for 800$ here. i had to replace my camera, lights, the whole tailgate connection. thanks for this. I was searching for a solution because the dealer here does not understand why it wont fit.

 

Very excellent.
Have ordered 2 through Shapeway. Toyota, after being told TWICE, we have your parts in, come on over (90 miles each way), then being told, what we have wont work....

 

My OEM bushing just broke and I'm VERY happy to find this thread! I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to find a replacement. Thanks @tacitos

 

Glad you like it, I've been running one for almost a year now and its still holding strong. I suspect these are stronger than OEM. I will post up a year review on here once I hit the 12-month mark in a few months.

 

My bushing has been blown out twice...Toyota replaced it once and I am looking for a replacement that wont break the bank...$250 for a piece of plastic is nuts!!