Check your Tacoma - Hairline Cracks?

I've been reading several instances lately on other forums about members finding hairline cracks in the steel uprights in the rear of the bed. I checked mine a short time ago and sure enough, I have them too.

The area in question is adjacent to the tailgate hinges near the bottom of the taillight. If you open your tailgate you should be able to see what I am talking about. I'll try and get some pics ASAP also.

 

W/o starting a debate, do the same people with cracks leave their tailgate down ever or a lot? Mine is 2 yo and has no cracks ....yet, never leave gate down 'cept for a plywood load i did.

 

I have read about this issue before, but I am not sure if it was this forum where I read about it. I believe it was covered under waranty as it should be...

 

2ng gen beds are very weak, if you look in your mirror while going over bumps or are ever driving behind another 2nd gen going over bumps you will c what im talking about. Our beds are very flexible, they twist and shake with every little bump. My guess is that any one with cracks has been driving on rough terrain.

 

I'd actually have to say that its more so of the overly stiff sh*tty stock suspension. Having a good suspension/lift will tone down all the twisting and 'shocks' the bed has to deal with.

 

really i find the stock shocks to be the opposite of stiff, I installed 5100's and its a lots more stiff now.

 

I leave it down all the time for the bikes. Ill check if i have them tonight

 

Tailgate is never down unless I carry something too long for the bed and requires the gate to be down - which is rare.

Just posting this up as a FYI as this doesn't really bother me much unless it escalates into something more drastic as the truck is now 5 years old. Others who find this problem on a newer Tacoma might be concerned though and may have luck getting it fixed if they wish.

Apparently what happens here is the two uprights begin to crack and "fall away" from each other, making the opening in the end of the bed larger (between the taillights). Some of the individuals who first noticed this have camper shells, and noticed after time that the rear hatch on the shell would no longer seal due to the bed spreading so far apart, also increasing the opening in the rear of the shell. I don't run a camper shell but I do have a fiberglass tonneau that is on the truck from spring until fall.

Its hard to see in the pics but the majority of the crack is visible but it does extend a little more but isn't visible in the pics - maybe an inch long in total on both sides.



Left Side



Right Side



Left side tailgate gap



Right side tailgate gap

Anyone who is anal enough about this may want to get it checked out if they so desire - but like I stated earlier I doubt I'll do anything about it as the truck is now 5 years old. It isn't something I wanted to find, but honestly I don't care much either. I do have an appointment at the dealer tomorrow to get a wheel bearing replaced under my extended warranty, so I may mention this in passing. If they want to do something fine, if not I don't really care.

 

If he has an AAL thats probally why the ride is still pretty stiff. When I got rid of my aal for a leaf pack it was like going from a track car to a cadillac.

 

yup probably, but still i thought my stock shocks were very soft.

I havent looked but im pretty sure mine are cracked, as I can tell from looking in my rear view that the box is widening, I can see a space between the box walls and the tail gate on both sides.

 

hmmm... When Ed put his "new" tailgate on he was having problems with the gap on the left and right. I wonder...

 

I think you will find that most trucks have those cracks. When I found my cracks I started looking at others that day, 3 in the parking lot at work all were cracked from a little to a lot. Mine still are and I think I will let it ride until I see it being a problem then weld it up and add a gusset in there somewhere.

 

I have an 06 with almost 100K on it. I know my truck has been used off road quite a bit (bought used) but nothing too gnarly. It appears I have a slight crack on the right side, nothing on the left. The crack hasn't really separated tho, and is way smaller than in the photos above. Just eyeballing the gaps on either side of the tailgate, they seem to be pretty even.

 

I am glued to this post! The brake pedal thing doesn't concern me -people are idiots. The drive shaft and spring pack TSB - whatever. Bed cracks - hmmmmmm that sucks. I guess if it is just starting after 5 years that's not too bad, but it makes me wonder what will it look like in 10 years? I know people in my area that keep their Toyota trucks for 10+ years. From the looks of the pics it is minor. However, frequent heavy tailgate loads can quickly extend the cracks, I am interested to hear what the dealership says.

 

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OZ

 

I have an '07 with no cracks. Also where the crack is stemming from... the 'curved cutout'... the diameter of my cutout appears to be much larger than yours. Just an observation.