Fuel door bent!

why shouldn't you need to lube the hinge?

 

Have you seen a ford ranger or Nissan frontier fuel door? Those are well thought out.

 

Or a Ford Tempo or Chevy Celebrity or Mercedes E Class or Infiniti M35 or Honda Fit or a C3 Corvette or Mazda Millennia or…

…forget it, Bonney Lass. Their life experiences have always been one ofthe privileged fuel door Luberatti, and the idea that you could design it in a way that is less flimsy and doesn’t fail spectacularly without lotsa grease does nothing to sway their fraternal order.

We lost the debate, anyway. We’re lubing and gingerly fingering our doors into that good night.

 

I’ve replaced one on my second gen. It wasn’t too bad through the bed cubbie for bolts. The hinge spring loses its paint the first time you open it and the hinge is foil thin itself. It’s cheap, but so is silicone spray. Did they continue the tradition on the 4th gen?

 

From what I've seen in videos it looks like it has been redesigned.

 

yes, I get that it is fragile, just thought you felt someone else should lube it for you....actually the dealer should, pre-delivery..

 

My fuel door got tweaked somehow a few years ago and I used some wooden spoon handles to tweak it back, it’s much better but not perfect. I’ve now been using some lube every few months. It’s a poor design and ridiculous that Toyota hasn’t come up with some simple bolt-on repair kit by now. Just start watching parking lots where there might be Tacoma parked and take a look at the fuel doors. It’s easy to drive by and notice the fuel door alignment. You be the judge as to whether the tweaked fuel door is a big trend or if it’s just the 10-20 people on this forum. Do Tundras and 4 Runners have this problem?

 

I've had this problem, got it bent back into place 1-2 years ago, and yesterday after filling up I find the same problem. Noting the suggestion to lubricate the hinge once or twice a year, I wasn't doing that. But for now I need to try bending it back into place without breaking the hinge, and then touch up paint around where the fuel door scratched up edges.

 

I have lubed mine once with silicone grease about three or four years ago Has not needed a relube since.

 

I mean I could see that living in AZ

 

I had mine taped for a while until it fell off and rattled along side of the truck down the highway, that was the last straw. After so many bends it just snapped the hinge.

 

I just fell victim to this damn fuel door goblin. Opened her up at Costco smooth as a whistle, then it wouldn't close. I bent it down a bit and got it to close, then my dumbass thought, hey lets just bend the tabs down a bit that are hitting. And next thing ya know the paint is cracking on the door from bending too much

Checking junk yards online for a color matched non bent one...before I get a raw black one from Toyota.

 

I can’t find a single Tacoma at a junkyard in my area! Good luck!

 

If mine finally breaks off I’m just gonna buy a new one take it down and have it painted and have it put on by a body shop

 

Because of this thread I cleaned the area really well last time I washed the truck and then sprayed Fluid Film on the hinge. While I was at it, I did the same on Wifey's Sienna - which ALSO is known to be easy to break. It looks like exactly the same design, with minor differences due to body shape.

Easy to shoot a spritz of Fluid Film in there when I wash the truck.

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I tried bending mine back but it seems too far gone. Hearing the raw ones from Tacoma are black, and my truck is black, I wonder if it even needs to be painted if going on a black truck, if I don't care about matte up against glossy? I just want the thing to close! Is painting still needed to avoid corrosion?

 

Yeah, caught off guard, I almost hastily bent mine at the gas station after a fill-up. I then hesitated after I applied a little force and it did not correct. Got home and looked this issue up on here. Sure a shit it was a known issue that just required a little lube on those archaic hinges. Went out right away and sprayed a little WD-40 and it fell back into place ASAP. WTF? almost dorfed my fuel door and damaged the paint just above it needlessly. I spray it regularly now and has not done it since.