fuel door inexplicably bent

Own a 17 Tacoma TRD Pro. Bought it brand new. Never had an issue with it. Have notice that the fuel door ( which just opens , no spring loaded cable or lock ) was getting a little difficult to open. Didn't think about it much, until the other day. I filled up the tank and the fuel door wasn't even close to lining up. I didn't force it and decided to drive home to check it. In photo 1 you can see that the door was way out of alignment, had i forced it, I would have scratched the shit out of the paint. I checked the forum and discovered other people had the same trouble. Absoutely bizzar how much it seemed to bend on it's own. I decided to hit the outer edge of the door with a rubber mallet and piece of wood. ( Photo 2 ) It seemed to do the trick and I noticed that the little tab on the inside of the fuel door at the bottom was still catching a little bit. ( photo with the red circle. ) I used a interior trim tool ( very hard plastic as to not scratch the paint ) and was able to bend that little tab inward so it didn't catch anymore. I think the tab at the bottom is actually the culprit in all of this. Try bending that tab in. On mine it worked fantastic ( along with hitting the outer edge with the mallet and wood block ) good luck.

 

This is your only warning. Mine creaked a bit though as well. Yeah the hinge on these are wonky and prone to fatigue due to lack of lubrication/build up off gunk. Not just the 3rd gens, but everyone reading this should lube their gas door hinge before this happens. Mine is also a 17 and is wonky, I notice it when I look in my rearview mirror that the body lines are off a tiny bit.

 

Not inexplicably, it has been talked about, and noted on here, and all over the interwebs, for a long time. it comes from a lack of lube, and care. then a freeze or a slight seize, and BLAMO! You have bent the hinge and or outer door.

unfortunately, they dont come pre-painted from the factory so, you can try to bend it back into shape, and lube it up with spray penetrant like pb blaster, or the like, then when free, hit it with a lithium lube, or lanolin corrosion protectant/lube like fluid film, woolwax or surface shield. or buy a new one have a shop paint it, and then coat the hinge area with a protector. good luck. Ski

 

Thanks for the heads up! I also have a 17 pro and it has started being a little wonky this past week.

 

Just goes to show what an occasional drop of lube can prevent....

 

Welcome to TW. Not uncommon. Mine did the same thing with no warning. Managed to bend things back so it looks "OK" but not perfect. Some day I might mess with it some more.