Hood Looks Off

TACO SPECs

Yr: 2020
Trim: SR5
Engine: 3.5L V6

The hood on my truck looks off, mainly on the left/front end - drivers side. Not sure what is going on there? Anyone have any ideas or have had this issue?

I tried adjusting the height of the rubber stoppers under the driver and passenger sides of the hood to no affect.

Even the headlights on the driver's side looks off as seen in the pics.

 

Are your headlight tabs broken? Your headlight looks like it has 'fallen down' from where it is supposed to be.

I have a similar issue with my hood to front grille surround (that rounded corner) that you do. Mine occurred while driving on a 2-lane highway with a speed limit of 65. A semi with a trailer passed me and my truck was rocked by a blast of air more vicious than any other that I have experienced before or since. I honestly thought my hood was going to be ripped open.

My hood corner to fender alignment is still great, but my hood was physically bent where it is curved due to that semi whooshing past. No adjustment of the rubber stoppers fixes my issue.

 

Has this truck ever been wrecked?
Was it like this when you bought it?
Did you buy it new?

looks fairly off to me, but I’m no collision expert.

 

Looks kind of like mine... A number of years back I got into a minor accident that required front end repair, luckily through my insurance. However since then, things on the front end haven't lined up quite the same.

 

I think driver side fender is bent down. The headlight mounts on driver side fender so makes sense why its low. Can you check driver side door/fender area from outside? is it aligning?

 

I think you need to have a collision center take a look at your truck it’s all cattywampus.

 

Caddywhompus.

I like that word. It sounds a little nicer than FUBAR too.

 

show us the big picture....
both sides....
Your hood looks stupid high....
You adjusted the hood stops, the wrong direction...
The lip of the hood will hang lower than the fender...

 

Agree, that headlight, grill and bumper look all down 3/8" to 1/2" look at gap between headlight and fender/ hood. Hood lines up with fender, fine. So either what I mentioned is down, or fender/ hood pushed up.

 

If you look at similar trucks, the hood lip is suppose to hang lower than the fender lip.....
Which is why I think, the hood is just way to high....
look at the last pic, side profile of the hood....
Its screaming high hood.....
What is going to cause the entire front clip to drop, unlikely...

Think majority are over thinking this...

 

I had a headlight housing break and my hood/fender alignment looked similar...I accidently hit my shifter into drive going through a car wash.....the brushes smashed into my left front...didn't see any visible damage for months but the housing must have continued cracking over time and eventually failed...

 

Top of the fenders line up with the top of the hood. Your hood is fine, your grill and headlights look to be dropped down. Any recent front end hits?

 

To quote my wife when I notice these things "I don't know how this happened "

 

I think there's just something inherently wrong with how the whole front end fits together. you either raise the hood to match the lines of the fenders, and have a gap like OP, or lower it to match the grill surround and top crease on the headlight, but have a hood that sits slightly lower than the fenders at the very front. It's weird to me that the hood and fender have the same thickness of crease above the light that should flow into each other, and yet the headlight isn't one smooth curve across the top, it has that dip above the projector for the hood to sit down into. Or maybe its just that stuff sags over time? maybe someone with a low mileage '23 can chime in.

 

That dip is actually intentional and prevents the headlights from breaking when you close the hood.

When you slam the hood shut, it will go down further than its normal resting position, then it rebounds up a little bit. If the headlights didnt have that cutout then shutting the hood would result in the hood contacting the top of the headlight and probably result in many broken headlights and damaged hoods.

 

Thanks y'all! it was was in a front-end collision a couple of years ago. The right-front end was hit pretty bad. The headlight tabs on the driver side are broken, they're connected but they are broken, I'll post pics of that soon. The driver's side front-end fender does appear to have been installed correctly too, I'll try to post pics of that soon as well. Should I take it back to the collision shop that repaired my taco and have them do it right or can these be done relatively easily?

Really good feedback and much appreciated!

 

Are you saying you have known the whole time your Tacoma had been in a front end collision and just now bringing it up? That should have been in your first post when you made the thread.

@Chew questioned you in post #3 if the truck had ever been wrecked….

 

If the collision shop you took it to has a lifetime warranty on their work, you should take it back and have them repair their work.

 

This is beyond off. The manager who signed off that truck leaving their shop should be fired.

 

a lot of independent bodyshops are full of hacks....
Thats why I always opt for a bs for that make attached to a dealership..
Theyre usually less hacky, & try to do things right....
Regardless if its not on your insurance companies, prefered shop list.
Insurance co cant force you to take it to when of their prefered shops, as a consumer you have the right to have it fixed by who ever you want...