Rear Bumper Alignment

Hey Guys-

So was cleaning my truck today and noticed my rear bumper is misaligned and doesn’t have equal spacing. Pretty sure no one hit me and it’s a 2 week old truck. Take it to dealer? Granted I’m a little OCD, but seems like a decent gap and not normal.

Driver side:



Passenger side:

 

Mine was identical to yours up until last Saturday. I removed the rear bumper, aligned my bed correctly, and then aligned my bumper to the bed. Easy to do all on your own.

 

This is a normal thing? Links to how to do what you did? Would be appreciated! My bed seems aligned but I never looked closely nor know what to look for...

 

Yes, almost every single one is somewhat not aligned. Some worse than others.

There is a thread on here with a great video of how to remove your bumper. I should be able to find it for you.

Also, I would not have been able to align my bed to the cab with how the bumper was sitting. That is why I had to do both the bed and bumper. YMMV

 

Here she be! Post #5

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/oem-rear-bumper-alignment.506232/

 

They're all like this, completely normal.

 

I didn’t even think to search thinking this was just my truck. Shouldn’t I be able to have the dealer fix this stuff though? Do you guys just live with it? In other words, is something bent or damaged, or is it more an assembly thing that can be fixed?

 

I think some people have had their dealer do it. Some dealers have told people its impossible to do too haha I'd rather not have them shove on my bed and bumper. I did it myself no problem. Bed moves very easily once you loosen the 6 bed bolts. Most difficult part was removing the license plate lights.

 

So nothing is bent/damaged or anything, just installed misaligned? If so I might ask dealer at 5k service to do it or just live with it until it bothers me more. Also, is a misaligned bed obvious? I never checked it but didn’t notice it being off.

 

After a couple beers it’s all good

 

I thought about it but the chances of the techs screwing something up weighs more on me than the minor asymmetry that I would never have noticed until I read a thread about the bumpers awhile back.

Taking your truck to the dealer is like taking antibiotics, don't do it unless you need to.

 

I hear you. As long that nothing is actually damaged and is just installed incorrectly

 

How long did it take you?

 

Maybe an hour. That was with me struggling to get the bumper lights out and stopping to help my dad with his stuff every now and then.

Edit: That includes aligning my bed and aligning my bumper.

 

I just watched that video with the blue taco and it looks pretty involved. Almost want to live with it as it looks like a PITA or make dealer do it. If they F it up it’s on them to fix. Again though, the misalignment is just a result of how it was installed and nothing is bent or broken?

 

Its all looks, nothing bent/broken. I was installing bed stiffeners so I went ahead and did it all at once. Had to remove the rear two bed bolts to install the stiffeners anyways.

 

So far, looks like I got 2 things I’m having the dealer look at... taco lean and bumper alignment. Both of these issues are widely suffered from and normal so wonder what the dealer will say.

Oh yeah, I still love my truck

 

Is the bumper misalignment related to bed misalignment? Or is it a separate thing? I will look again at my bed but I think it’s aligned ok.

Also, are there actual instructions anywhere on how to align it? So far in the threads I’ve only seen a video on removing the entire video