I seem to have a knack for unusual stuff happening to my truck. Seems I found that there's a weakness in the frames of pre mid 2000 year trucks that can lead to the frame failing. Basically I had allot of gear kept near the end of the bed of my truck (not over the rated load though) and due to this weakness, the frame would flex up and down due to the location of the weight as I went over bumps. After a few months of the up and down movement in the frame, the metal fatigued to the point of failure, and the frame bent downwards. I ended up having my insurance company replace the frame, as the Toyota dealer said they had no knowledge of any problems (so they said) But, starting mid-2000 and even on the new frame installed on my truck, Toyota now has a reinforcing plate added right were my problem was - yet they did nothing about mine, and let my insurance company pay for it - all the work was done at a Toyota Dealer. If they didn't know of a problem with this area, why is it now reinforced on newer trucks? Hmmmm.. I've heard rumors from other dealers that frames were also getting bent from the transport trucks - the truck would be tied down tight and the transport trucks would hit some good bumps, and the frames on that side would bend a bit.. resulting in trucks delivered with a slightly bent frame on one side.
Well, all is good for now on my truck - it has a 2001 frame, that has the design change,now installed - but at a cost of over $8000 to my insurance company. Lucky for me it didn't affect my rates.. even the insurance company ruled that it wasn't my fault, and covered it under the comprehensive part of my policy. But I have to wonder why Toyota didn't do anything about it, other than fix it on newer trucks.. They knew about it long enough to enact the design change, and for the replacement frame to already have it, by the time mine failed and was replaced. So far to date on the TTORA club board though, I am the only one to have had a frame fail like this. So it does seem to be a very rare problem - but enough of a problem that the design was changed mid 2000.
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This is how the frame should look.....
This is the frame starting to fail..
Until it failed completely.
Note how the back is bent downwards, and the gap between the cab
and the shell.
Here's the damaged frame after the bed has been removed
Compare it to the same section on the new frame below.
My new 2001 frame at the Dealer, paid for not by Toyota but by insurance.
This is a close up of the same area on the new frames.
And here' the truck being stripped down to the frame so the
new one can be installed.
It took almost 3 months for a new frame to be ordered and
arrive,
but once they got working on it, the guys at the shop were able
to swap everything over in about 5 days - pretty good when
you consider that everything just about had to be unbolted from the
old frame, and then reinstalled on the new frame. All the wires,
brake lines, engine, tranny, suspension, body, bed, all had to be
removed and then installed again. And they didn't even miss a
single bolt, the truck was good as new - actually better since it
now had a newly redesigned frame without the weakness.
To date, I have had no problems caring the same loads
and even heavier ones on the new frame design.