Toyota Tundra Bed Repair
First and foremost, I can not afford a replacement truck at this time.
And like I've said about the EV mandates Kommiecticut keeps trying to
implement, I will NEVER willingly buy one. Instead I will be like the Cubans that keep 70+ year old American
vehicles on the road well into the 21st Century if I have to.
Before you read all this and think me a fool, let me explain some back story. There was a known problem with the manufacturing process of 2nd Generation Toyota Tundra truck beds that came out of the Union Township, Indiana plant. The mounting point cross members were never rust-proofed where they attached to the underside of the bed floor. Therefore, any trucks that ended up in winter salt spreading geographic areas rusted from the inside out, with the rust cancer spreading to the truck bed pan. There was a Toyota Service Bulletin (#T-SB-0101-12) that is no longer available to view, however this link addresses the issue. I had never heard about it and initially discovered it too late when I pulled out my drop in bedliner for some damage I caused to the exterior of the bed for repair. Toyota refused to address the issue, for which the ONLY solution was complete bed replacement, even for a "customer good will replacement," so my rusting bed was made like new on the outside. This was sometime in 2013 or 2014? I don't remember exactly. I put the bedliner back in and the cap back on and let nature take its course.
Fast forward to the spring and summer of 2018. Toyota was court ordered from a class action lawsuit to completely replace any 2nd Generation Tundra frame that had a perforations 10mm or larger anywhere on the frame. If the holes were less than 10mm, no matter how many there were, they just sprayed the whole frame with Fluid Film and that was deemed "repaired." The process for all repairs was to bring it in for inspection and if it met the criteria, your truck would be immediately "RED TAGGED" and removed from the road. You would be given a rental for the duration. I had holes in places an inch wide and several inches long, as well as the end of a cross member that was completely gone. I received my postcard to bring my truck in any time. I was in the middle of selling my dearly departed Dad's house and needed my truck. I took photos and brought them in to the dealership service manager to look at. He said if that is what my frame looks like, I need to bring it in IMMEDIATELY! I said nope, I'll see you in a few months because I need my truck. The TSB covered trucks 12 years out from the in-service date regardless of mileage. My truck was originally purchased in November 2007, so I actually had another full year and a half to wait if I had to.
Dad's house was sold a couple of months later, but I waited until late November to bring my truck in for inspection. It was immediately taken off the road for frame replacement which was supposed to take 6 weeks. They wanted to put me in a sedan, but I stated that winter is coming and because of where I live, I have a 4x4 pickup truck for a reason and THAT IS WHAT YOU WILL PROVIDE! They did. I ended up in an Enterprise rental brand new Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 luxury edition truck. The dealership had an old body shop out back that they re-purposed just for frame replacements. Tundra trucks are completely modular so frame replacement only actually takes a few days. It takes weeks to order and build the specific frame required for my truck. While not a Dodge fan, that was a nice truck and did well for me to get around in, especially since it snowed a few days later. I was a regional over the road truck driver at the time, and the yard was 28 miles away so I made it back and forth safe and secure.
I visited the dealership when my truck was torn down to once again discuss the rusting bed issue. As you will see in the photos further in the post, the rusted out areas are right where the mounting bolts are. I asked them if they were really going to put that rusted out bed back on my truck and they assured me they would, that Toyota was not going to replace it. My next statement really pissed them off. I told them that when I round a corner going through an intersection and my bed breaks free, rolls off, and kills someone; I will be happy to join the plaintiff's in the wrongful death lawsuit against Toyota. My truck repair was completed and it was returned to me rusted bed and all. I put the bedliner back in and the cap back on.
Over the next 5 years I would see the rust progressing every time I got underneath to do routine maintenance, and knew at some point I would have to do something because it was getting real bad. Either remediate the problem or ditch the truck for a replacement. I have had many trucks in my life, and this one by far is the best I have ever owned, even with the rust issues so I would prefer to keep it. I bought it with 33K miles on it just off lease at the end of July 2010. I toyed with the idea of converting it to a flatbed using a pre-manufactured unit. I went to a local dealer that sells nicely made steel and aluminum units. Unfortunately, even the aluminum units would be too heavy for my 1/2 ton truck. He said the GVW of my truck would only allow me to carry a basket of flowers before I would be overweight. They only put those beds on Ford F-350's, GM 3500's, Ram 3500's. or bigger. I then searched for a used bed. Every single one in the region of NY and New England was rusted out as bad as mine for $1500+ and would still need to be painted to match my truck. There were rust-free beds available down south, starting at $3500, but I would need to go down with a trailer to get it, and then spend a few grand to get it repainted to match so that wasn't happening. The final option would be to remove my bed and repair it which is what I decided to do. I have a friend that lives close by, has a mobile welding service, and is real good at fabrication so I called him over to have a look. Knowing this is what I was going to do, I had already removed the cap and bedliner allowing him to see what it looked like top and bottom. He was confident that with the bed removed and lying upside down in the driveway, he could patch the holes and fabricate new bed mounts. Below are the photos of the bed still on the truck.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimW2hoYCiJCHK2qtvK5e1a1vEFa6TWQ7RRQmejO4m8aPaTmwd4msmGkb65cXxVzOQbnYDLIlGlVbxPnXeQ7jFhYQt0B3CaGCZ6fuy6NCW4b4pr1EXVsu7e_hhIQaMJDWY8VSBZllg0Go7rOaDsuURigUkiKb43hyzi-dTnS1YNpnYV1-_jP4choMnca9M/w400-h225/20240419_154139.jpg) |
Front left mounting bolt area
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Front right mounting bolt area
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijzdhnAB6yyQ_XQFUN34smudLTS4nrKaxXl6V_rsv1nX6V2gZf-k4zo4fVJ5bD2R7e7Mf0uiToJYOLlsaD0xDtE0zj9YDCtv4QBfWiR-JI1kXYv-v_bL8ek2_z595Wrfg7hQvE_s9xAfyd6eZ3y1aQr9iLse-bXDwMBE8QoGg6gK2FZO-GWb1T6irj4s/w400-h225/20240419_154159.jpg) |
Middle Left mounting bolt area
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Notice the aluminum sheet metal patch with pop rivets. When I got my truck back from the frame replacement, this was the only area completely rusted through. I put the patch there to keep the elements out. Even that got eaten up by the corrosive shit Kommiecticut puts on the roads in the winter.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1kn95lrWxwjLJofYnj6yWyWbgzEkyGTX_cRA3lX45ZKyjlCz2N5jZYHgfrkI5KQ2NrioEbRfwNHZTaJqyVTcIWYGYz0lXWvh8dHNdZLv_3WHbJBkKhmhBUs1D-L3DYvrz9kj6WoWY-dsLVKjjO3-ZqrzTVDRx7FVc6MRYybjuwZgfnobcekOg7KalDdc/w400-h225/20240419_154205.jpg) |
Middle right mounting bolt area
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This photo was from April 19th and shows how the rust manifests itself. After disturbing the bolt and surrounding area it all crumbled away. The blackened area is the remains of the P.O.R.15 paint I applied to all the areas after I got it back from the frame replacement.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGlgLXq_eGIc3Q_ll0vJUS37PrQjOvEaAOEZHWD3HKiyzeSBYqUdN0pZkIgp8FsL6CFti0m7U8UAPgCelWdYbZM30UXeDjDo3zRFmrBqBQK9Ucv6MS0BXrHNUKxnI2T-k-UBmiDfK2NVpySX3HA21WUVNN6ORV6OUoABaO-ED3Cfq8eiNzDQJPmeo24E/w400-h225/20240419_154336.jpg) |
The two rear mounting bolts. This area is intact
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I knew bed removal was pretty simple. and watched a couple of YouTube videos of guys doing it. The bed weighs 400 pounds, so once freed from mounts, fuel filler, and electrical wiring, it takes one guy in each corner to lift it off and carry it to the rear. So the first step was to remove the fuel filler door and disconnect the fuel filler plumbing. It is all braced and attached to the frame underneath and stays in place with the bed removed.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtAt6aRRurISyWhieTfzKvC6ErxLFvPCLgP-3ENekeATRGY_F6ErbNFWY2hyphenhyphenO0YZo5_Lf783Duj_kCK3_i3dpY2kL1vH7Dp8v9cfV7QRnmnrmyrAnxF9GtpMB3_C4o8T8F2RZsRSEdSL8g3t042WZhLFQgMDBHz76m4soQyL5MKcLR6GYGb9ans1LMiUE/w400-h225/20240518_084724.jpg)
Next you need to remove the rear bumper. Because mine came with the factory tow package, the bumper is actually attached to the trailer hitch assembly. As you will see, my receiver was completely rusted to shit, so every single bumper mounting bolt sheared off. This means if I tried to reuse the receiver hitch, I would have to drill and tap all the holes. FUCK THAT! It looks like it spent a decade at the bottom of the ocean, and there is so much scale inside the 2"x2" opening where the hitch goes its difficult to put one in and take one out. So it was going to be replaced. While the chrome plated bumper itself has some bubbles and flaking, the steel core is solid so it is going back on. I am not interested in making a show truck here.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdNZzmaFBNouyr84S5tFJtY_oHU2z6QqHSGywoyO4dafftroMlbTWe6TAV3tKRb6zuczf3DoWahUdssQ-dS4vez1gZD2my-cAFr1MKuX3rI4oxQorCMRXM_8RwdbyfnTUUlcgrmsrwU3BHDaTbCWWayW96JohJ-cP9IU9xyp1buK1bLQ1Qc6JdfYjc90/w400-h225/20240518_084659.jpg) |
The rear with the bumper removed
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A close up of the receiver hitch. Click on the photo to embiggen and see how bad it is.
I had three days off this past week, so the schedule of lining up help and getting stuff done was originally this:
Saturday May 18th 4 guys over for bed removal, flipping over, and placing upside down on blocks
Monday May 20th all welding and fabrication gets done
Tuesday & Wednesday May 21st and 22nd seal, prime, paint, and undercoat bed for re-installation
Well, that didn't go according to plan, but I am not in the least upset because as you'll see things turned out better than imagined.
The bed removal went well. Of course, one of the six Torx head mounting bolts refused to budge, and in my efforts to remove it I rounded out the area where the bit goes in. No matter. A quick cut of the remaining piece of the rotted structural member with a Sawzall freed the bed. I could deal with getting the stubborn bolt out later standing next to the frame, and I had planned to replace all six mounting bolts anyway.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYwyxB527a16gBYl52XZEXHFI-pzBbHYdxUYTovq0-mJUz7cJMv3zrHVs9-S9ies3qq7Bx2iiptLSrv-Uo-_AW4P6fR-KSzRYIwXLQJoF7Z_Q1T7AVMl0TDBLRTACqDzf24pJ_LIwQ65rDMvRMoK5BKO6zf9pNaEtQAKSDkKM9vneRxiAdG37yWCF47QA/w400-h225/20240518_094954.jpg) |
Lined up waiting for the guys. The bed is just resting on the truck
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All done and resting on blocks ready for fabrication & welding
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The frame and rusted receiver hitch
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My hillbilly temporary light setup so I can drive to work |
I need to be able to drive back and forth to work and around town while these repairs are being made, so a crappy grade 2 x 4 from the local building supply ty-wrapped to the end of the frame and some inexpensive trailer lights from Tractor Supply did the trick. The next photo shows the bed in the driveway ready for cutting, fabrication, and welding. The cones are not because of my wife or father-in-law, but UPS, FEDEX, USPS, or any other moron that could run into it.
I should have taken some closeup photos of the rot on the underside but neglected to. The next few photos are my bud cutting away the sheet metal bed pan. He has already drilled out the spot welds and removed the cross braces. The two cross braces with rubber pads that rest on the frame rails in the middle will stay and just get scaled and painted. The front floor stiffener rib will also get scaled and painted, but the rear one is completely corroded and will be removed and replaced.
Here, he has the two rear holes patched and his temporary grounding lug is on the closest patch. I opted to not use the thin gauge corrugated material, but heavier gauge flat pieces welded to the high spots. The openings on the low spots will be sealed top and bottom with a paintable product called Lexel. I have used it with great success on other projects.
Here are some photos of the finished product. I will hit each section with a wire wheel before sealing, and painting. The project delays came from having the cross pieces fabricated in a shop to spec instead of my buddy making them on site. It added about $150 to the whole job, but they came out fantastic.
There is a short piece of iron pipe welded into the channel where the mounting holes are that duplicate the factory mount for crush strength. In the last photo you can see the new floor stiffener rib he fabricated as well. From here I turned my attention to the frame, specifically the bumper mount and trailer hitch. The next two photos are of the factory unit prior to removal.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl770-k26cPJhFfxqTKu4V49-xTGONENG4ISZu40_fFsVsGGXSSS70eDMkPZue9VH3GD8CcdlQk9zNx2M4YXMhVeGfk4LeRrJKtjQTrUNppfO3CSZVopMF1W09OJqSMsVEifx-MPVLumaV71myQAL4wXJU8lfupP_QtewMlCCUKNtSRWgg_M8RlLRKuO0/w400-h225/20240521_102351.jpg) |
The mounting is the same on both sides
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The straight edge in the front is a bumper mount, about to break off
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I priced out an OEM replacement through Toyota Parts online. Buying parts this way as opposed to at the parts counter offers a huge discount, and I opt for not paying for shipping but picking them up at the dealership parts department. Even with the discount, this piece listed for a whopping $1928. Holy shit, there must be a better way, and I came up with it saving a little over $1000 that blew away the parts guys for my ingenuity.
As I wrote earlier, my truck came with the factory towing package. But what if it didn't? Well there would be a simple bumper bracket assembly to mount the bumper, and a light duty ball hitch available through the bumper in front of the license plate. That piece listed for $260 and required two additional large frame mounting bolts for $12. So I got it and put it on.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1A5Pj5MP9cL7H6euwf28v32J_Je9_C0-vRBLQWZuyVdgWm9Up9uVCZP_38OUrAhWCtMXwR_PJmtTAxT8_0MLK_R8xgj_oyomoWETpYifhjUxeSbsNUj55XuwklN25dPmFjr0eVDLn8EFta7CQzjz9pnvZGqk6vp_7Dz0JnO0-tZkoZJjTGE3uQ19rdYk/w400-h225/20240524_110247.jpg) |
The circle shows where the extra bolt goes, not needed on the factory set up
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The view from the rear after installation
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For trucks that don't have factory towing, Class III and Class IV receivers are available from Toyota for easy bolt on installation. Even with the bed on the truck, these bolt right on to the outside of the frame rails and come with instructions and all the necessary hardware. Because my truck was setup for Class IV, that is what I purchased.... for $631!! My father-in-law and I installed everything and placed the bumper where it will need to go, and everything lined up perfectly.
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The new tow receiver in place
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The only other adjustment I had to make was to angle my tailpipe downward. While it did just barely clear the mounting arm, on bumpy roads I heard it hitting. There is now 1 3/4" of clearance and my exhaust does not move that much so it no longer hits. Turning the exhaust cost another $30 for two 3" stainless steel exhaust clamps. That area is circled in yellow, as well as the additional bolt that was required for the bumper mount.
So, this is where I am so far. I am hoping to get all the sealer, paint, and undercoating Wednesday. My original spare tire was complete garbage so I bought a Toyota rim and a local shop is putting an inexpensive radial tire on it so that will be new too and ready Wednesday. At this point, I should get this whole job done and my truck back on the road fully functional for about $3500.
Work and life has been getting in the way of forward progress, but I can drive to and from work so there is no urgency right now to get it done. I will pick away at it and put up another progress (hopefully to completion) post when I can. Stay tuned.