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Brand new 2023 - cab misaligned to bed

T

TonkotsuRamen

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Hey everyone. I have a 2023 Off Road manufactured September 2023. I noticed that my car's bed is not aligned with the cab. This is most obvious when you view the bottom of the rear window in relation to the metal bar that sits on the bed's perimeter nearest the cab. Alternatively, when you view the truck from behind, you can see that the tailgate too is not aligned with the rear window. What's interesting is that when I was shopping, the other '23s with the 5 feet cab at the lot had something similar, though to varying degrees. For those that did exhibit the issue, they all showed the gap between the window and the bar to be higher on the passenger side - I guess it can be interpreted as either the cab is lower on the driver side compared with the bed OR the bed is higher on the driver side compared with the cab - depending on if the issue is at the cab side or the bed side. Here's a similar post: https://tacoma3g.com/threads/2023-rear-passenger-side-“drop”.13642

I did some rough measurements (tank is half full):
Center of wheel to bottom of fender:
  • Front passenger: 20 5/8
  • Front driver: 20 4/8
  • Rear passenger: 22 1/8
  • Rear driver 22
* In general this shows the driver-side is 1/8 lower gap from center of wheel to fender. I assume this is the familiar "taco lean" causing this.

Now what's interesting, I also measured the distance of the door sills to the ground:
  • Front passenger: 21 2/8
  • Front driver: 20 6/8
  • Rear passenger: 22 1/8
  • Rear driver: 21 4/8
* so the driver-side seems to be about 4/8 to 5/8 lower in the cab when measured from the doorsill compared to 1/8 when measured from the center of wheel to fender.

Other things to note:
  • I assumed that perhaps Toyota messed up the cab mount bushings, potentially over torquing them, so I measured the protruding threads from the mount - no major differences in length when comparing passenger side with driver side. There does seem to be a larger gap between the body and the part of the frame the mounts connect to though, but I assume that could be due to "Taco lean"
  • I assumed too that perhaps the bed is the issue, but everything seems to be fine there as well - bolts are snug, no pinching, bed is flush with the frame, etc.
  • I did notice that there is a slightly larger gap between the cab and bed on the passenger side at the top compared to the bottom. That is, I can easily fit a finger at the gap between the cab and bed at the top but not at the bottom.


Sorry for the long thread. Any thoughts? Frame issue? Bed manufacturing defect? Is it the cab or the bed? I'm at a loss here as to what could be going on...
 
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bonifacio said:
When it was misaligned, I mentioned it when I was in for service, they fixed it.

Something simple.

But I never figure out the uneven part of it.

Might just be the way it's designed.
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That's interesting. Was it a quick fix or did you have to leave the truck with them for a few days?
 
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Just know there bed not aligned and the unlevel bed are 2 different things. One is bed height which fluctuates. The other is the bed just wasn't torqued properly or straight.

Also, even after any modifications, it's not gonna void the warranty portion to align the bed. Unless it was something you did that caused the misalignment. Which they can't really prove even if you did anything.

Lastly, the bed could also be warped. Possible.
 
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bonifacio said:
Just know there bed not aligned and the unlevel bed are 2 different things. One is bed height which fluctuates. The other is the bed just wasn't torqued properly or straight.

Also, even after any modifications, it's not gonna void the warranty portion to align the bed. Unless it was something you did that caused the misalignment. Which they can't really prove even if you did anything.

Lastly, the bed could also be warped. Possible.
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Yeah. Mine is bed height being inconsistent - with the passenger side being lower/driver side being higher.
 
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Seems to be a lot more common, like everyone I've seen on Mexico trucks. Not surprising. Toyota's build quality has been suffering more and more over the last few years.
 
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jeepnik said:
Seems to be a lot more common, like everyone I've seen on Mexico trucks. Not surprising. Toyota's build quality has been suffering more and more over the last few years.
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Oh wow. That sucks if this is a norm for the trucks made in Mexico. I did see some of the other trucks at the dealer lot have the issue to varying degrees but not sure how far back this may have started.
 
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