2005 Plastic beds and tailgates revisited

Well I finally had a new tailgate installed on my 2005 Tacoma. (First
one was badly damaged when a load slid into it due to the slippery plastic
bed). Toyota wanted $1000.00 for their
body shop to install a new tailgate, using parts from the old tailgate,
such as lock, handle etc.
I found a custom auto body shop who did the job a few hundred dollars
cheaper and better.
By better I mean: I asked the Toyota body shop if they could install a
piece of diamond plate steel in place of the plastic on the inside of the
tailgate. They looked confused, and said we dont do any work like that.
I found Denny & sons custom auto body in Selden NY. I asked him the same
question he said sure we can do that, and he did. He installed a new
tailgate
and instead of using that cheap Toyota plastic, he used a nice piece of
diamond plate steel. Cut it to size, drilled it, shaped it, sprayed it
with epoxy, primed and painted to match the truck. A beautiful job thats
durable as well. I can actually use my tailgate now for real work, like
a real truck. The body man told me with 30 years in the business, he was
shocked when he took off the plastic cover and saw it hollow, empty, no
structual support.
He said " Toyota has always made good quality stuff but this tailgate
was a piece of junk.

Toyota power trains may be "bullet proof",
but the rest of the truck is "delicate"
"franknlizob" <franknlizob@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:754870521d668186c3edf4852841a369@localhost.talkabouttrucks.com...[color=blue]
> Well I finally had a new tailgate installed on my 2005 Tacoma. (First
> one was badly damaged when a load slid into it due to the slippery plastic
> bed). Toyota wanted $1000.00 for their
> body shop to install a new tailgate, using parts from the old tailgate,
> such as lock, handle etc.
> I found a custom auto body shop who did the job a few hundred dollars
> cheaper and better.
> By better I mean: I asked the Toyota body shop if they could install a
> piece of diamond plate steel in place of the plastic on the inside of the
> tailgate. They looked confused, and said we dont do any work like that.
> I found Denny & sons custom auto body in Selden NY. I asked him the same
> question he said sure we can do that, and he did. He installed a new
> tailgate
> and instead of using that cheap Toyota plastic, he used a nice piece of
> diamond plate steel. Cut it to size, drilled it, shaped it, sprayed it
> with epoxy, primed and painted to match the truck. A beautiful job thats
> durable as well. I can actually use my tailgate now for real work, like
> a real truck. The body man told me with 30 years in the business, he was
> shocked when he took off the plastic cover and saw it hollow, empty, no
> structual support.
> He said " Toyota has always made good quality stuff but this tailgate
> was a piece of junk.
>[/color]

I'm going to guess this just shows who the trucks are marketed towards,
less for the construction guys that actually use the bed, and more for the
daily commuter who puts a piece of furniture in the back once every 2 years



"Metal Daze" <D.R.DEL@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:7mtbf.49655$zb5.45647@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...[color=blue]
> Toyota power trains may be "bullet proof",
> but the rest of the truck is "delicate"
> "franknlizob" <franknlizob@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:754870521d668186c3edf4852841a369@localhost.talkabouttrucks.com...[color=green]
>> Well I finally had a new tailgate installed on my 2005 Tacoma. (First
>> one was badly damaged when a load slid into it due to the slippery
>> plastic
>> bed). Toyota wanted $1000.00 for their
>> body shop to install a new tailgate, using parts from the old tailgate,
>> such as lock, handle etc.
>> I found a custom auto body shop who did the job a few hundred dollars
>> cheaper and better.
>> By better I mean: I asked the Toyota body shop if they could install a
>> piece of diamond plate steel in place of the plastic on the inside of the
>> tailgate. They looked confused, and said we dont do any work like that.
>> I found Denny & sons custom auto body in Selden NY. I asked him the same
>> question he said sure we can do that, and he did. He installed a new
>> tailgate
>> and instead of using that cheap Toyota plastic, he used a nice piece of
>> diamond plate steel. Cut it to size, drilled it, shaped it, sprayed it
>> with epoxy, primed and painted to match the truck. A beautiful job
>> thats
>> durable as well. I can actually use my tailgate now for real work, like
>> a real truck. The body man told me with 30 years in the business, he was
>> shocked when he took off the plastic cover and saw it hollow, empty, no
>> structual support.
>> He said " Toyota has always made good quality stuff but this tailgate
>> was a piece of junk.
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]

to metal daze,
You hit the nail on the head. The drive trains do run forever, and the
rest of the Tacomas are delicate. However, I did construction work as an
independant contractor for the last 6 years with a Tundra. 8' steel bed,
a sweet as pie v8. I loaded and hauled construction debris for six years
and 118000 miles. It is a tough as nails truck. I"M finding out now that
a
tacoma is not a little tundra as I had hoped.

I use the word "delicate", because thats the word the toyota service tech
used to describe the windshield wiper set up and the power windows when I
had problems with them last winter on my 2005.
If I could combine my former 1997 Dakota with my 2005 tacoma power train,
that would be the ultimate mid size pick up.

"franknlizob" <franknlizob@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9b9114f5ccca7628283545e60338bb76@localhost.talkabouttrucks.com...[color=blue]
> to metal daze,
> You hit the nail on the head. The drive trains do run forever, and the
> rest of the Tacomas are delicate. However, I did construction work as an
> independant contractor for the last 6 years with a Tundra. 8' steel bed,
> a sweet as pie v8. I loaded and hauled construction debris for six years
> and 118000 miles. It is a tough as nails truck. I"M finding out now that
> a
> tacoma is not a little tundra as I had hoped.
>[/color]

I thought I was buying a mid sized truck, but when I
got it home I realized that it had grown into a
full size truck, yet it can't handle normal truck duty.

I tried to load a motorcyle into the back of my week old 2005
Taco, and the tailgate collapsed. I was pissed. Toyota wanted $1000 for
repair, and so I took it to a local body shop for a complete replacement
of the metal. They stalled for three weeks until I demanded that they give
me the thing back, and what I got back was a poor repair job (not a
replacement) with paint that did not match. Now I have to go pay someome
else to do it right.


On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 16:13:51 -0500, zephyr
wrote:
[color=blue]
> I'm going to guess this just shows who the trucks are marketed towards,
> less for the construction guys that actually use the bed, and more for the
> daily commuter who puts a piece of furniture in the back once every 2 years
>
>
>
> "Metal Daze" <D.R.DEL@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
> news:7mtbf.49655$zb5.45647@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...[color=green]
>> Toyota power trains may be "bullet proof",
>> but the rest of the truck is "delicate"
>> "franknlizob" <franknlizob@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:754870521d668186c3edf4852841a369@localhost.talkabouttrucks.com...[color=darkred]
>>> Well I finally had a new tailgate installed on my 2005 Tacoma. (First
>>> one was badly damaged when a load slid into it due to the slippery
>>> plastic
>>> bed). Toyota wanted $1000.00 for their
>>> body shop to install a new tailgate, using parts from the old tailgate,
>>> such as lock, handle etc.
>>> I found a custom auto body shop who did the job a few hundred dollars
>>> cheaper and better.
>>> By better I mean: I asked the Toyota body shop if they could install a
>>> piece of diamond plate steel in place of the plastic on the inside of the
>>> tailgate. They looked confused, and said we dont do any work like that.
>>> I found Denny & sons custom auto body in Selden NY. I asked him the same
>>> question he said sure we can do that, and he did. He installed a new
>>> tailgate
>>> and instead of using that cheap Toyota plastic, he used a nice piece of
>>> diamond plate steel. Cut it to size, drilled it, shaped it, sprayed it
>>> with epoxy, primed and painted to match the truck. A beautiful job
>>> thats
>>> durable as well. I can actually use my tailgate now for real work, like
>>> a real truck. The body man told me with 30 years in the business, he was
>>> shocked when he took off the plastic cover and saw it hollow, empty, no
>>> structual support.
>>> He said " Toyota has always made good quality stuff but this tailgate
>>> was a piece of junk.
>>>[/color]
>>
>>[/color][/color]


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