I don't know the gauge but all I know that it is very thin shtuff. when I was waxing my truck I leaned on the roof with my elbow and put a dent on the edge above the door, where you would think it would be the strongest point.:sosad:
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Lawsuit?? what would be the basis? I believe the car could be made of paper? and as long as they pass national highway safety crash tests; it's all good. I know that the sheet metal is thin but that seems to be the way of the future. It is how they can meet the EPA standards on MPG. I am sorry to hear about your truck. That's a Bummer! But like the cartoon Super Chicken says " You knew the job was dangerous when you took it!"
Too bad it's not like the commercial where the Taco gets pushed off the cliff and look fine! Hey maybe that could be a lawsuit? False advertisement? But I think they could say that the commercials are not our year trucks?

 

Some pics would be nice.

I don't know the gauge but all I know that it is very thin shtuff. when I was waxing my truck I leaned on the roof with my elbow and put a dent on the edge above the door, where you would think it would be the strongest point.:sosad:
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Wow, u can't even lean on these trucks w/o worrying about putting a dent in your truck now. Geez

 

Do you want good MPG or thicker sheet metal?

 

Judging by the number of threads and those who participate in them...they want gas mileage!

 

It's understandable why Toyota does what they need to do to compromise with todays needs ( mpg, profit, looks, power...) it's just a hard lesson to get use to, especially when you're getting to know your trucks limitations. What helps with this process is having a websit like TN where everyone is able to write about their experiences with their trucks, Good or Bad. :thumbup:

 

Judging by the length of the gouge you're describing and the depth one would have though that the sound of something scrapping against the truck would make someone want to stop and investigate before doing any further damage then claiming defect/lawsuit because of it.

And those that do the "serious" stuff like you mentioned don't have a problem with thin sheetmetal... that's what they make sliders, bumper protectors, brush guards, taillight protectors, etc... for to keep your body panels from getting all f**&d up no matter how thin or thick they are.

 

It is a well known fact that Toyota uses thin sheet metal. I noticed this since day 1. My dent guy Sal said that Toyotas are the hardest cars to pop dents out of and surprisingly Mercedes and BMW are the easiest.

When you tap the truck you can tell the shit is weak.

My BMW is as hard as a rock, you can lean on it all day and nothing will happen.

I am extremely careful when I work on the truck.

 

I wasn't serious about the lawsuit thing. Pictures forthcoming.....

 

It is a well known fact that Toyota uses thin sheet metal. I noticed this since day 1. My dent guy Sal said that Toyotas are the hardest cars to pop dents out of and surprisingly Mercedes and BMW are the easiest.

When you tap the truck you can tell the shit is weak.

My BMW is as hard as a rock, you can lean on it all day and nothing will happen.

I am extremely careful when I work on the truck.

It's quite possible Toyota has Subaru beat for thin sheet metal...no wait, I don't think that's possible. I don't even let anyone work on the car for fear they'll lean my fender and dent it.

What are you gonna do? You gotta cut weight for MPG!

wrxman

 

Do you want good MPG or thicker sheet metal?

good point. But I agree its as thin as it gets.

 

I was thinking about how thin the metal is on these cars and I do remember back in the 70's when Datsun, Honda's and Toyota's hit the market and the first thing that people would say is " Damn imports are made out of our beer cans no wonder they're so cheap and light". Back then the beer cans where still made out of metal and where probably thicker compared to now a days cars.:lol:

 

This is a big reason why a forum like this is great.

I had to pick up a new Kayak last weekend and because I read how easy it was to dent the metal of our truck I was very careful loading and moving it on my roof. (no racks)

The roof metal flexed big time and had I not known in advance I may have ended up like TSmilth274

 

Lawsuit?? what would be the basis?

Deceptive marketing?

They advertise these trucks being tough as hell yet you risk denting it if you wash it.

 

The other day, For some reason the garage door didn't go up all the way. It stopped about 6" short of being up all the way. My wife backed my truck out of the garage and the rear of the cab hit the garage door. It bent the garage door, scraped my 3rd brake light, scratched the roof, and ripped the GPS and Sirius antennas off of the roof.

My wife rarely drives my truck, but I guess she just has bad luck with vehicles.

To my surprise, it didn't dent the roof or the corner of the cab. But I had to bite my lip when I saw what happened. :censor: My wife was about to cry because she knows that I have to keep my truck perfect. :sosad:

BTW, this is a good arguement for mounting your GPS antenna on your dashboard. :lol:

Anyway, I polished out the scratches, and fixed the antennas. I had to take the antennas apart, de-solder the broken coax cables. There was plenty of excess cable wound up above the headliner, so I just pulled out a few more inches and re-soldered the new ends to the antenna circuit boards. Good as new. No one will ever know. And now my wife owes me big time, and she won't drive my truck again.

BTW, my neighbor just happens to work for an Overhead Door company, so he came over and helped me fix the garage door good as new. :thumbup:

 

I like when things work out at the end. Good Job PB!!!