Pickup bed lean…bad leaf bushing, shock?

I took a look at the passenger side and you could conceivably get a box wrench to one bolt but unless you have a right angle box wrench, I can’t see the other one coming out at all.

I’m kind of nervous using even the dremel with the sparks. There’s enough metal around to keep them from going towards the tank but on some days I can smell gas in the area of the tank. Not yet today though. Maybe I should drop the tank for safety? That would be a PITA

 

I think you should do what you think needs to be done.

For me, personally, if it was concerning, I would wait until the tank was about 2/3 empty maybe, but setup a baffle of cardboard definitely, just to avoid sparks flying in that direction.

While I won't dispute gasoline fumes can be ignited with a flame, the shit that happens in the movies, where the spark (cherry) of a lit cigarette sets gas puddles alight, it's a fabricated event. May be arguably similar with sparks of a cutoff wheel.

 

Yeah since gasoline fumes are ignitable above a certain ppm, I may just use cardboard and a box fan to blow any fumes away from the truck while I’m doing it. Still…

 

What about a crowfoot wrench?

 

Good point. I’ll have to check if my crowfoot wrenches will allow that with an extension.

 

Looking at the video, I see now that's the corner where the water accumulates when it leaks in the cab from the back. Maybe I'll pull up my carpet and have a look before it fails

 

Note also that you also may be able to loosen the front mount also, and potentially then jack the cab up on that side at least a couple of inches for added clearance.

 

You actually get A LOT of clearance lifting the cab, if you need more, loosen the front cab mount. I took apart the interior, but that is just the center bolt, the bolts to the frame horn are the hardest.

Lift first, I struggled trying to remove the bolts with a wrench until I lifted the cab - plenty of space without disconnecting any wiring or hoses. I only had a plumbing torch but that was enough heat to loosen the bolts.

Good - luck, it looks harder than it is.

 

Question about that video: what's he talking about with the 3" washer? The Energy Suspension kit seems to come with a pair of washers for each mount. I think however that the largest one, for the spot he's talking about, is like 2.5" in diameter. Do I need to go track down more effing washers before I get at this today?

Also god damn it it didn't register until now that those smaller bolt holes in the frame are threaded. WHYYYYYYYYYY?!

 

Torque spec probably the same? Of course I can't find a Tundra spec.

 

I think the 3 inch washer is the rotted out one you see in the pic that was reused. It’s that last washer before the nut. Instead of leaving it on the bottom he put it on top.

Don’t worry too much about the threaded nuts welded to the frame mount, a locking nut & 10mm washer can easily replace those.

 

Are we having fun yet?

 

Yeah that’s it. But I wonder why he doesn’t use the brand new one from the Energy Suspension kit.

 

He wanted to add an extra 1/4" or so of height to be level.

 

Haha @HAL69000 What pinch weld jack pad are you using to lift the cab body or are you using blocks of wood?

 

havent gotten that far yet. Want to free the bolt holes first. Got some angle grinding to go. I was prying up between body and frame with a bar the other day so will probably just do jack on the pinch weld with a thick layer of cardboard as cushion.

There appear to be welded nuts on the front cab mounts (#2 under the front of the cab) of my frame as well? And what’s up with this bracket underneath the frame? I assumed it was a part of the mount but it all seems to be part of it. This effing sucks.

 

They probably did that as a reinforcement. My 02 doesn’t have that bracket.

 

Frame is also a recall frame so could be something done only on those. Will report back when I free the other nut. This mount basically fell out of the bottom. Hence why I didn’t jack the body up yet lol.

 

Sounds like the body is "jacked up" already.

 

I was going to buy some 4x4s to jack up mine but I realized I needed 5x5s (nominal) which are really 4.5x4.5. Anyway, cheapest of those from home depot was like $25. My best bet is to just order a jack pad on Amazon for $10 that are meant for pinch welds.
I'm not looking forward to cutting off those nuts for the body mount with my dremel next to the gas tank though. I can smell gas whenever I fill my tank.

 

cardboard on pinch weld is doing the job and my rockers where the side steps attach are basically gone (hey if any of y’all see a 2004 double cab with a sunroof that has a bad frame, let me know so I can body swap lol).



Good enough. Hell I may chop the rear bolts on this side today too if I’m feeling frisky.

 

Is the space too tight to get a Multi-Max in there with a bi-metal blade? It'd likely throw way less sparks than a wheel.

My dad gave me his back in 2019 and my rotary Dremel comes out about 50% less now.

 

No, that might work better and I might buy one. Though this is all obviously some very high grade steel so it might be a bumpy ride. I don't think it is possible for me to angle grind the rears, though a 4.5 inch wheel fits pretty nicely in the front cab mounts.

Forgot about this part of adapting the Taco kit:



So that was a fun 15 minutes with a dremel and a dull bit because I was too lazy to go to the store.

She's in tho. Got to get a couple of things but I think I can do the rest way more quickly. Luckily they don't seem to be causing trouble yet so I don't have to do them, like, tomorrow. My next project car is coming from the southwest.

 

So you had to drill out the bracket a bit to make it work?

Great job, BTW!

 

Thanks, wish I could’ve gotten the bolts out but they were clearly very rusted in place. I didn’t want to strip the head so that I could unfasten the remnant once most of the thread was cut off, and that worked well.

Yes, I did have to widen the holes in the bracket. And I remembered reading that about this kit somewhere.

As an aside: when I bought the truck last year it was missing the driver’s side mudflap and that is the side that the mount went bad on. The flap very clearly protects that area. Every other mount looks like trash but is still holding.

 

So, I pulled in my driveway last week and heard a clunk from the right rear corner of the cab. Looks like the mount has collapsed. I jacked the cab up today and realized the trim on the side of the door doesn't line up with the bed trim, like the OP photos....

more work to come, i guess..

 

@Jack McCarthy I may have missed it but did you ever get yours fixed?

 

Im waiting on a jack pad to lift up the truck by the pinch weld edge. For safety I plan to jam some 2x8s and 1x4s between the frame rail and underside of the bed.

I was trying to figure it out with some 4x4s and 5x5s but it didn’t look like it would work due to the location.

I could try the approach @Hal69000 used with some cardboard, but I don’t want to risk bending the pinch weld.

Realistically, I’m probably worried over nothing, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

 

Damn, I feel like I started a bad trend with our pickups.