Repair of Trailing Arm Bracket

[sheugly]

I’m curious if anyone has had to repair or replace their trailing arms and/or the forward mounting bracket. I’d been getting a lot of squeaking from my suspension and thought it was the weight of the bed rack I just put on. Upon further investigation, I smacked a rock hard enough somewhere to bend the bracket into the bushing. Trusted the internet that these things are hardy enough to not get a skid for when I was protecting the underside and now I’m slightly regretting it.

I see the bracket is welded to the frame so I’m assuming it’s either a big job or lots of heat and bending to fix this, neither of which I’m currently equipped for. I’m wondering if anyone else has dealt with a similar problem before and can let me know how to get this repaired and a rough cost if I need to take it to the dealer/shop (it’s still under warranty, not that I think this is covered though). In the meantime I’m just spraying a shitload of silicon grease on this linkage when it squeaks.

The truck is a 25 OR long bed if it makes a difference.

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[CharlieLed]

Since silicone spray provides a short term fix, I would say that there is an issue with the alignment of the bushings which may result in more serious problems in the near future.

 

[Wife bought my 24 TRD]

Hey everyone, when your truck makes noises you don't recognize, it's a sign that SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE FIXED!!!
Noise is the trucks way of telling you something is wrong. Old school, no computers needed to tell you to fix something.

 

[Singha]

Yes. On my Fj Cruiser I crushed the Trailing Arm Mount on the frame. I bought these (but verified the inside width on these, to make sure they will work for the 4th gen Taco's trailing arm) I had to add 1x washer on the inside to fit my links on the Fj Cruiser. I had my welder, cut and remove the old mounts. Mock these up and plum/align everything up. Super beefy didn't need link skids after that.
Took about 4hrs worth of work.

Frame Link Mount Bracket Pair

 

[Singha]

I originally bought em from Ruffstuff (just found the link).

Ruffstuff Suspension Link Brackets for Custom Off-Road Builds

 

[Will721]

This wouldn't be covered under warranty, and the dealer probably isn't even equipped to fix it unless they have a full service body shop and even then they still probably aren't. They don't do much welding. The mount doesn't just look bent, its torn.

So, you have a few options. You can take it to the dealer which is the only way to maintain any sort of warranty on the frame. They would likely want to replace the entire frame, which you can pay for out of pocket whatever outrageous amount of money they would want for that, or use your insurance which might just total it. But thats only if your worried about the warranty on the frame.

Alternatively, its actually a cheap fix. Get a set of the brackets listed above from ruffstuff and find a good welder. Couple of good ol' boys in a farm repair shop is probably your best bet. They can have it patched up in under an hour, and probably for less than $200. Then just paint it up and look into a set of skids for the future (they can probably fab you some up there too).

 

[socotaco]

Those forward trailing arm brackets are pretty exposed, and since I went RCI for my sliders, I just fitted their skids for these brackets:
https://rcimetalworks.com/product/front-lower-link-skids-24-present-tacoma/

and also for the lower rear shock mounts:
https://rcimetalworks.com/product/rear-shock-mount-skids-24-tacoma/

Both bolted on very easily, although the trailing arm brackets need the truck to be jacked up to drop the rear axle. The trailing arm bolt needs to be fitted through the skid and this re-torqued to the required 140Nm/103lbft.

Very solid solution.

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