Bent Frame- to fix of not

After crawling around under the truck inspecting things after a trip I found my rear crossmember on my RCI T-Case Crossmember had cracked at both welds and the flat portion was bent up making a rainbow shape, touching my t-case. I pulled that skid and ordered a new cross member. When I went to install the new RCI crossmember it came up about 11/16 short when I had it tight to the driver side.

I thought maybe I got a bad crossmember from RCI but I verified it on another Tacoma and it fit as it should. This means that when that crossmember was broken and I was hitting my skids on rocks that the crossmember was essentially spreading my frame at the tie in points.

now to my the dilemma: 1) do I spend around 2k at a frame shop to repair my frame professionally 2) try to fix it on my own since I know right where it is bent and it doesn't have to go that far or 3) cut the new crossmember at the welds, flatten it a bit, reweld it once it fits right and live with a slightly bent frame.

I am leaning towards just getting it fixed because of the other problems that I suspect are from the frame being tweaked. I have bad "SAI" alignment specs and that usually means something is bent. My hood has a uneven gap and the truck just feels different than it used to. I also still occasionally get panic braking just firing out of the blue and cannot ever replicate it. Some research has pointed to the electronic systems are confused and just fire the system.

 

My suggestion would be to talk to a frame shop. Shouldn't take them too long to find the problem and make suggestions on resolution.

 

That’s 3/4 in out. Totaled. Or take to frame shop. And hope. It that’s a lot. Tire wear will be screwed up…..

 

What you found is not something you can fix in your garage. If you're going to fix it, fix it properly by taking it to a shop with a frame machine and a tech that knows how to use it. Finding such a shop might be a challenge, as customer pay jobs don't pay the bills for shops.

 

I have to agree with the other comments OP, take it to a frame shop with the proper equipment.

 

Have you shown the crossmember failure to RCI (more as an FYI)? Seems like that part could use some additional bracing/gusseting.

 

I emailed them with pictures last friday and haven't heard back from them... I am gonna call tomorrow

 

So what ended up happening?

 

I took it to a frame shop and they determined that the frame was not actually bent (or not bent enough to worry about) but the cover plates that box in the frame in that area were bent and collapsed in quite a bit. We put a porta-power in there and pushed the frame cap plates, that are super thin and weak, back out enough that the RCI crossmember fit. I verified this by measuring frame dimensions on a tacoma that has never been offroad to mine and they were within a 1/16". So if you have RCI skids, and wheel your truck hard, make sure to check that crossmember for broken welds and replace it or repair it before it does the same thing to your frame caps.

 

Awesome, let the beatings continue, LOL.