Rear Bumper Angle - Toyota Tundra Forums : Tundra Solutions Forum

garymcen · #1 (**permalink**) 02-28-2002, 09:36 AM

Does anyone know why there is a slight downward angle on the rear bumper? I was hit from behind not too long ago (that guy's pontiac left all kind of pieces on the road -- he was kinda' ticked that all he did was scratch my bumper's step-up plate a little). I noticed the next day that the bumper was at an odd angle but I remembered that the bumper had always sat at an angle. I went to the Toyota dealer to look at some other bumpers and they were all the same. Unless it has something to do with tailgate clearance, it seems to be a curious design. Any ideas?

garymcen · #2 (**permalink**) 03-01-2002, 08:20 AM

Sorry for the repost - Just want to keep this active so that everyone has a chance to respond...

garymcen · #3 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 06:29 AM

All right... last chance. After this, I won't bring it up again... unless I decide to try to make a poll out of it... people seem to like polls...

userw5 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 07:36 AM

GMac,
I never really looked at my rear bumper real close, I thought it was level. The only reason I could see for it to have a slight tilt toward the rear is so water, dirt, mulch, sand, etc (whatever you were unloading) would fall off or would be easy to wash off. I'll look at mine when I go out to lunch.
Jeff
Checked at lunch....Mine looks level.

richus · #5 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 10:26 AM

GMac, do you have any pictures of the car that hit you? I was also rear-ended with no damage to my truck.

haymaker · #6 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 02:40 PM

my rear bumper has the slight downward angle too! looks like king kong stepped on it and bent it a bit. been like that from new. i just got used to it.

garymcen · #7 (**permalink**) 03-05-2002, 07:59 PM

Thanks for the responses. It's interesting that some of your bumpers are level and others are not (I particularly like the "King Kong" response). I went to the Toyota dealer the day after the collision and took a lot of pictures - ALL of the bumpers were angled to some degree. The salesman said he never noticed it before. <br /><br />As for pictures of the other car... I don't have any of the damaged vehicle, but the guy's hood ended up looking like a two man pop-up tent. He got out of his car, saw the damage to the hood and just shook his head. He then saw auto part spread out underneath my bumper and said "It looks like I messed you up a little bit, too." I had to tell him "Actually... those pieces belong to you." <br /><br />I was never more proud to be a Tundra owner than at that moment...

Larry Lawton · #8 (**permalink**) 03-06-2002, 12:18 AM

To the naked eye, mine looks level. On the other hand, I was rear-ended by a drunk before I even got the new plates on my Tundra, and the rear bumper was replaced by a body shop. IMO, best thing to do is park yours next to one that hasn't been hit, then compare.