Rear crossmember

I was under my new-to-me 2005 Tundra AC yesterday, checking the pressure on my spare. Of course, I had to drop it some to get to the valve. The area above the spare looks almost pristine as does pretty much the rest of the frame, except for a crossmember by the rear bumper. The bumper is somewhat rusted, as is this particular crossmember. It has some rust through on it. I've done a search for "rear crossmember" but pretty much all I get are pictures of the spare tire crossmember and the pictures of the frame show no crossmember in the area where mine is. This is immediately behind the rear bumper. Does anyone know if this is still available? Is it actually part of the bumper? I'd go and look at it again, but it's currently at a shop having the timing belt replaced. When I get it back, I'll take some pictures and post them. Thanks.

 

Can you post some pictures? I've never seen anyone replace the spare tire crossmember. That's actually part of the original recall.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/early-1st-gen-2000-2003-tundra-frame-replacement-faq.54331/

 

As I said, I'll post some pictures when I get it back later today (or tomorrow). This doesn't look like it's part of the spare tire crossmember. This one runs side-to-side immediately behind the rear bumper. Maybe it's unique to ones with the tow package?

 

I'm not sure, but I think it may be #4 in the diagram on this page: https://www.oempartstoyou.com/oem-p...DS-vNCWK6gXd1qHN7qiv0_61ATyMq1LBoCzJcQAvD_BwE. Although mine has a hitch and this states it's for "without towing hitch". I don't know if my hitch came from the factory or was dealer installed. I'll do some more searching to see if they have a separate one for trucks with a hitch. Either way, price-wise, it's not as hateful as I was thinking it may be.

 

I vaguely recall @empty_lord having pictures of the factory hitch and it including a crossmember.

 

I want to say that's part of trucks with tow package only. If so, I've seen a few people with it rusted out. The OEM part is expensive as hell, and your best bet is getting an aftermarket one. I know 100% there's pics of someone with a similar issue on here, but they posted it back in 2020-2021 timeframe. And I also remember a few months after they posted it, someone in Cali was getting rid of their assembly, I think out of a storage unit they kept.

 

Here you go, is it this part? https://www.tundras.com/threads/factory-hitch-rusting.93531/

The big thing is, check reply #11, and determine whether yours is the skinny support in that picture, or the fatboy tow package support in the little tow package box to the bottom left of that pic. But read that thread. It'll help.

 

Thanks, I think that's it. The link I posted in reply #4 is what I came across before, without tow hitch. I do have a tow hitch on mine, but I don't know that it's factory, although it probably is. When I get it back (hopefully later today) I'll take another look and post some pictures. Actually, the cost isn't too hateful. It's about $320 from oempartsonline for the entire tow hitch that has that crossmember, including shipping. I'd probably check with my local dealer to see if I could get it through them any cheaper. Of course, if I go that route, I'll probably replace the rusted bumper at the same time. I've been keeping an eye out for a good used one close by. The rest of the frame looks great. Other than a couple of spots on the bed, the truck is virtually rust free. Cab and rockers are rust free.

 

The non-tow one is skinny/tiny.

If you want me to snap some pics of mine so you can compare to what I've got, happy to do it. But it's basically what @shoe07 posted in his 1st pic there. non-tow is about 60% less-deep IIRC.

 

OK, as promised, here are the pictures. It is, indeed, the tow hitch. I may let it go through the winter, since I won't be towing anything, and replace it next year. I'm glad it's still available as it would probably cost just as much to fix the one that's there. Being that this is my 1st Toyota since my 1st wife's 86 Corolla, should I go ahead and order it now or is Toyota pretty good about maintaining an inventory of replacement parts for older models? This morning I replaced my driver side rear O2 sensor (Denso) and reset the check engine light. It didn't pop right back on like it did when I initially tried clearing it before I replaced the sensor, so hopefully, that took care of it. I guess I'll find out after driving it for a while. So, after getting the TPMS light to go out (low pressure in the spare), I'm light free for the 1st time since I bought it. Here are the hitch pictures, plus a few of the frame (which appears to be in very good shape):

 

Frame looks unusually good, considering the shape of that piece, but yours isn't the 1st we've seen rotting apart with solid metal on either side. It looks like the bumper might be missing some tooth also, right around where this mounts.

You may want to go with aftermarket on the replacement bumper (if you get one), SummitRacing has some great options from Sherman and other respected brands. And honestly, you may want to go used on that hitch crossmember if you can find it, if you're anywhere near NC/SC/TN relatively, you could probably pick that entire tow assembly up for a couple hundred bucks or less. Difficult to go aftermarket on that because of the 7-pin harness, maybe. But maybe "time/travel = money" for you, and ordering OEM is wise. Last I recall, that single part was just under $1k, although if you order through Toyota's online portal, there's a solid chance you could get it in the $600-700 range.

 

You're correct about the price. I apparently was looking at something else yesterday when I saw that $320 price, shipped. I think that may have just been the receiver portion of the hitch. I'll keep an eye out for one locally (northern VA). They do make aftermarket hitches, but I'm not sure they use the factory mounting holes or if they have the provision for the bumper bolts (I doubt it). I was kind of surprised when I noticed it since the rest of the underbody is in really good shape for an 18 year old vehicle.

 

I would highly advise using an impact wrench if you can get one in there. Those rusty 12mm head bolts easily snap using an extended socket wrench.

Don’t ask me how I know.

Edit: Yours looks different than mine, so maybe not an issue?

 

Well, Toyota sells the bumper brace for about $225 (about $65 to ship) for trucks without the hitch. I may end up going that route and then installing an aftermarket (Reese, Curt, Draw-Tite, etc) hitch. It would be a lot cheaper in the long run. That would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $500-600 total, vice around $1400 for a new factory hitch, shipped. I'm guessing the chances of finding a good used hitch around me aren't that great. I'm going to need a new/good used bumper either way. I'll keep an eye out for a used factory hitch over the winter, but I'd like to fix it come spring. I don't plan on doing a bunch of towing, but I do have a utility trailer and I don't think I'd want to do much towing of anything the way that it looks now.

 

I dunno, I'd tinker with eBay, or www.car-part.com .... even when you think about $75-125 to ship that part to you for proper used OEM from rust-less place, it's 4x less than new OEM.

 

Funny, I completely forgot about car-part.com. As it turns out, there appears to be one from an 03 access cab available at a salvage yard about 40 minutes from my house for $80. They close at noon today, but I plan on running up there Monday morning to get it, assuming it's what they say. Talked to the guy and he said it was rust free when they inventoried it, so hopefully it still is. It was rated grade A on the car-part.com website. Unfortunately, the bumper is gone. Thanks, shifty, for reminding me of that site.

 

Be careful, some of those vehicles are poorly supported on tires and whatnot. I was going after a good used hitch myself for $50 in my local salvage yard when the whole load shifted and I said fuck it and walked away.

 

Well, being the old fart that I am, I'll probably just pay them to take it off, unless the listed price already includes removal, too. A lot of the big yards don't let you out there to take parts off yourself anyway. I know I went to a big place up in PA a few years ago and they'd take you out in a vehicle to look at the part, but they wouldn't let you remove it yourself. I guess they're afraid of you destroying something else in the process.

 

Well, I went and picked it up this morning. I doubt that a new one from the factory would look much better. I was really surprised how good it looked when I saw it. They drove me out to look at it and it was already off of the truck. They drove it back to the parking area and loaded it into my truck. $84.80, including tax. What a deal. Thanks again, shifty, for mentioning car-part.com.

 

Hell yeah, that's a win no matter how you slice it.

And just FYI ... there's a few dudes on here that'd probably pay good money for that OEM 7-pin harness and pigtail. That's another part that costs a couple hundred new, IIRC. I remember I was pricing out parts with @daveeasa in the past. No doubt you could probably come close to making your money back on that thing alone, ask $75 shipped.

 

Yeah, I'd be tempted but I think I maybe have a few new ones stocked up and some connectors and such. Someday I gotta do my real deal tow 7 pin on the Tundra. And maybe one for the '05 Taco too though not sure what it could actually tow

 

I'm thinking of possibly going with the OEM rear bumper. The painted one through Toyota is a little over $200 most places. Shipping would be about 125. I'm not seeing anything under about $300 on Amazon, Ebay or Summit for aftermarket. The truck has clearcoat issues, so if I end up getting it painted, I could have them paint the bumper to match, also. I may wait until spring to put the new-to-me hitch on it. May as well get the winter salt on the one that's already rusty. I'll keep my eye open for a good used bumper close by over the winter. Something might pop up. BTW, will 2nd gen bumpers fit on 1st gen? There's a decent looking one close by from an 07.

 

I mean, I'm pretty sure the "FREESHIP" coupon still works on anything over $75 with https://autoparts.toyota.com doesn't it?

I wish I could get one paint matched white at that price, I'd probably be all over it. I ordered mine in chrome from Summit Racing, here are the details if you want to compare pricing: https://www.tundras.com/threads/2000-limited-trd-refresh-repair-story.116395/page-4#post-3078253

NOTE: Summit Racing only charged me $9.99 total for shipping because it's an oversized item. I love ordering from them for exactly that reason.

2nd gen is different body/chassis, I wouldn't expect the bumper you asked about it to fit.

 

I picked up this piece also recently for $100 bucks mine was all rusted out to