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[makaser]

ND-NW previously said:

Makaser -- That slight bulge you are measuring appears to be on some of the brand new "off the truck" FJs as well (and mine). Some on the lot were more "flat", some (like mine) have one side flat (driver's side) and the other with 1/16" to 1/8" gap like the one you are measuring., others on both sides like yours.

I still believe that this is not the same as the bulging seen by those whose aprons have progessed to cracks or tears, but instead part of variation at assembly. I also believe the small "Tgingle" dimple(s) you are seeing is also caused at assembly. If these were a result of a ding in the die, they would be more consistent on all vehicles. Mine, for example, has the dimple you are describing as well as another small one close to the spot weld about 6 inches forward. I saw some on the lot with 1 dimple, some with 2 like mine, and some without the dimples. My theory is that is you flex the attachement point, for example while they are assembling the outer fender or whatever else is attached, you can create the dimple -- I've seen similar dimples on HVAC ducts under the house.

Issue is, if people start reporting something that was there from the start as bulging, it might add noise to an already hard to quantify issue/problem. My 1/16" gap (measuring like you are) hasn't budged for 3,000 miles. If you see yours start to grow, or other dimples/etc. forming, then I think you can confirm progression or "bulging". I don't think what you are looking at right now is necessarily bad, or good. Any one else want to weigh in on this?

Well, I didn't report the "ding". I figured it's something from the factory, as we all seem to have something very similar. But the bulging I have is not from the factory. I've been checking mine every week ever since I saw Bernds'. Mine is very recent. I checked mine at 22K (approx Nov. 18th) and both inner fenders were flat. Completely flat. I used the same carpenter's square you see in the photo and instead of the gap you see, it was perfectly flat all the way along the straight edge. I checked it the same way with the same straight edge for consistency. At about 22,400 is when the bulges appeared on both sides. So no, this is not how it came from the factory. And if there are units coming from the factory with slight bulges, then that only goes further to prove that this has nothing to do with how we are driving our vehicles and has nothing to do with "abuse" as some dealers are trying to say. The driver's side bulge hasn't changed in almost 600 miles. But the passenger side has almost doubled since the first time I noticed it. Also keep in mind that I haven't been off road since I first documented the bulges. I checked for them the day after my last outing (Dec. 2nd) and there were no bulges. The straight edge laid flat against the fender. The bulges didn't show up until a week later(Dec. 9th). I took it to Gresham Toyota on Dec. 12th to make it official. From here on out, I'm going to be documenting the bulges in the same way, with photos.