Hi, My name is Dave, I am new to this forum....just joined today. I am a 4Runner owner and fan myself. I've owned 3 so far. Just wanted to make everyone aware, that I too have been plagued by the notorious rust issues that has been found on the 3RD Gen 4Runners. I created a community page on Facebook, hopefully to try and aid us 3RD Gen 4Runner owners who still love their vehicles, but the frame is rotting before our eyes. Like I said, I've owned a few and can't count how many patched welds I have performed. It's tiring to keep up with. Ultimately, it's unsafe and Toyota Motor Sales needs to address the issue.
I am pleased to try and help the 3RD Generation Toyota 4Runner owners, including myself to obtain resolution to this problem. Would you be so kind as to share this with your community and network? Toyota Motor Sales has been made ware of this unsafe ongoing issue and are hoping that it ultimately just goes away.
I have very recently notified up to 16 key executives at Toyota personally as well as 12 key employees at the NHTSA, DOT, and EPA. I will let you all know what the outcome is when I receive a response.
In the mean time, please visit the links I have provided below. I have short-linked our Facebook Community Page as well as the link to the NHTSA "File a Complaint" form. Please like and share the Facebook page and take the 3-5 minutes to fill out a NHTSA form. http://bit.ly/Facebook_4Runner_Frame_Recall
http://bit.ly/NHTSA_Safety_Complaint_Form
Let's proactively pursue resolution to this issue.
Thank you very much.

The links I pasted below show that you are not the first one to try to get this forum to jump on board with a campaign of NHTSA complaints.

You will not find the support you are looking for here. Toyota has no responsibility to maintain 13-19 year old vehicles which were not properly cared for by their owners who live in salty environments; mine included. I have a 2 foot long frame patch next to the exhaust.

You have a few options to fight the rust, but complaining is not one of them.


FRAME RUSTED on your 4RUNNER?

To all with frame rot and rust through

Some great news for third gen 4runner owners and frame rust!

Serious Frame Rust Questoin

This topic has been beat to death , bottom line is Toyota will do nothing to fix frame rot on 3rd gen 4runners .
Give it a few minutes and everybody from Cali and Arizona will chime in and you how much you miss treated you truck and its your fault !
Because Toyota has such a great track record for sturdy frames , I know this because of all the frames stacked up in the back of my local dealership . Dealership told me they are doing a few a week .
I love my 4Runner and its bullet proof drivetrain but I don't see any other manufacturers doing frame swaps .

Thank you for your response. I have read all the links that you had provided. Although new to the forum, I have actively used this site for many many years. It wasn't up until recently that I decided to get this campaign moving with momentum. It's unfortunate, my vehicles have been meticulously cared for by myself and yet I experienced the premature rust/rot. Bare in mind I live in a region that is more susceptible to salting than other states.
Your statement of whether Toyota is going to replace frames on 13+ yr old vehicle is moderately valid. However, take into consideration that the other trucks that Toyota rolled into a frame recall campaign were within the same age bracket.
With that said, please do not try to dissuade my efforts to pursue resolution to a known problem, issue, and liability. I will carry this through with much more momentum than others. As stated earlier, all key officials and executives have been notified by myself. This is something that no has conducted in the past. Filling out the simple NHTSA form is the start, directing this issue right up many flag poles, as I have done, should facilitate better results and awareness.
Previously, everyone always directed correspondence, and calls to customer service reps, and other liaisons that represent Toyota at a consumer level. These employees are put in place as the first line defense, all these employees are trained to mute such concerns (brush it under the rug), and deflect the issues. Ultimately, silencing the consumer out of sheer frustration.
In addition, the inclusion of a "Social Media" campaign followed by "Media Campaigns (which I tend to roll out) has never been conducted as well. Lastly, if a class action suit needs to be performed, understand that I will follow through with such action.
I will keep everyone posted.

Don't get me wrong, I think what you're doing reflects a true safety concern. But the real challenge that has stopped campaigns like yours is that the recalls on Tacomas, Tundras, and Sequoias began almost 10 years ago. Those trucks were still young, and showed extremely premature rust. Ours do not show the "premature" factor you would need to successfully campaign against Toyota.

But I suppose it doesn't make much sense to debate with someone who is trying to advocate for me.

Sorry, but if that were true, you wouldn't have any frame rust. More likely you washed the body as needed, but didn't even think to wash the undercarriage. Ignorance is no excuse, it's still neglect on your part, intentional or not. It is however a good learning lesson.

I reply to most of these threads, because I think people should take responsibility for their actions, or in the case of a rusted vehicle, inaction.

My soon to be 18 year old 4Runner (which I bought new off the lot) has spent it's entire life in a State that salts the roads heavily, all winter long.

I knew what the salted roads can do to any make or model of vehicle, so I determined to be very proactive in washing the salt off the entire truck as needed. I've spent lots of time with a garden hose, washing off the entire truck, including the undercarriage, in below freezing temperatures, in the dead of Winter.

A neighbor used to make fun of me for doing that. His Mercury Mountaineer, (fancy Ford explorer) which was the same year as my 4Runner, was neglected during the Winter months. It was hauled off to the junkyard years ago, because it had rusted to the point of being unsafe to drive.

Bottom line: Even a neglected 4Runner will last well past the rust warranty period. If you want it to last even longer, it needs to be maintained. In a highly corrosive environment, that becomes far more critical, no matter the make or model of vehicle.

The frame replacement on my 2001 Sequioa was complete last July.

Thank you for your input and opinion. However, let's not make assumptions. You don't know anything about me. I've owned 3 4Runners. 1st was pristine, 2nd spent it's latter life as a trail beater, 3rd is pristine as well. My 1st runner had none to minimal superficial frame rust issues (normal), 2nd one was developing some rust...worst than the 1st but not bad. This 3rd one, if you were to look at the undercarriage, you'd think it was a New England Salt Swamping Trail Pig. I've performed a multitude of frame repairs on many many Jeeps and 4Runners particularly.

The Tacoma was the first to see a "limited service campaign" for frame checks in '08 if I'm not mistaken. That would make those trucks 4-13 years old at the time of recall. The 3rd gen t4r is AT LEAST 13 years old at this point. The Sequoia and Tundra were most recent, according to the info I've found. Initial service notices were posted at the end of 2012. Given that the Sequoias affected were '01-'04, they were only 8-11 years old at the time of recall.

At time of recall:

Sequoia 8-11 years
Tacoma 4-13 years
4runner 13-19 years

If this were successful, the 4runner would be the oldest of all of those vehicles at the time of recall. The common denominator with the Tundra, Sequoia, and Tacoma recall is that their frames were made incorrectly by Dana Corp. while the 3rd gen frame was made by Toyota, in Japan.

I came here to say just this. QFT.

So it is Toyotas fault the east coast doesn't deal with snow properly?

when i see frame rot threads

It would be amazing if this worked. luckily my 4runner has little frame rust. I think Toyota could gain a lot of customers if they did recall these frames and made it public. I know if I heard about a company replacing frames on 13+ year old cars I would definitely be looking into that car company. Maybe we can get it to happen for the 3rd gen 4runners 20th anniversary as a gift from Toyota.

I think we should let this thread die. It is always the same discussion every time some dude with too much time on his hands creates a thread urging us to file complaints in order for Toyota to recall our fifteen year old 4Runners even though our frames are fine. News flash: there is little to no chance of Toyota installing a new frame when you look at the cost of parts and labor. They will buy back your 4Runner and scrap it.