I know my front strut blew out last weekend. What would you do if you were in my situation ? Trade it in ? Keep it ?

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Wow, is that typical of FL rust or did it come from somewhere else? If it was mine I'd sell it but I that's just me in the rust-free zone.

Completely dependent on the situation. What you use it for, your financial situation, sentimental value...

I know some posts I've read about just welding in patches as needed, but obviously that can be scary, not to mention cause balance issues.

There's also the possibility of a frame swap, but it just comes down to $$.

Since my runner is only used for shuttling to mountain bike trails I would keep it. But as a DD, I might look to cleaner pastures.

Serious Frame Rust Questoin

That link should get you better info.

Yikes, That's about typical for what I have seen on other trucks and vehicles that come from the East Coast... But Toyota is known for having some rusting issues on their frames.

To be honest, while it looks seriously nasty; I'm not entirely sure how deep the rust goes and therefore how "bad" it is.

What year is it? I would send the pictures and everything to Toyota and make them aware of the problem, it may not end up doing anything; but I'd say its worth a shot at the very least they have another complaint to stack with others that may result in a campaign like the Tundras/Sequoias.

Edit-
@sigalution , thank you! I had completely forgotten about frame swapping as an option!

http://www.lkqcorp.com/us/en/search-inventory.aspx

We use this company at work for "JunkYard Parts" they're a professional salvage company and tend to be of better quality than your "Pick'n Pulls" (Not to say they aren't good, just these guys take greater care of the cars rather than stuff them on blocks in a lot)

A frame for a '03-'09 is about $2500 according to their inventory.

The vehicle spent its whole life in New England. The rust has bad when I bought it 2 years ago, but nothing i was to concerned about. Since moving to Daytona Beach in March the rust has gotten ALOT worse. Im guessing the humidity along with the salt that was trapped in the metal. When i has up north I would take it to the self car wash every other week and wash the undercarriage. In the winter i would do it at least once a week, sometimes more. I sent a message to Toyota last night. Hopefully I will hear something tomorrow. I was going to buy a gallon or POR15 and go to town but after looking under it a few weeks ago its obviously to far gone.

If it were mine I would seriously consider filing a report with the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). I've seen at least one other complaint for frame rust on 2008 and newer T4Rs. If enough reports are filed, it might just get the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration to take notice and get Toyota to 1) fix the bad frames, and 2) make the new ones better.

File ODI Report and Check Other's Complaints


Date Complaint Filed: 11/18/2012
Component(s): POWER TRAIN , SERVICE BRAKES , STRUCTURE , SUSPENSION , WHEELS

Date of Incident: 10/01/2012
NHTSA ID Number: 10485047
\Crash:No
Fire:No
Number of Injuries:0
Number of Deaths:0

Manufacturer: TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION

Vehicle Identification No. (VIN): JTEZU14R180...

SUMMARY:
THERE IS CORROSION IN THE FRAME AND DRIVE-TRAIN COMPONENTS. THERE IS PITTING, RUSTING THROUGHOUT THE FRAME UNDERCARRIAGE AND THE SUSPENSION AND DIFFERENTIAL COMPONENTS. THIS BARELY 4YR OLD VEHICLE IS A SOUTHERN VEHICLE. REGARDLESS, THIS CORROSION IS A SAFETY ISSUE IN ANY VEHICLE LET ALONE IN A 4RUNNER WITH A SERVICE INCEPTION DATE OF 11/30/2008 WITH 19K MILES. THIS IS TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE OF THE MANUFACTURER AND THEY CLAIM IT IS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY. YES, IT (SHOULD BE) COVERED BY WARRANTY AND MORE IMPORTANTLY IT IS MANUFACTURER'S LIABILITY TO CORRECT SAFETY/QUALITY ISSUE. *TR

Come on now. Not all the east coast is the same. That is common for New England, not south of the Mason Dixon line.

Filing a report won't get anything done. My buddy has a 2006 Tacoma that's almost rusted through. He wrote to Toyota USA and they wrote back last week with a letter that basically said, "sorry bout your luck. You're out of warranty."

Mine looked almost exactly like yours when I got it. I spent a while roughing it up with a wire brush and spraying it with paint to slow down the rust. There are products on the market for neutralizing the rust and you might try those before painting or undercoating the frame.

I've lived in the snow zone for 35 years and I've seen lots of surface rust on other brands but I've never seen frames literally rust through like these Toyotas do. In the 1980s and 1990s the bodies would literally fall off the trucks. Now the bodies are perfect and the frames rust and fall apart. WTH?

I'd definitely take the time to work on that NOW though. Snow is just around the corner again.

That looks about on tap with mine. I found nothing all that serious, all surface rust with a couple of boogers. I gave a couple areas a good brushing/cleaning & painting (3 coats of rustoleum primer & 3 coats of rustoleum flat black). Looks good now!

I plan on doing more of the frame (and the rear axle) in due time...

Business as usual here in New England

Where did you get this picture? Id imagine it was there to get the frame recall check. LOL FAIL!!!

From reddit...

I am glad I live in Arizona. My 03 still looks brand new underneath after 11 years. Look for one out here.

Don't feel too bad. Get to welding. Can I post here? Damn 4th gen people. Rust sucks.

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