Has anyone heard of a pending recall for our frames. I have heard through a Toyota employee that Toyota has started to stockpile 4runner frames. I think it is reliable info. Came from a truck driver delivering tundra frames to dealer. I had heard the same thing from a driver about tundras before that was launched.
Hope its true.

I don't think so.

how bad is yours? if its not pited or failed then i think you are okay.

I hope the rumor is true. I want to cry when I'm under my '05....alot of rust and scale. The northeast winters really do a number on these trucks. Thinking about a new Tacoma in 2017, but will hang on to the 4R and run it during the winter months.

In 1990 I bought a '88 Tacoma whose frame rusted badly everyplace except where I would spill oil on it while changing the oil filter. That area looked new.

Lesson learned - oil covered parts don't rust.

Now it's 2015. I just got a used T4R. Since it's from the south the frame has very little rust and I want to keep it that way.

So did some poking around and found Fluid Film - basically oil that is safe to spray on rubber and plastic parts under the vehicle.

I went all in and bought jack, jack stands, spray gun, and a gallon of Fluid Film. Sprayed the 4R in a few hours in my driveway.

Other than a nagging feeling I must have missed some spots I am happy to have found Fluid Film and gotten it applied before winter sets in. Now I can be less concerned about driving around in the Massachusetts salt zone.

So since I picked up my 03 in August, rotten drivers side exhaust manifold/cat, Y pipe, rear exhaust, all 4 O2 sensors, front rotors and calipers, front brake lines, rear rotors, pads all around, yanked the leaking XREAS and put in FJ springs and Bilstine 5100's, southern rear hatch, and the best of all, the completely rotten how the hell did it pass inspection NY is on CRACK lower radiator support. Why all this and I still have it? It started with the exhaust pipe/muffler assembly falling off 3 days after picking it up from the dealer. All this other stuff has been eaten by the dealer. Yes it's an upstate NY car, but I have all the service records, the interior is mint, it runs like a clock, and since the hatch replacement was part of the original deal, the body is amazing for a 12 year old car. The frames on these things suck, but I'll tell you this. looks CAN be deceiving. When it was up on the lift and we were looking at the rad support situation, I beat the crap out of the frame, poked everywhere, all the welds I could get to, drain holes, everything. My suggestion is if it looks bad, scaled, rusty, clean it, prep it, paint or film it. I was totally convinced I needed a frame. Now I know I can confidently sell it in the spring for a Sequoia. Thought we were gonna need 3rd car seat soon, but not the case. Yet.

A 1988 Tacoma? Never heard of our seen one in my life. How could you let something that rare rust away!?!?

Look into a product called POR15. Knock off the flakey rust, use the surface prep, then coat this stuff on with a brush. It won't rust anymore. Just make sure to cover your work area, it will not come off concrete once cured.

Sold it around '98, so it was nothing special at the time.

And yeah - was not called a Tacoma at the time; 'Hilux' or just 'Pickup' was the IIRC.

Well if it's going to be like the Tacoma, Tundra, and Sequoia; Toyota will be looking for excessive corrosion damage such as cracked/rotted frame members/body mounts (meaning they've actually started to separate and/or break away, not just scale) and/or perforations of at least 10mm or larger in the frame.

so what would be best for rust repair. using a rust converter like corroseal and then painting or cleaning off rust and just por15?
or maybe corroseal and then painting por15 over

Depends on the surface. most of these companies suggest rust converters such as corroseal on 100% surface. not mix rust. in that case it works very well.

while POR15 will work, I think its just impractical. you will never get every surface, and you wont get inside the frame of our trucks.

I'm opting for heavy degreasing of every surface. Using salt away. applying corroseal on the very bad areas and fluid filming the rest.

I think POR15 would be good if you take apart the car. but its such a pain and if you dont get 100% you have to go keep touching up.

At least with fluid film you see whats going on, and not covering it up. rust never sleeps. so you should see whats going on and keep adding till you get the best coverage possible.

I'm on the fence if i want to spray paint before fluid filming. This will act as an indiciator too see rust is growing under the fluid film. Not sure if this would cause pockets for rust to grow. For now winter is here, I'm fluid filming whatever I can then going through a more indept process in the summer.

Thanks

Hey folks I'm brand new here. Just about to jump into 4runner ownership and want to get some input. I know frame rust is a case-by-case issue and the 4runner I'm looking at is out of Delaware and has some rust. Looking at the pics should I be worried about this level of rust? I think the lower cross-refer of the radiator is the biggest concern. Your thoughts?

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I thought my rust was bad.... But i'm no expert...

Also where is the skid plate???

He didn't have it installed... I don't have any experience with rusted frames being from southern California. It didn't look good, I just don't know if it's bad enough I should pass up on this 4runner. I may see if he'll let me take it to a dealership to have them check it out...