Hello all, looking for some ideas on what to do next with our 2004 4Runner plagued by the infamous Toyota frame rust. All the posts I've read on this frame rust topic have been related to how to prevent/slow the decay, bickering about who's fault it is that they rust, class action lawsuits, and so on...but I haven't seen anything in regards to what to do with a truck that's already plagued. Just scrapping/crushing them all seems extreme, they are good looking rigs and rust free bodies will be hard to find someday in the not too distant future I bet. This might turn into a bit of an essay, bear with me...

The background:
The 4runner in question is an '04 Limited V6 4x4, ~170k miles, gold exterior and heated tan leather seats, mild spacer lift, like new graphite TRD pro wheels with great Hankook tires, & rust free body (keep in mind this is in the midwest). I bought it in 2017 knowing there was some surface rust developing on the frame, which I thought I could get ahead of with some prep and coating, but I underestimated the severity of what I'd later find. The body & paint, along with all of the suspension, was spotless without any rust, so I didn't suspect anything, and the frame looked solid when crawling around under it to inspect before buying. Turns out, I was duped by a previous owner who "body worked" (not kidding) the rusted out areas of the frame to hide the issues. Lesson learned the hard way there.

After grinding and removing glued & bondo'ed on pieces of sheet metal from the frame to find out exactly what shape it was in, I decided to repair it. The heavy rust was limited to the areas just before the lower links (see pics). I plated the rear section of both frame rails with 3/16" steel on 3 sides, from about the front of the rear doors, back halfway up the arch over the axle (going well past the affected areas to weld to good steel), and also reinforced the lower link mounts to the new steel. Also went through intensive prep work and POR15'ed all the new and existing steel at that time. 4 years and about 50k miles later and haven't had any issues with the repair.

However, the garbage steel that led to that frame rot next to a spotless rust free body (still true today) has continued to decay in some typical areas. Both front tow hooks are gone, along with a good amount of the small crossmember under the radiator, having rusted completely from the inside out (literally the exterior coating was the last thing holding together). Best I can tell, this isn't structural (just some routing retention for some lines) and short of loosing the tow hooks I don't see any major concern with driving it like this (worst case maybe a change in front impact structure?). I looked at repairing, but options are limited with complex geometry and no real good starting point to weld to good metal, so I've left this as is and haven't had any issue yet. It appears this hasn't reached back into the body mounts or more importantly the lower control arm mounts, and there's no other areas affected to this level I've found.


The dilemma:
We recently replaced this vehicle in our fleet, so its no longer needed and is an "extra" taking up space and $'s. It still gets driven, but its time for it to go. Besides the frame, this is a very nice truck and at this point still fully functional and usable as is. I'm certainly not about to go the route of owner(s) before me hiding such things and dumping it, so here are the options spinning in my head...

-Keep it and drive it into the ground (as I said, don't need it, so not ideal)- hope the frame rot doesn't make it to a control arm mount before the truck dies of natural causes (or Toyota decides to replace frames on 4runners like the Taco's).

-Sell it, fully disclosing frame repair and current state (and hopefully find a buyer who fully understands this)- this is option #1 I think currently, but the magic question is what's a fair price?? With a perfect frame, from what I can tell in used market its probably a ~11-12k truck, and I'm thinking fair would be maybe 3-5k off that considering frame. Am I way off?

-Swap/replace frame - Get ahead of the eventual demise of this frame by getting rid of it now before it causes some other issue. Don't want to put another Toyota frame under it considering the seemingly inevitable rot, so then what? Build my own front frame half from scratch and SAS? JK roller/body swap? Turns into a big project quite quickly and would rather put that time/money towards my actual project rigs, so not high on the list for me right now

-Part it out- Seems odd to do to a fully functioning vehicle, but maybe best bet so it doesn't create a problem later down the road for someone? Is there a market for this? Financially worth the effort? I know wheels/tires would go quick, but what about the rest of the big stuff (drivetrain, body, interior...)? Not yet convinced I'm up for this space & time commitment, or dealing with prospective buyers of parts, but maybe an option.



Hope you enjoyed the light read. Thoughts???? Any and all input/opinions/ideas appreciated!

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Post the pictures. Front cross member too.

There is a company that makes specific 4Runner frame pieces for weld-in repairs, don't recall name but someone will chime in. There's youtube videos too.

I think its SafeTCap.

I think its all starting with your perspective. Do you A really like the 4runner and enjoy it, or B looking at it from a financial perspective or none of the above

If you like the 4runner and it has value to you - post pictures and consider finding a welding shop to do some repairs. If its financial - then youll have to get some quotes, vs donating the vehicle or you could try to sell a dealership and see what you get out of it - then its on them for safety assessment

This is some before and after rear frame area pics... the "after" pics are recent, so 4yrs + since repair

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Yea I've heard of that company before, I essentially made my own version of what they provide from scratch and it has been holding up great. 3/16" steel plate puzzle pieces to build all the structure back into the frame.

Its not going to gain new value, might be time to sell and find a 4Runner in better condition.

Here's the front piece under radiator, and where tow hooks used to be. By far the worst of the frame (considering the repairs to rear rails/lower links). Also a pic of front suspension area, coating is starting to get some orange spots but overall still pretty solid where it counts.

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I think you've made your decision when you said you don't need it and it is taking up space and $. why put the time, effort and $ into fixing up the truck if you don't need it. spend that time, effort and $ on something else

if it were me I'd sell it and fully disclose the rust. someone that has the means and resources to do a good repair at reasonable cost will probably pick this truck up and then turn it for a profit. nothing wrong with that. alternatively someone that doesn't care about the rust and wants a good cheap truck may pick this up as a farm vehicle or something to get them by until they get their next vehicle

I know it sucks thinking about selling a vehicle that is otherwise perfect - visually you've done a good job taking care of it. but cars don't have feelings, it won't get sad if you sell it, it won't miss you. it doesn't even matter how much $ you can throw into fixing it. it's the time and effort that's my issue, there's no payback here it's just going to degrade in other areas and be a money pit

Sadly this experience has probably got me off any "modern" 4runners ever again, maybe a 1st or 2nd gen in my future at some point though. I've had plenty of old/high mileage vehicles in the rust belt and nothing like this. Everything else the bodies go first, and frames well outlive the rest of the vehicle, which makes a lot more sense to me. Rather have cosmetic issues than structural any day.

Thoughts on "fair" price if I do pursue selling?

I've thought about going that dealer route, but just doesn't feel right. I have a sinking suspicion they'd just pass it along to an uninformed buyer for a nice profit.

Looks like your truck came with the Toyota Rust Package.

Toyota has a horrendous history of major frame rust going back to the '80s.
They've done recalls on Tacos and Tundras to replace rusted frames.

I had to do a frame replacement myself on my '83.

That would never pass a safety inspection in most states, even if patched up.
It's going to be hard to sell IMO.

I made the mistake of not checking the frame on a very nice 4x4 limited. It was so nice that when I found my mistake I purchased a super nice frame from a local wrecking yard for $1000 and changed it out. I now have a very good vehicle which will last for many years here in Texas where we don't have salt problems.
The frame change out was much easier than I expected and far superior to a repair. My total cost was less than $3000 including body a body lift and new springs.
rd

I've been keeping an eye out for something like that, even watching Copart for something totaled due to body damage to steal chassis from. But haven't found anything worth jumping on yet, and still not sure I want to commit the time. I think selling as-is is making the most sense....just need to figure out the right number to list at

Going from your posts I'd say just bite the bullet and go with #1. The other options are a huge time commitment for a vehicle it seems you no longer need or care much for. Best bet would be a Southern frame and swap it out but you have to have the want or need to do it. Sell it as a mechanics or parts special. Sadly you may only get 3 to 5k for it even in today's market but there's someone out there willing to fix it up on their own so they have a decent rig for a price that doesn't hurt so bad. Give full disclosure of course, start on the high side and see how it goes by the replies you get. Please don't put the "I know what I have so don't low ball me" comment in there.