Frame Rust Evaluation

[SnoboardingDave]

I'm the orginal owner of an 05 V8 SR5 here in Maryland. I noticed some rust holes forming (& growing) on the front rightside of my frame, kind of around the front wheel & passenger door. Does a regular body shop evaluate if it can be repaired? Probably sounds like a ridulously stupid question, but I've never dealt with frame rust as I've never had the same car that's lasted for over 20 years. Anyway, any advice is appreciated. It has around 225k miles & I have the typical more costly V8 repair items lingering (Tbelt, both C/V axle boots/axles, exhaust manifolds, possibly cats, worn out control arm bushings, etc). But I love this truck, but if the frame's shot, it'll be time to move on & let it become someone's trail-rig or live another 20+ years in a 3rd world country.

 

[Hungryhawk]

You did not post any pics?
Some take the 4runner apart and put a good frame in it. Not fast and takes money and searching for necessary components. Also a shop/garage and lots of tools.
But if the drive train and interior are no good, like the frame, it is used up!
Salvage it to a dismantler and get a replacement.

 

[rdruss]

Without pictures it's hard to tell how bad yours is. Mine had about a 8" x 1" long hole on the bottom of the frame and a small one in the side under the passenger front door, it cost me $1K for a patch job. Not all shops will do this work, not all body shops will either, you will have to search.

 

[MikeinNH67]

As mentioned, pics are helpful. Lots of places won't touch frame repairs for liability reasons. You can purchase Safe-t-caps that get welded over the bad section of frame. Sadly, if you have one rust hole you probably have more ready to appear. I patched my frame many times already and it needs more.


Just a moment...

 

[4runherpow]

Wait till you take the rear bumper off :thumb:

 

[meltdowner]

Dude, I am in the same boat. I got an '06 v8 Sport with 94k miles. Frame just started showing some serious signs of rust on the interior. One quarter sized hole developed on the underside of the front right passenger.

I look at new car prices and they want 60k for a decent vehicle. I'm seriously considering dropping ~15-20k to get the entire frame replaced.

I'm not sure what to do. Killing me.

 

[4runherpow]

Dude, I am in the same boat. I got an '06 v8 Sport with 94k miles. Frame just started showing some serious signs of rust on the interior. One quarter sized hole developed on the underside of the front right passenger.

I look at new car prices and they want 60k for a decent vehicle. I'm seriously considering dropping ~15-20k to get the entire frame replaced.

I'm not sure what to do. Killing me.

I have 100 quarters. She runs like a champ. Do what you think is best but a quarter sized hole for a 20 year old vehicle isnt going to stop the truck. It's as others have already said - large 7,8,10" gashes in multiple key areas of the frame like near body mounts, suspension parts, or cross members is concerning. 1 quarter means you'll become much more aware of more quarters if you keep these awesome trucks for any longer than 5 seconds.

 

[Lemming]

Just a moment...

Never used these guys, but they seem well rated. Far from Maryland, but not too crazy.

 

[fourwd1]

Toyota trucks and frame rust are like pizza and beer. You can't have one without the other :cheers:

Years ago the frame on my '83 Toy 4WD p/u rusted out so bad that and had had so many plates welded on to reinforce it, it became a bit unsafe to drive.
I was ready to junk it when I found someone that had a 20 yr old '82 solid frame and I ended up doing a complete frame swap and more.

Man was it a lot of work.

You're going to have a hard time finding any shop to do frame repairs because of the liability factors involved, especially on newer vehicles. The frames are built with different strengths of steel to create stronger sections for impact resistance and weaker sections for crumple zones.

Maybe a friend from a local club that has a welder and some smarts.

 

[MikeinNH67]

I looked into Southern frames. Seems they're in the $700 range which isn't terrible. The thing you gotta think about is what will also need to replaced. Fasteners, brake lines, fuel lines and the like. Domino effect. It really is a pisser that Toyota decided to replace Tacoma frames but said no to 4runners.

 

[4runherpow]

I looked into Southern frames. Seems they're in the $700 range which isn't terrible. The thing you gotta think about is what will also need to replaced. Fasteners, brake lines, fuel lines and the like. Domino effect. It really is a pisser that Toyota decided to replace Tacoma frames but said no to 4runners.

Business decision. No doubt would of bankrupted them. For those who know Bob, he did a frame swap and it was in a magazine years ago. I would buy a frame for 1-2k and pay 8k with ancillary parts+labor if I knew it would be done right by someone who would pay attention to detail.

 

[T4R2014]

Business decision. No doubt would of bankrupted them. For those who know Bob, he did a frame swap and it was in a magazine years ago. I would buy a frame for 1-2k and pay 8k with ancillary parts+labor if I knew it would be done right by someone who would pay attention to detail.

It was a legal decision. Tacoma frame rust and 4Runner frame rust have different root causes. One is a specification issue during manufacturing, the other is owner neglect.

 

[MikeinNH67]

It was a legal decision. Tacoma frame rust and 4Runner frame rust have different root causes. One is a specification issue during manufacturing, the other is owner neglect.

I disagree about owner neglect. How is an owner supposed to know that brine soaked sand will sit inside certain sections of a frame with no way to get it out? My frame rotted from the inside out in multiple places. I'm amazed at how much sand came out when I cut the rusted area back to thick metal. Most of the holes was small on the outside but large on the inside.

 

[T4R2014]

I disagree about owner neglect. How is an owner supposed to know that brine soaked sand will sit inside certain sections of a frame with no way to get it out? My frame rotted from the inside out in multiple places. I'm amazed at how much sand came out when I cut the rusted area back to thick metal. Most of the holes was small on the outside but large on the inside.

I get you. But then apply this to all vehicles using a boxed frame. Every Toyota truck, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, etc. This is an inherent downside of the design. Most if not all engineering decisons will have a set of pros and cons. Hence why the owner's manual suggests to wash the undercarriage. Look into the fellow in South Carolina who just so happened to live by a beach that tried to sue Toyota on the grounds of a manufacturing defect for his frame rust. He got nowhere. I saw a 2017 F150 with a frame starting to rot out the other day. You'd never guess from the aluminum body, but I gave it five years before a major structural failure.

 

[MikeinNH67]

I get you. But then apply this to all vehicles using a boxed frame. Every Toyota truck, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, etc. This is an inherent downside of the design. Most if not all engineering decisons will have a set of pros and cons. Hence why the owner's manual suggests to wash the undercarriage. Look into the fellow in South Carolina who just so happened to live by a beach that tried to sue Toyota on the grounds of a manufacturing defect for his frame rust. He got nowhere. I saw a 2017 F150 with a frame starting to rot out the other day. You'd never guess from the aluminum body, but I gave it five years before a major structural failure.

Certainly other trucks have this issue. My son has had to patch his 06 f150 in a couple spots but it's not as bad as my 4runner and doesn't seem to happen the same way. The part that gets me is many unibody vehicles rarely seem to have this issue. Somehow the junk just collects in the 4runner frames. Oh well, rant disabled.

 

[rdruss]

If you look at your frame closely you will notice that it has about 100 factory holes in it (no exaggeration). This allows road spray to enter the frame during normal use, whether on road daily driving in the rain/snow/salt, or off roading crossing streams and mud holes. Our frames are going to get all kinds of dirt/sand/salt and water in them and much of it stays there and starts the corrosion process. I've seen pictures on here and elsewhere of 5th gen frames that have factory installed plastic plugs in these frame holes and you can buy these frame plugs as a kit from Toyota, I have purchased two for about $60/each and there are still about 20 holes left to plug. It's late in the game for my '03 and it has been patched in two locations below the passenger front door. I have Fluid Filmed the inside as best I can and then installed many plugs using RTV to secure/seal them, hopefully I'm doing some good and not harm.