Passennger rear wheel well rubber coating missing over threads of bolt?

1

1996_Valencia_Owen

Banned
I have a 2018 TRD OR, and while washing the truck, I noticed that the inner wheel well seems to have some slabs of like... melted or painted on rubber coating. It seems to be missing or torn off over where a small bilt thread pokes through, and I'm worries about it rusting over time.

On the driver's side this same area had the rubber lining completely covering it so it just looks like a round bump in the rubber.

Does anyone know if this rubbwr stuff is for sound only, or rust prevention? And can I buy and apply it myself somehow, or can the dealer do it easily?

It looks like long strips of melted on soft rubber...
 
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I sprayed some lanolin-based rust prevention on the bolt this am, but decided to try the spray-in duplicolor bedliner rubbery stuff.

I wiped the lanolin stuff off with a paper towel as best I could, then sprayed the duplicolor on.

The spot looks nice and rubberized now... but I'm reading various threads across the internet now that say the spray-in bedliner can be a rust trap.

So I'm getting nervous. Any idea if I should be fine, if there was no rust there when I sprayed on the duplicolor? I can't imagine there'd be any water-based stuff in that spray, since it's solvent based.

It seems the consensus is the undercoating is a sound-insulation thing, so not primarily an anti-corrosion thing... but the little pea-sized area where it fell off reveals the threads of a screw that is steel (magnetic), so I can't imagine you'd want that exposed to rain for too long.

So, long story short, not sure whether to:
a) leave the steel screw exposed, and hope it doesn't rust
b) trust the duplicolor spray-on bedliner to cover the spot for years to come
c) try to have Toyota apply touch-up coating made from the same whatever-the-heck-material undercoating
 
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Mine was the same way

I also thought it was odd. I posted about it also.

I got several responses saying they had the same thing and not to worry about it so that's what I did. I don't know why Toyota doesn't have their assembly sequence correct on that bolt.

If you discovery anything let the forum know.

Steve.
 
It's not about that. Got a few scratches already.

It's about figuring out thst stuff is and how to protect it since it's in the wheel well. Just alarming to see a bare metal screw poking through.

I'll have to research the air dry stuff
 
Food for thought: I've often heard that these rubber coatings can actually develop cracks and hold in moisture causing hidden rust.

The sheer existence of a vehicle is sometimes tragic to think about.
 
T4R2014 said:
Food for thought: I've often heard that these rubber coatings can actually develop cracks and hold in moisture causing hidden rust.

The sheer existence of a vehicle is sometimes tragic to think about.
Click to expand...

I love the little rust spots that form on the floor of my garage, and wondering what exactly is causing them, and hopefully that it's not important.
 
Funny. I have the same thing and noticed it the other day. I had taken my 4R to get a professional wax job since I'm lazy and it hadn't been washed in six months.

When I picked it up the guy was showing me the truck and they had sprayed some kind of shiny armor-all stuff inside the wheel wells which kind of irritated me and seemed like a gigantic waste of effort but whatever.

I noticed the weirdo bolt poking through the rhino liner stuff (now all nice and shiny) and thought to myself that Toyota must really know what they're doing on their assembly process to do that on purpose.

I don't really trust dealer mechanics to do stuff 100% right and I'll check behind their work, but when it comes down to how the truck was assembled by Toyota in Japan I have a blind childlike trust that they did their job perfectly. It's not a freaking Made-in-Mexico Tacoma after all.
 
LandCruiser said:
I love the little rust spots that form on the floor of my garage, and wondering what exactly is causing them, and hopefully that it's not important.
Click to expand...

Oh I get it! It'a like daddy made a dad joke, and now baby huey thinks he can give it a try too!

One day you'll be funny, little guy. Just be patient and don't lose heart.
 
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1996_Valencia_Owen said:
Oh I get it! It'a like daddy made a dad joke, and now baby huey thinks he can give it a try too!

One day you'll be funny, little guy. Just be patient and don't lose heart.
Click to expand...

That's what your mom keeps telling me, that and she hopes that the 4Runner she bought for her son will mean he can finally move out of the basement.
 
LandCruiser said:
That's what your mom keeps telling me, that and she hopes that the 4Runner she bought for her son will mean he can finally move out of the basement.
Click to expand...

Haha. I wish I lived closer to my mom, instead of on the opposite coast!

But really, it does seem like an annoyance Toyota couls avoid. Searching off the forums made me realize a few other Toyota owners (diff vehicles) saw the same one-side issue.

No idea how it happens in the factory... or maybe the coating just can't handle a power sprayer well, but I guess I'll throw a little fluidfilm on and keep an eye on it.

If anyone else has this issue on an older 5th gen and the exposed bolt has done fine for a few years, please lmk.
 
If you want an honest answer

The screws holding the underside of my front bumper and the plastic wheel well inserts are rusted, some of the screws in the rear wells are rusted, and the fuel door screws are also rusted. These are what "bleed" and leave little orange puddles on my garage floor (this is NOT counting body rust)

The fuel door hasn't started to run down the side of the truck, but there's some discoloration where it's run down under the door. Salt really likes to get under there.

You're not going to win this battle. Toyotas like to rust.
 
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LandCruiser said:
If you want an honest answer

The screws holding the underside of my front bumper and the plastic wheel well inserts are rusted, some of the screws in the rear wells are rusted, and the fuel door screws are also rusted. These are what "bleed" and leave little orange puddles on my garage floor (this is NOT counting body rust)

The fuel door hasn't started to run down the side of the truck, but there's some discoloration where it's run down under the door. Salt really likes to get under there.

You're not going to win this battle. Toyotas like to rust.
Click to expand...

Thanks, man, and no worries. SoCal has been pretty easy on my past cars (one a 3rd gen runner), but I'm sure this '18 will get beat up sooner or later. With a baby on the way, I'm sure it'll be sooner lol.
 
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