Picture of 4Runner Rust- Check your frames

[Razor128mh]

Check your frames, I thought mine was fine - surface rust only. That was until my wife came home and told me "my car feels funny going down the road." While inspecting, look what I found. This is where the drivers side lower control arm meets the frame. As you can see it has rusted to the point where it has seperated. If anyone else has this condition, or is getting close, get to your dealer and complain!

 

[Singtoe]

Nothing a little bailing twine and duct tape couldn't fix.

You must be from the north east.

 

[t4r4life]

gezuz to us cali folks this is ready for salvage yard

 

[Nelsonmd]

Yeah, that is a pretty common spot for severe rust. Search for other rust threads, and check out the link in my sig. Lots of us have dealt with rust.

Post your location. I would guess the NE as well.

 

[Hepar]

Wow. Gotta love having a West coast vehicle. There's not a spot of rust on mine. :banana:

 

[Elton H]

rust ? whats that lol

 

[Razor128mh]

Update

This is on a 1997 4Runner that has lived it's life in Connecticut. It has 150,000 on it. Toyota has already purchased my 1997 Tacoma from me because the frame was shot, and I'm on my 2nd recall for rust on my 2000 Tundra. As you can tell I have been a toyota guy for some time. I think it may be time for a loyalty shift. My 66 Impala doesn't have any rust!

 

[Singtoe]

I have a 96 4runner, 99 4runner, 02 taco and a 01 sequoia and none of them have a spot of rust on them.

 

[JohnsD90]

Dealer wont do sh*t for you.

 

[cfranck1]

Gotta love that new :flamethrwoer2: liquid road salt CT DOT uses on the roads now. It's killing everything on the road.

We are starting to see 2008-2009 trucks come in here at work needing exhaust manifolds because they are rotting right off :wtf:

 

[Nelsonmd]

Gotta love that new :flamethrwoer2: liquid road salt CT DOT uses on the roads now. It's killing everything on the road.

We are starting to see 2008-2009 trucks come in here at work needing exhaust manifolds because they are rotting right off :wtf:

Haha. I am convinced this is another way to "stimulate the economy" up here. Intentionally rust the **** out of people's vehicles so they have to buy new ones every 5-10 years.

It's like the requirements for full service gas stations. We are regulating away market freedom in the name of artificially inserting a few more jobs into the market.

 

[maclean216]

In San Diego we don't have rust....or power.

 

[Singtoe]

Gotta love that new :flamethrwoer2: liquid road salt CT DOT uses on the roads now. It's killing everything on the road.

We are starting to see 2008-2009 trucks come in here at work needing exhaust manifolds because they are rotting right off :wtf:

They use the Salt brine here too. Once it is on the road, it dries and is good to go.
I normally take a different way if i see fresh brine on the road. As for when it first snows, the brine is usually gone in an hour or so.

BTW, people down here do not know how to drive in the snow. I have never seen so many people in the ditch until I cam down here.

 

[[email protected]]

I had a similar issue with my 99 earlier this year. The local Toyota dealer said there was nothing they could do. Same news from Toyota corporate. I had it repaired by a local welder and it's held up so far.

I recommend filing a report with Toyota and the NHTSA. https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ There are many similar reports of frame corrosion in the NHTSA database. If there are enough complaints maybe Toyota will do something about it like with the Tacoma/Tundra voluntary buyback program.

 

[jirehn]

Having rust is a really disgusting thing,You need to replace it.

 

[Blanco]

Having rust is a really disgusting thing,You need to replace it.

Yeah, it sucks but some of us have to live up in the snow/salt belt and deal with it. Plus, having a 4Runner in the snow is an awesome thing.

My frame has some rust and my back axle as well, but thankfully no major 'rot' and it looks like I'll be able to take care of it with some TLC, a wire brush and some POR15 or similar before winter sets in. It's constant vigilance against rust up here and it spreads like a disease. My back quarter panel under the driver side bumper end however is another thing altogether and has rotted right through. Once I manage to get the bumper off (yes, rusted bolts as well) I'll post some pics when I repair it (if I can).

Razor - you should pull that rear skid plate off and check out the frame underneath and while you're at it, get all the rust off the plate and repaint it, makes a huge difference. I'm planning to do it next weekend. I just installed a new catback pipe and muffler last week and man, there's a whole load of rust gone from my undercarriage just by doing that!

 

[Maritimer]

I hosed my frame out two weeks ago, and had the Rust Check blast done last week. I know that area of the frame is a problem area because if I feel inside the frame with a finger I can feel silt build up, whereas other areas are clean and feel smooth. For good measure I sprayed more rust oil in there. I'd rather have that pooling than salt.

Even new vehicles up here start rusting, and I'd rather have my kind of rusty 10-year-old truck rusting up than watch rust attack a $45,000 new Runner. I'm not sure how to get a vehicle up here to last well.

 

[96743runner]

Wow that looks pretty bad. Glad we don't have salt on our roads...unless you drive really near the ocean

 

[Brutus]

Man it freaks me out to see the rust on some of ya'lls runners. I reckon I'm lucky here in South Central Ky. They use brine like in other areas but we don't get near as much snow as the rest of you.
Last year was the exception as we had more snow than in recent years. I just went to the car wash weekly and sprayed the bottom of the truck.

 

[Razor128mh]

The other parts of the frame are fine. I would have thought some wire brushing and preventative primer would have taken care of it. I heard somewhere that these things are rusting from the inside out. Not an easy thing to fix.