Picture of 4Runner Rust- Check your frames

[T4R2014]

I had rusted Diff on 02 T4R in 2016 186,000mi. In 2010 I walnut blasted underside +rust inhibitor+Rustoleum+Zibart. No exterior body rust, interior has sheepskins since new, all looks new, serviced by the book, except for re-occuring frame and diff rust.Dealer ordered $1200 rear axle assembly for rusted Diff fix. Before going through with that and $2500, I had dealer do a courtesy state inspection. Didn't know the frame was cracked until the dealer said they would not pass state inspection on it, but they also wouldn't repair it. WTF?! got pissed, went to Barnes 4WD Diff cover replaced it in 2016. At same time had welder weld frame areas and coat with AMsoil HD. Toyota won't acknowledge it as a recall issue even with pictures of inside out and full service record. They gave me a $1,000 credit if I buy a new or used Toyo within a year. Welded the frame and Barnes Diff cover and added Amasoil Undercoating for <$1,000. I'll drive the '02 until one of us dies or I run out of $$ fixing it.

Will never go to a Toyota dealer with my T4R again. they only want to work on new and easy stuff.

Paint is to make it look pretty and Zeibart is bull.

Get yourself a spray gun and fill it with used motor oil, or Fluid Film, or both. Get your 4Runner up on a lift and spray. Use common sense, don't spray into your radiator or on the exhaust. Spray inside the factory holes you see in the frame. All of them. Spray until it starts running out. See any exposed bolts or cavities? Grease that ***** up. Fender lips? Get greasing.

You live in Maine. Any New England state is essentially a death camp for your car and anything living past 10 years there is doing pretty good.

 

[Mark_BC]

I had rusted Diff on 02 T4R in 2016 186,000mi. In 2010 I walnut blasted underside +rust inhibitor+Rustoleum+Zibart. No exterior body rust, interior has sheepskins since new, all looks new, serviced by the book, except for re-occuring frame and diff rust.Dealer ordered $1200 rear axle assembly for rusted Diff fix. Before going through with that and $2500, I had dealer do a courtesy state inspection. Didn't know the frame was cracked until the dealer said they would not pass state inspection on it, but they also wouldn't repair it. WTF?! got pissed, went to Barnes 4WD Diff cover replaced it in 2016. At same time had welder weld frame areas and coat with AMsoil HD. Toyota won't acknowledge it as a recall issue even with pictures of inside out and full service record. They gave me a $1,000 credit if I buy a new or used Toyo within a year. Welded the frame and Barnes Diff cover and added Amasoil Undercoating for <$1,000. I'll drive the '02 until one of us dies or I run out of $$ fixing it.

Will never go to a Toyota dealer with my T4R again. they only want to work on new and easy stuff.

Anyone have experience with this Rust Trap? Seems to get decent reviews, seems simpler than tthe Por15 procedure.

https://www.semproducts.com/rust-and-corrosion-rust-coatings/rust-traptm

Today I managed to pick up a complete rear axle for my mom's rusty 1997 limited, from a 1997 limited... Near perfect condition amazingly, 200,000 km. And the best part is it was $350 Canadian... :dancin: Just change the seals and bearings and touch up the few areas of rust and I'm good again.

I don't think the guy knew what to price it, and he is supposed to not sell them and instead send them off to the 4runner guy down the street who has a monopoly and charges 5 times that at least, total rip off.

They take out the engines and transmissions and send them to Nigeria. the rest of the car stays here and gets parted out or just wrecked. Sad to see perfectly good roof racks etc in the pile of squished cars.

The guys there are from Eritrea and Zimbabwe and they can't believe the waste, some of the cars they write off. In Africa they fix them...

 

[NVAGVUP]

Paint is to make it look pretty and Zeibart is bull.

Get yourself a spray gun and fill it with used motor oil, or Fluid Film, or both. Get your 4Runner up on a lift and spray. Use common sense, don't spray into your radiator or on the exhaust. Spray inside the factory holes you see in the frame. All of them. Spray until it starts running out. See any exposed bolts or cavities? Grease that ***** up. Fender lips? Get greasing.

You live in Maine. Any New England state is essentially a death camp for your car and anything living past 10 years there is doing pretty good.

I am now using Amsoil HD on my '02 T4R, which is a spray that gets semi hard in a wax like film. Film can travel and heal somewhat but won't wash off like Fluid Film under high pressure washes after every snow /Brine storm. Fluid Film is better at self healing but pressure washes remove it.

I agree spray everywhere every year after a good power wash. What pisses me off is I run 4 studded snows in winter , and would rather the Swedish solution of hard pack plowing and requiring ice rated or studded tires in winter, and no Brine, sand only. I can report back after this winter on effectiveness of Amsoil HD.

 

[Airmapper]

The photos below are from a '98 SR5 I looked at prior to finding the one I bought.

If you had not poked your head underneath, you might have thought it was a good truck. It drove well, ran well, and was pretty clean inside. It had low miles and a glowing CARFAX.

It was in and out of the shop while the dealer had it so much I was wondering if I'd ever get to see it, and when I did this was about the first thing I found.

I have no idea where it was driven, but the CARFAX had it as being a corporate owned vehicle in Northern Kentucky. (We don't have particularly harsh winters, but they panic salt the roads every time it gets cold....

 

[Tyler James Inc]

[emoji43][emoji43][emoji43]
You even test drove it like that?! Man, I can't believe there are cars on the road with frames that gone... And especially weird that the underside of the body looks to have the factory coating, and in brand new shape. I honestly can't believe my eyes.

 

[T4R2014]

I am now using Amsoil HD on my '02 T4R, which is a spray that gets semi hard in a wax like film. Film can travel and heal somewhat but won't wash off like Fluid Film under high pressure washes after every snow /Brine storm. Fluid Film is better at self healing but pressure washes remove it.

I agree spray everywhere every year after a good power wash. What pisses me off is I run 4 studded snows in winter , and would rather the Swedish solution of hard pack plowing and requiring ice rated or studded tires in winter, and no Brine, sand only. I can report back after this winter on effectiveness of Amsoil HD.

How are you coating the inner frame cavities? These things rust from the inside out.

I wish we could use that solution, but I honestly think it will never work in this country. Most older vehicles would barely pass a European inspection, and everyone is too cheap to have a second set of tires. That brine is shit on the face of the earth. Causes damage that big brother won't pay to fix.

 

[Scramble]

The photos below are from a '98 SR5 I looked at prior to finding the one I bought.

If you had not poked your head underneath, you might have thought it was a good truck. It drove well, ran well, and was pretty clean inside. It had low miles and a glowing CARFAX.

It was in and out of the shop while the dealer had it so much I was wondering if I'd ever get to see it, and when I did this was about the first thing I found.

I have no idea where it was driven, but the CARFAX had it as being a corporate owned vehicle in Northern Kentucky. (We don't have particularly harsh winters, but they panic salt the roads every time it gets cold....

No pics showing...

 

[Airmapper]

No pics showing...

:flamethrwoer2: Google....:toilet:

https://goo.gl/photos/XZNQ6gtsJSV7BeRT6

 

[Scramble]

:flamethrwoer2: Google....:toilet:

https://goo.gl/photos/XZNQ6gtsJSV7BeRT6

Those pics are fvckin' insane! 17 salty NY winters & my frame looks nothing like that! That's just owner neglect by not washing the truck!

 

[Godog45]

I HAD MY FRAME WELDED MULTIPLE TIMES ON MY 97. IM LOOKING FOR A REPLACEMENT . TE FIRST THING I DO IS LOOK UNDERNEATH WHAT FRAME LOOKS LIKE, IN NORTH EAST:guitar2:

 

[T4R2014]

:flamethrwoer2: Google....:toilet:

https://goo.gl/photos/XZNQ6gtsJSV7BeRT6

WTF is that.

I notice that trucks from Kentucky and Tennessee seem to be giving New England some good competition. And it's usually not just the rear control arm mount, but throughout the entire frame. Idk what they've been putting on the roads out there.

 

[Gorilla23]

Looks like NE salt to me!!

 

[frodiesel]

WTF is that.

I notice that trucks from Kentucky and Tennessee seem to be giving New England some good competition. And it's usually not just the rear control arm mount, but throughout the entire frame. Idk what they've been putting on the roads out there.

Nothing. You need to talk to a small time used car saleman. Sellers in KY and TN will drive cars down from the auction in Grand Rapids, MI or chicago or ny. The southern sellers will flips these rust buckets all day. they can get rust trucks that otherwise look perfect and sell it to some yutz who doesnt know what salt can do.
Also Murray, KY is something like the used car capital of the UsA. So just bc you bought it in the south dont mean jack.

 

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

Rust scares me.. Here in the UK pretty much anything from the 90s will have some rust by now it is not garaged, or summer use only.

That's another reason why Japanese imports are so popular, much less rust! (that and they have stuff we never got here, um, like the Surf)

My frame was ok, but I painted it all a couple of years back. I've noticed some surface rust on the rear control arm mount on one side yesterday, - literally just surface rust) so I'm going to hose it all out and PO15 it all.

I was thinking of doing a frame off restoration and getting it galvanised before it start to rust properly... but that's a LOT of work.

 

[ZukesMcGee]

This is why I'm glad I live on the west coast. Rust is almost a non issue here

 

[Clark27]

Found this last week. Spent most of its life in NH before I bought almost 1 year ago. It's going into the shop next week for repair. Rest of the frame looks good enough for the time being, just need to get to grad school and back :lookout:

 

[NVAGVUP]

How are you coating the inner frame cavities? These things rust from the inside out.

I wish we could use that solution, but I honestly think it will never work in this country. Most older vehicles would barely pass a European inspection, and everyone is too cheap to have a second set of tires. That brine is shit on the face of the earth. Causes damage that big brother won't pay to fix.

you Can put flexible plastic tube on can and spray in cavity/holes like crazy. Also available in bulk for your own sprayer for commercial garages.

Lets see, $200 to $400 for spare wheels on ebay for mounting studded snow tires, versus throwing away an originally $35,000+ vehicle after 7 years and the perforation warranty expires!
No Brainer.

 

[Mark_BC]

Lets see, $200 to $400 for spare wheels on ebay for mounting studded snow tires, versus throwing away an originally $35,000+ vehicle after 7 years and the perforation warranty expires!
No Brainer.

Makes sense, I was thinking how much adding salt helps out the auto industry. Conspiracy theorists could run with it like Who Killed the Electric Car.

A hundred million sets of studded tires every 5 years, vs. a hundred million new cars every 15 years...

I wonder if studded tires rip up the road more.

 

[N8NAZ]

Living in Az since 72, so rust has never been a prominent discussion. I bought my 4Runner used out of California, but after seeing the damage posted here, I think a good inspection is a great idea.

 

[NVAGVUP]

Makes sense, I was thinking how much adding salt helps out the auto industry. Conspiracy theorists could run with it like Who Killed the Electric Car.

A hundred million sets of studded tires every 5 years, vs. a hundred million new cars every 15 years...

I wonder if studded tires rip up the road more.

They do rip road more, however option could be studless ice tires, widely available now. Not as effective in extreme but good for most people. I use studs due to severe Maine winter and common black icing conditions. All 4 corners on all vehicles.

Studs have saved my skin twice in last 5 years on unexpected black ice at night on reverse banked roads in forested areas. at the edge of traction you can feel the studs start to grind on the ice giving enough warning to correct, versus just flying off the road. If you wreck in Maine in the winter be prepared to hike out under extreme conditions. I travel with a spare set of boots, parkas, and blankets plust Fatwood to make fires, etc for emergencies.

Studs are common and legal in ME, NH, VT.