Rust Problems? Illinois -> Washington State Gen 5

[Xeu38kdsey]

Hello, I got a new-to-me Gen 5 - 2010 4Runner SR5 from my father (~170k miles). It comes from Illinois where salt is used on the roads a lot. Is the rust on the bottom problematic and/or is there something I should do to to fix it (if problematic)? I'm unsure if the amount of rust is common.

FWIW: My father has taken what I consider meticulous care of the car and has maintenance logs going back to the purchase date.

Pictures here: Dropbox - 4_runner - Simplify your life

 

[rdruss]

Doesn't look too bad for an 11 year old Illinois Runner, but yes, start addressing what rust is there to keep it under control. I guess in Washington state you don't get a lot of salt/chemicals used on the road, so that's good.
I have an '03 that has spent it's life in rust belt and it shows! Much worse than yours.

 

[Humble Leader]

I would say that amount of rust is normal for that age of car. Keep in mind a good number of those pictures posted are of the skid plates, which can be replaced for not too much $$$ if you want to go OEM. that fuel tank skid plate has seen better days, replace with a full gas tank skid if you plan on doing some trails (I used an OEM trail trim skid on my limited, spent a couple hrs cleaning out the unused bolt holes though because I too live where road salt and brine is used all the time)

poke around with a screw driver on some of the more rusty spots, does it go through? I'd also check the spare tire and make sure the chains haven't rusted together rendering its use inoperable. I just replaced my spare tire pulley assembly for that exact reason - they don't use the chain anymore, at least the new assembly I have doesn't use a chain

 

[ravens_wood]

For a 10 year old car from IL that undercarriage is in great condition. While IL (and I'm assuming you're referring to Chicagoland) salts their roads we don't get the snow quantities like the Region, Cleveland or Buffalo.

 

[JPOVS]

Towards the bottom front of the radiator there is about a 2’-3’ long strip of foam that runs horizontally left to right. Check around or behind that.

 

[5thToy]

It looks great for age and locale. The skids and maybe the spare are the only things that look somewhat haggard and they are easily replaceable.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

I'd see about getting it fluid filmed to try to inhibit any further rust.

living in IL we try to do it yearly for such cheap insurance.

 

[dtbingle]

Doesn't look like anything would be problematic due to that amount of rust. Worst case would likely be having a bolt here or there being seized up somewhere along the undercarriage.

If you poke around and all of the metal is still solid, I've read good things about por-15 to neutralize and make it visually appealing, but it's rather labor intensive and time consuming to do it right. Basically you wire brush all of the loose rust off, clean/degrease and rinse, use their metal prep spray, then with a brush, you paint on the por-15.

If you're looking for a quicker solution to slow the rust down, look at Fluid Film or Krown sprays. Used Fluid Film on my last vehicle (wrangler JKU) and it seemed to work very well in halting any further major surface rust development. I just got my 4runner a couple months ago and had it Krown'd, so we'll see how this works in comparison. Cost was ~$160 IIRC and took an hour for them to do. They spray entire underbody, inside frame rails, drill a few holes and spray inside door panels and tailgate, rockers, etc. There's a lot of these types of products and they never dry. Work great, but they do wear off and require annual re-applications.