Rust starting on my lift gate already %&*&$#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RubiconSS]

Good old Toyota "quality." I guess that's "normal" like a bunch of members have claimed about the rust on the undercarriage on new and near-new 5th Gen 4Rs. The reason there's rust is that Toyota is cutting corners. Consumers pay for these cut corners in more ways than one.

You are in Arizona so I'm not sure what rust issues you deal with but here in the "Rust Belt" of N/E Pa..... short of not driving from Nov - May.... you are going to get rust even if you are driving a Delorean. Best you can hope for is minimizing by busting butt ALL Winter.
Nothing is trully water proof or rust proof - resistant, maybe.

Note: No Bashing, just staing facts (-:

 

[eddiebx]

Hey, where did you get the color-matched body side molding? I'd like to put some on my 2013 Shoreline Blue TE.

https://sportwing.com/Toyota-4Runner-Body-Side-Moldings-2010-2013-FE2-4RUN

This is where I got them, colour match is not perfect under direct sunlight, but close enough for me, lol. In most lighting conditions you cannot tell the difference. I think this link is the direct manufacturer of this molding, anywhere else you see selling them would be getting it through this place too, so it's all pretty much the same thing.

Their customer service is great too, my first set was painted improperly and had lots of runs and chips, they took it back and sent me a new set, all on their dime too! That's what I called good business. Hard to find places like this nowadays...

Speaking of color, I was tempted to have them line-x black, to go with the black trail flares, but I dunno how that's going to look? Just food for though in case that might tickle your pickle

 

[pattycakes]

Well I went at it today , , had to see what was behind there .



the one spot its starting to rust



Rub mark outline from garnish



My temp or permanent solution >>>>>>>>>>> take some left over 3M clear bra and put it wherever contact is being made , went right over the tiny bubble I have forming and hopefully that seals out water/air and prevents any further growth of it (wishfull thinking ). I did the whole top outline of the garnish along the whole length .



the finished product , could of lowered it another mm or so but wasn't really taking my time putting it on and cursing Toyota the whole time


Pic of the garnish where the rubber is coming off , it doesn't matter anyway this does not even help as it is below where the rubbing happens



I would do this or something else the day I brought truck home , Its too late for me now but don't delay if you just bought a new one , Antmans link in the first couple of posts of this tread has pics and stuff on how to get rear garnish off , not a bad job had everything apart and back together in a little better than an hour .

Hopefully this lasts a littile while and they put out a TSB on this piece of crap design so I can get a repaint , , it should as that 3M is tough stuff , and cant even see it on there unless your lookn for it .

 

[pattycakes]

Originally Posted by 2013Trail View Post
Hey, where did you get the color-matched body side molding? I'd like to put some on my 2013 Shoreline Blue TE.


Same place as eddiebx got them , they look all right and will fool any non 4runner head as being stock , not a big fan of them but got them to protect the sides a bit as I got the truck for the wife and she don't give a $%&# how or where she parks the thing .Actually she shouldn't be allowed to park.

 

[FlyNavy]

My 2011 hatch weatherstripping is completely full of clear grease to prevent that from happening.

Does yours have any grease or is it completely dry?

Inside is a mixture of grease and rusty water that pools at the lowest point of the weatherstripping. I am considering pulling it off, cleaning the grease off, drying it out, then reinstall with this :

On-line Product Catalog:*3M? Black Super Weatherstrip and Gasket Adhesive, 08008, 5 fl oz, 6 per case

It may not be able to pull off and retain the existing weatherstripping down the road, but that would be better than having rust.

Out of curiosity, what kind of grease is that, and why go that route, and not something more permanent?

 

[keithsnell]

My temp or permanent solution >>>>>>>>>>> take some left over 3M clear bra and put it wherever contact is being made.

I did the same. I noticed the paint was being rubbed away in the lower corners of the emblem where others had seen rust. (Thanks to everyone that pointed this out.) I removed the emblem and put 6" square "patches" of 3M film over those areas. (My original intent was to cover the entire lower area of the tailgate with 3m film, but I couldn't get the backup camera to come off. Those darn snap in plastic pieces the camera mounts with were just too stubborn to release, so I ended up just using 6" square patches over the area where the emblem had rubbed through the paint.)

I did the same under the license plate where the plate frame was rubbing. No rust yet, and hopefully these patches will help "weatherproof" that area of the tailgate enought to significantly slow down any rust forming. The 3M film is clear enough that it's not really noticeable...until I drive on a dusty road.

 

[bigbwb]

Just noticed a very small spot of rust beginning to form just level with my rear tail light. About the size of a pen tip.
It's located on the very edge of the lift gate.
Haven't contacted the dealer yet, any suggestions on how to approach them? It's 2011 limited with 40k miles.

Oh and I am a waxing fanatic so this really shocks me

 

[bigbwb]

Another pic

 

[TheLast13]

I'm literally at my dealer right now doing my 20k service and pointed out a tiny rust spot. They actually pointed out several more to me that I didn't even see.
They are going to have it sent to get fixed and repainted. He said he's been seeing quite a bit of them with rust already.
Sounds like I won't have to do anything to get it fixed.

I'll chime in once it's done though.

 

[pattycakes]

Also take the licence plate off and check , I found some demons behind there too. gave it the 3M treatment and rubber washers to bring it off the body.

 

[Rushca01]

Is it possible these rust easy because of the time spent on the ocean being shipped from Japan?

 

[02SE]

Is it possible these rust easy because of the time spent on the ocean being shipped from Japan?

4Runners have always been made in Japan, and shipped over. I have a '97 4Runner which I bought new back in '97. It has spent at least 5 months of the year, every year, on salt covered roads.

There are no signs of rust forming on the body anywhere.

It seems like Toyota might have changed their rustproofing procedures somewhere along the line.

 

[JayceeP]

I will have to check my garnish/name plate too. I hose off the 4Runner at a minimum of once per week in the winter to rinse off the salt and sometimes more frequently if the weather allows. I will rinse even if the water freezes shortly after just to get the salt off. I make it a point to get the spray in any gaps like door jams, lift gate, emblem, side mirrors etc.

Spring/Summer/Fall is weekly hand washes. This winter has done some work on the underside of the 4Runner though. Lots of rust forming on various parts of the underside including the hitch.... which surprised me especially as I had the underside sprayed with a black wax/tar-like undercoating with less than 300km on the vehicle before taking it off the lot. Oh well!

 

[ant-ny]

I'm literally at my dealer right now doing my 20k service and pointed out a tiny rust spot. They actually pointed out several more to me that I didn't even see.
They are going to have it sent to get fixed and repainted. He said he's been seeing quite a bit of them with rust already.
Sounds like I won't have to do anything to get it fixed.

I'll chime in once it's done though.

I see you are in Ohio. Mind telling where or what dealership?

 

[MAXISTYLES]

I don't have rust yet but I did call Toyota to let them know this is occuring on other vehciels. Toyota is telling me they have no other reports of this? Likely BS. I made sure they documented my concern and I'm hopeful that a bunch of us from this forum give Toyota a ring.

 

[ant-ny]

I don't have rust yet but I did call Toyota to let them know this is occuring on other vehciels. Toyota is telling me they have no other reports of this? Likely BS. I made sure they documented my concern and I'm hopeful that a bunch of us from this forum give Toyota a ring.

I'm taking mine in tomorrow. Same response when I called them: "Nope, never heard of any body rust on the rear hatches of 4 runners".

 

[mtvp]

Failure or mistakes by car companies is not an option. However paying a 1.2 Billion dollar fine to make it go away is.
It is true though that some issues just don't show up during testing . They do show up in the real world down the road.

 

[windycity]

Well I dropped my runner off today at the dealer. They sent it off to the paint shop to get fixed. I have a feeling this will not be the last of this problem.

 

[ant-ny]

I took mine in yesterday. I had to take it to the Toyota collision center for some body work anyway and stopped by the dealer about the rust on the lift gate. The service manager quickly came out, looked at it, correctly identified what was going on (rear emblem not spaced properly and was rubbing against paint), and said it would be covered by warranty, no questions asked. He said he has seen this on other 4Runners and he would have the body shop fix it and properly space the emblem so it hopefully does not happen again. That's all I can ask for, and once again, I am very impressed with this particular dealership.

 

[Whiplash Willy]

Failure or mistakes by car companies is not an option. However paying a 1.2 Billion dollar fine to make it go away is.
It is true though that some issues just don't show up during testing . They do show up in the real world down the road.

Or some issues do show up during testing, but the car company makes a "business decision" that it will be cheaper to just deal with the low percentage of people that notice the issue, rather then fix everyone that rolls out of the factory.