Small hole in frame. Advice?

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DreadPirateMoyer

New member
Small hole in frame. Advice? (EDIT: Does your 4Runner have this hole as well?)

EDIT: It seems other people have this hole/dent on their frame. For those who read this thread and care enough, would you mind heading under your truck after you read this and seeing if you have the same thing and also snapping a picture if you can?

Hi all,

I rustproof all my vehicles' (in this case, a 2016 4Runner) frames before every winter, and while I was under there this weekend, everything looked normal. I took her in for her 10k service on Tuesday*, and when I went to put the skid plates back on Thursday night**, I saw a small hole that I'm 90% sure wasn't there when I was rustproofing the frame over the weekend. It's right behind the driver's side front wheel, bottom of the frame. I can handle my dealer and warranty at this point, but wanted to ask you guys a few questions:

  1. Is this something I need to address/worry about? It's approximately 1/4" wide, but it looks bad.
  2. If it is something I need to address, what would be the proper fix?
  3. Are there risks that the fix could damage the frame more than the hole itself?
  4. Assuming everything goes well with the dealership, is this something I can trust their body shop or whoever they contract it out to to fix?
  5. Am I right in thinking that this was likely done by the dealership during the 10k service? I know I didn't do it, and I can't see road debris punching a hole in a steel frame like that. Seems to me like something (a bolt?) got between the lift and my frame and punched a hole in it when the weight of the truck pushed onto the thing.

Pictures of the hole:

3sGKyZ3.jpg

tqMi3eL.jpg


*I do my own oil changes normally, but the first two are free and my family is tight on money, so I let the dealership do it. Always makes me nervous, but whatever.
**I don't trust the monkeys at the dealership to not crossthread or strip the bolt holes on my frame, so I always take the skids off before taking it in and put them back on myself.
 
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Um, probably nothing they really can do, and that doesn't look like a hole. Its not going to affect anything. just keep driving and rust proofing. That isn't a rust hole. maybe imperfection during manufacturing.
 
It looks much more like a dent than a hole. If it is a dent, I'd fuggedaboudit, and paint over it. If it's really a hole, it will obviously drive you nuts and a spot weld is the fix.

Me? I don't even look under there.

I hate to think how you're going to react to a parking lot ding in the fender...
 
philsey said:
It looks much more like a dent than a hole. If it is a dent, I'd fuggedaboudit, and paint over it. If it's really a hole, it will obviously drive you nuts and a spot weld is the fix.

Me? I don't even look under there.

I hate to think how you're going to react to a parking lot ding in the fender...
Click to expand...

Sadness. :(

mace. said:
That was there when you bought it. I have that on my frame also.
Click to expand...

Whoa, seriously? Like...exactly like that?

clweathers said:
Familiar thread seems 87% familiar to me.
Click to expand...

Hello fellow ARFer. :)
 
Looks like maybe somebody had a jack under there or that's where the lift caught it maybe during service or something. If the paint is still on the frame then I'd assume it was done prior to the original factory coating or at least before you hit it with rustproofer.

Your truck is super clean. Can I buy it when you're done? :)
 
Hey, go post in my ARFCOM thread if you want to meme it up! Or go snap a picture of your frame and show me that same indented hole so I can relax. :)
 
DreadPirateMoyer said:
Hey man, I don't know how this stuff works! Wanted to check with people who do.
Click to expand...

Just trying to be silly, but it doesn't look like anything major or serious. When I first crawled under my 4runner and have found plenty of odd imperfections. At first I got worried about every little thing, but then I just accepted the fact that the frame is meant to be a rugged durable platform which is meant to be out of sight, and isn't a smooth futuristic apple product.

Hit that little divot with some por15, do some internal frame coating, use fluid-film, etc. and you'll have years of rust free reliability.

The frame also has plenty also has of holes to begin with so don't worry about structural integrity. :D
 
I could be totally off, but could it be maybe where a tack weld or how ever the frame is mounted going through the assembly line? I have no clue hey they do things, so I'm just throwing a thought out there.


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