Undercarriage Rust

[ewingeric]

Hello friends!

First time poster, and hopefully soon to be first time 4Runner owner!

Looking at purchasing a 2002 4Runner, and have come across one that has an amazing interior, exterior and has low miles! Only concern is that it seems to have a good deal of rust on the undercarriage. Seller says that it's just surface rust (which there should be a remedy for?) but I don't know enough about the problems with rust to know if I should run from this.

Thoughts from a pro? Pictures attached.

 

[thennen]

Welcome! Im no expert, but from these pics, it doesn’t look bad. How many miles on it, and where will it be driven? I’m in the Midwest, and winter salt in Ohio is rough on the frames here. If you’re going to be driving it in Texas, I think you’ll be fine. If near the coast, maybe someone here has recommendations.

 

[gmcmanus663]

As long as there are no holes it can be remedied. Of course the less rust the better, but if the rest of the truck is in that good of shape it might be worth it to clean up the rust that is there. I recommend getting more pictures of the underside. Make sure to check the common problem areas i.e. where the rear trailing arms bolt to the frame, especially on the inside

 

[Ghostrider]

I would want to know where that truck has been. Used to live in Austin and after 14 years my 01 did not have a spec of rust. That doesn't look like much but for Texas I would have suspected less than that.

 

[nobb]

That's not bad at all. If it bugs you, cover it up with some POR15 and the frame should be good for the next 10 years (of which by then why would you want to be driving around in a 30 yr old truck).

 

[MPott227]

I wish my undercarriage looked like that!

 

[flipty]

This is insanely clean. Buy it. If you don't want it, I'll buy it. Mine was 100 times worse than this (there was no paint on my frame anywhere and had multiple foot-and-larger holes in areas of the frame) .... I managed to repair all my issues and rust-proof it for the future for about a grand.... you could future-proof your entire frame in about 20 minutes and a pint of POR-15.

 

[Mark_BC]

Not bad at all but it will need to be addressed. It will require some work and $$$. If it really bothers you find another but I wouldn't pass it up if it's otherwise good.

 

[ewingeric]

Not sure if everyone who already posted will see this reply but..

Car is located up north, so that explains the rust issues. As mentioned in original post, seller says that it's all surface rust. If that's true, how much/long should I expect a fix to take to clean it up?

Truck has about 125k on it, which is also an added plus!

Are there any specific locations I should request pics from the seller on? Since the truck is so far away, I want to be pretty certain that I want it before I make the journey to get it.

For those that care, I did a nationwide search on Runners because there doesn't seem to be many in Texas currently that match what I'm looking for at my price point

 

[phattyduck]

That looks good for a rustbelt truck... but bad for a non-rustbelt truck.

I'd pass unless you are willing to do the rust remediation yourself. Also, expect problem nuts and bolts in the future when working on the undercarriage.

-Charlie

 

[2000se]

Thought I heard that Toy was re-opening the frame rust warranty for 4runners??
If that is indeed true, you'll be good. Can someone confirm?

 

[ewingeric]

Thought I heard that Toy was re-opening the frame rust warranty for 4runners??
If that is indeed true, you'll be good. Can someone confirm?

From what I've read, that's only on the Tacos, Tundras and Sequoias :/

 

[thegipper]

That doesn't look too bad at all. A wire wheel and a few hours of time should clean that up just fine.

Once the rust is knocked off and you put a coat of frame paint on, I would use LPS 3 or fluid film (rust preventatives) once or twice a year to keep it fresh.

 

[apohl17]

My two cents-- from working on a 3rd Gen with significantly more rust than that, you will encounter few, to no issues with that amount of rust in terms of seized hardware or hole formation in the frame. For an 18 year old vehicle, that is one of the nicer frames I have seen, besides those that have POR-15 treatment previously. If the price is right, I'd say to go for it!

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Sitcoms]

That's a 'good deal' of rust to you? God you'd hate the trucks up here in New England...

Wire brush and some paint. Get it seal coated if you have the $$ and you're really worried about it.

 

[ewingeric]

That's a 'good deal' of rust to you? God you'd hate the trucks up here in New England...

Wire brush and some paint. Get it seal coated if you have the $$ and you're really worried about it.

My two cents-- from working on a 3rd Gen with significantly more rust than that, you will encounter few, to no issues with that amount of rust in terms of seized hardware or hole formation in the frame. For an 18 year old vehicle, that is one of the nicer frames I have seen, besides those that have POR-15 treatment previously. If the price is right, I'd say to go for it!

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

:laugh::laugh: I live in Texas where we see practically no rust lol

Seller is asking about $8k. With that in mind, does it seem worth it?

Anything else major I should ask the seller to show before I make the commitment to go look at it in person?

 

[onemanarmy]

need many more pics and details before honest opinions can be given.

The problem with under carriage rust is that you can't get to everything completely without taking the entire underside apart....but that doesn't look too bad. Would not be surprised if it lived part of its life outside TX.

 

[Ghostrider]

No idea if this should be a concern or not - but is there a way to scope the inside of the frame - just to be sure it isn't a problem

 

[Llowlife]

I understand your concern. I live in Mn and got a truck from Oregon that just happened to be in Kansas. I don't think the rust is bad but it's significantly more than my 92 I just got. Can't find one in tx? I got mine and sprayed the bottom 2 inches or so with bed liner, I live on a gravel road.

Then I use lps3 on the underside. Inside the door panels, in the frame, you get the idea. Put it on thin but several coats and do it once a year or so. I've also used por15 for almost 20 years. Great stuff but... The problem is it needs rust to bond properly so my concern is peeling where it doesn't bond well like painted surfaces etc. and moisture getting up in between.

 

[ewingeric]

I understand your concern. I live in Mn and got a truck from Oregon that just happened to be in Kansas. I don't think the rust is bad but it's significantly more than my 92 I just got. Can't find one in tx? I got mine and sprayed the bottom 2 inches or so with bed liner, I live on a gravel road.

Then I use lps3 on the underside. Inside the door panels, in the frame, you get the idea. Put it on thin but several coats and do it once a year or so. I've also used por15 for almost 20 years. Great stuff but... The problem is it needs rust to bond properly so my concern is peeling where it doesn't bond well like painted surfaces etc. and moisture getting up in between.

All great pieces of advice! Just to reiterate for future posters... I live in Texas and am looking at a 4R for sale in Pennsylvania. The CARFAX shows that it lived a bit of its earlier life in CA, but then moved to PA, where I imagine a good bit of the rust came from