What can I do about this RUST?

[MikeinNH67]

Hi there!

First post...apologies for breaking any rules!

Hoping for some help/advice. Looking at this 03 Limited V8 with 180,000 km, but worried about frame rust. It looks to be surface rust to me, but I haven't seen the vehicle yet so can't say for sure.

Dealer is asking 15k CAD, which is pretty steep but think I can get them down.

What do you guys think? Should I go for it or walk?

Thanks in advance!

Hard to say without being able to poke around. It looks decent from the pics, especially the front cross bar where the tow points are. That is a common area to rust as is under the AC drain and the bottom horizontal part of the frame under the center. The front skid plates are missing I see, mine turned to a wet cracker material as did the cover for my fuel tank. Yours looks pretty decent but the tank straps should be checked and also the brake lines in the center section of the car. If you can have a 3rd party check it.

 

[Terminator03]

I hate to lose my 2005 4runner, but a buddy of mine who welds and rebuilds trucks from top to bottom said it would be very expensive to get my rust taken care of. I needed to replace the rear brake lines and the gas tank strap anyway, which I was going to do, but I don't weld, so I'd have to find someone. This is on the rear drivers side frame near the gas tank and rear wheel.

If you want to fix it, there are replacement sections for our frames available from autorust.com, and I see your are in CT, so if you can’t do it, check with them, they are right in RI. I recently bought one of their Safety-Cap repair sections for my passenger side to evaluate before buying more. I picked the worst area on mine which is the section between the trans crossmember, and the one further back. It’s around 21” long, and very heavy, and well constructed. I will be buying more from them! I eventually need to do my driver's side too, but it’s not nearly as bad as yours, so I may do that side next year because I will need to drop the tank and move all of the lines, so that side is really tough to do, passenger side, not so much.

 

[steevie]

Hard to say without being able to poke around. It looks decent from the pics, especially the front cross bar where the tow points are. That is a common area to rust as is under the AC drain and the bottom horizontal part of the frame under the center. The front skid plates are missing I see, mine turned to a wet cracker material as did the cover for my fuel tank. Yours looks pretty decent but the tank straps should be checked and also the brake lines in the center section of the car. If you can have a 3rd party check it.

Okay sweet. Thanks for the response! That's all great information.

It appears that the front, passenger-side tow point has partially rusted through (but it's hard to say from looking at the photo). Would you agree? Regardless, I definitely want to get a better look around this area of the frame as I know it is a potential trouble spot for rust.

The vehicle is for sale through a Toyota dealership, and is still waiting on an inspection. I figure I can trust the inspection from them, or would you recommend taking it to a 3rd party as well?

As usual, the dealership is being pushy and trying to get me to put a deposit down ASAP. I want to see the inspection results first though...

 

[dvto2]

If you want to fix it, there are replacement sections for our frames available from autorust.com, and I see your are in CT, so if you can’t do it, check with them, they are right in RI. I recently bought one of their Safety-Cap repair sections for my passenger side to evaluate before buying more. I picked the worst area on mine which is the section between the trans crossmember, and the one further back. It’s around 21” long, and very heavy, and well constructed. I will be buying more from them! I eventually need to do my driver's side too, but it’s not nearly as bad as yours, so I may do that side next year because I will need to drop the tank and move all of the lines, so that side is really tough to do, passenger side, not so much.

That's very helpful. Thanks much.

 

[Flybynight]

If we want new frames it'll be because we band together and get it done, that's what forums are for. Is it not the exact same frame as the tacomas that break in half and they've been replacing for years??

 

[windyhill]

Wife’s 05 Limited. 240k, has been perfect for 15 years. Makes me sick to think this could have been prevented...

 

[Terminator03]

Wife’s 05 Limited. 240k, has been perfect for 15 years. Makes me sick to think this could have been prevented...

Prevented? Not so much... sure, you can slow it down, but if you reside anywhere where salt is used, then forget about it. I’m convinced that defective, or recycled steel with impurities was used for these frames because I’ve never seen degradation like these exhibit in cars that are in otherwise very good condition with bodies and floors with no rust. I’ve been spent most of my life either involved with or working around auto restoration. In fact, my own frame was sandblasted, primed and painted a few years ago, and several areas rusted through from the inside. This is definitely a case the NTSB should be looking into. I’ve spent the last several days cutting out corroded sections and welding in new sections, plates and gussets to save this truck. The only good part about cutting the frame open is that I can sandblast the inside and coat it properly to add some longevity to the repair work. Once I’m done with all the welding, I also plan to spray some type of oil coating inside as well. Hopefully once I move to GA, I won’t be dealing with road salt anymore which should help as well. I just wish I had known how prevalent this corrosion issue was before I bough my truck. During the repair, I found areas where the dealer (can’t prove it was them, though) had MIG welded thin sheet metal to cover a few bad areas, then used body filler to blend the patches into the frame and repainted everything flat black to disguise the damage, which is why I didn’t catch it when I looked at frame before I bought it. Very shady technique that I highly suspect was done by the used car dealer.:gun6:

 

[MikeinNH67]

Wife’s 05 Limited. 240k, has been perfect for 15 years. Makes me sick to think this could have been prevented...

Wow, that is brutal.

Terminator03, that sux that someone bodged yours like that.

 

[Terminator03]

Wow, that is brutal.

Terminator03, that sux that someone bodged yours like that.

Trust me, if I could prove who did it, we’d be having words...

As, I’ve said, it has to be flawed metal because that level of corrosion seems like it’s been sitting n the ocean floor for decades, not just from average winter driving. I mean the freakin Titanic is in better condition than a lot of the frame pics I’ve seen on here!

 

[MikeinNH67]

Trust me, if I could prove who did it, we’d be having words...

As, I’ve said, it has to be flawed metal because that level of corrosion seems like it’s been sitting n the ocean floor for decades, not just from average winter driving. I mean the freakin Titanic is in better condition than a lot of the frame pics I’ve seen on here!

Could be, when I cleaned the inside of mine I pulled out like 5 to 10 pounds of sand, I'm sure salt is in there too. There doesn't seem to be much for decent drainage on these.

 

[ThorRides]

Maybe I'm naïve since I am from and never moved away from the West Coast, but can't people get the DOTs to stop putting corrosive materials on the road? It isn't good for the cars that drive on them or the nearby environment for that matter. It seems like lots of cars have a much shorter life and drivers need both a "winter car" and a "summer car" because of it. I know salt is used a lot, but what about using methanol or some other anti-freeze?

 

[Terminator03]

Maybe I'm naïve since I am from and never moved away from the West Coast, but can't people get the DOTs to stop putting corrosive materials on the road? It isn't good for the cars that drive on them or the nearby environment for that matter. It seems like lots of cars have a much shorter life and drivers need both a "winter car" and a "summer car" because of it. I know salt is used a lot, but what about using methanol or some other anti-freeze?

Honestly, I believe it all comes down to cost. The salt is relatively cheap compared to other options, and most people view it as a natural element as opposed to other chemicals which leach into waterways and such. Plus, they don’t give a crap about what it does to vehicles.

 

[Terminator03]

Could be, when I cleaned the inside of mine I pulled out like 5 to 10 pounds of sand, I'm sure salt is in there too. There doesn't seem to be much for decent drainage on these.

No, that boxed design is terrible, especially since it has dozens of large holes to let sand, water, and obviously salt in, but only a few small places to drain. They should have used a C-channel design so at least you could see if it started rusting and deal with it before it was too late.

 

[Ralph Blake]

No, that boxed design is terrible, especially since it has dozens of large holes to let sand, water, and obviously salt in, but only a few small places to drain. They should have used a C-channel design so at least you could see if it started rusting and deal with it before it was too late.

I feel Toyota knew their frames would rust, they just felt we put out new models each year and all older buyers are just quickly forgotton.

 

[flipflopnfly]

Could be, when I cleaned the inside of mine I pulled out like 5 to 10 pounds of sand, I'm sure salt is in there too. There doesn't seem to be much for decent drainage on these.

The frame rails do tend to retain a lot of debris, found that on 4Runners, Tacomas, Tundra. That front radiator support crossmember has poor drainage also. I've found you have to crawl underneath with a spray nozzle and cram it into every opening, get a faceful of water, dirt, gravel but eventually you'll see clean water.

If one has a good frame now do that, then followup with a rust converter. I've used Eastwood
Internal Frame coating before, has good reviews. Eastwood Internal Frame Coating Aerosol Spray (14-oz.) Eastwood has various products for internal and external rust conversion, I'm a fan of Rustoleum rattle can rust converter as mentioned earlier.

Won't help with existing awful flaky rust but helpful to prevent future awful flaky rust.

 

[MikeinNH67]

So my son recently picked up a pretty clean 06 f150 with a skipping engine problem. Got it because everywhere we looked the frame seemed decent and the price was good. Others we looked at were a disaster with welded frames and bubbling paint. Anyway, while trying to figure out what the former owner bodged on the exhaust we noticed rust holes on the top of the frame in same place the 4runners rust from the AC drain. Ugh, sometimes I want to move. Where's the recall Ford?

The skipping was a bad coil and one that wasn't plugged in well if anyone cares. lol.

 

[Terminator03]

So my son recently picked up a pretty clean 06 f150 with a skipping engine problem. Got it because everywhere we looked the frame seemed decent and the price was good. Others we looked at were a disaster with welded frames and bubbling paint. Anyway, while trying to figure out what the former owner bodged on the exhaust we noticed rust holes on the top of the frame in same place the 4runners rust from the AC drain. Ugh, sometimes I want to move. Where's the recall Ford?

The skipping was a bad coil and one that wasn't plugged in well if anyone cares. lol.

Moving seems to be the only way, lol. That’s why I’m glad I’m moving to GA next spring. Have had a house there for a year, but the Covid crap slowed down the move considerably, otherwise I would already be there. I’ve completely cut out and welded all of the bad areas on my frame over the past couple weeks, and was able to clean and coat the inside every well where I cut it open. This week I’m going to spray the NH oil undercoat through the whole inside to hopefully hold it for many years to come, especially once I move to a place where road salt won’t be used!:nod:

 

[Urbanite]

I did the A/C reloaction as well, figure pictures from a few different people can't hurt. I used a 3/8" splice barb and some 3/8" vinyl tubing zip ties to the frame

I went under my truck tying to locate that drainage pipe, but couldn't see it, what side of the truck am I looking at? Thx.

 

[y=mx+b]

I went under my truck tying to locate that drainage pipe, but couldn't see it, what side of the truck am I looking at? Thx.

Passenger side front wheel well. Remove the wheel and should be up in there.

Can kinda see it in the top left here, poking out from just on top of the cat

 

[Urbanite]

Passenger side front wheel well. Remove the wheel and should be up in there.

Can kinda see it in the top left here, poking out from just on top of the cat

Thanks for the pic, I now see it. Had you not posted this, I would have been looking for some time to come