What's the real scoop about Toyota frame rust?

[mmartin4]

Just chiming in here with my own experiences...

I recently got my '96 4runner. I live in Colorado but flew to Florida to buy it. I researched it and saw that it had spent about 10yrs in the northeast. That immediately made me worried but I had the owner send me as many pictures as I needed, and it was exactly what I wanted so I took the risk. I flew out, went to pick it up, and realized it had a little bit more rust than I thought. 4 spots on the roof would need to be patched and the rear bumper was rusting out. I looked underneath and there wasnt any serious structural rust from what I could see, it actually looked pretty good.

Fast forward to now, 3mo later....

I have since repaired the 4 holes in the roof, putting in new panels, treated it, sealed off any leaks from the top, then headed underneath and treated the rust on the underbody. I am 100% confident that from this point on , I will NOT have any rust issues. I have saved this truck from a downward spiral and will no doubt last as long as I want it to last. Rust was my #1 concern buying this truck and I took the risk, did the work, and now have nothing to worry about. This is on top of all the regular maintenance I have done to it as well (belt, oil, plugs, LBJs, steering components, etc etc etc).

Rust prevention has always been my main concern on every offroad truck I buy. Did it with my jeeps, did it on the 4R, and will do it on all my future trucks as well. Every truck I buy usually has some kind of neglect since I like great deals,end up chopping them up anyways and love to build my offroad trucks up as much as possible. No reason to buy an immaculate 4R or Jeep just to cut the truck up and hack into it.

What it comes down to is responsibility. I dont expect any used vehicle I buy to miraculously fix itself so you have to do due diligence inspecting it, and maintaining it. If it fails, theres nobody to blame but yourself for either not inspecting it well enough, or not maintaining it well enough. We are all capable of doing the work needed to make our trucks last for years and years. If you dont want to do this, then buy new.

Well said.

 

[fourwd1]

If you children can't play nice together I can arrange some quiet time for you.

 

[Scramble]

opcorn:

I had my truck on the lift yesterday & did a full rust inspection. The frame is solid with just surface rust. There is flaking at the welds everywhere that will need to be wire brushed & POR 15'd. I took the running boards off & some paint has been scraped off by the plastic moving around. (see pic) My rear axle has deep surface rust that needs to be attended to immediately. The pinch weld under the body & above where the running boards go is bad in one spot. It looks like moisture got trapped in that area because of the running boards. (see pic) I will have all of this addressed before the winter. But overall it's in very good shape for 16 NY winters

 

[M1911]

In my case, the main problem on my 4th gen was the box-shaped cross member under the transmission. I wire brushed the outside, then PORed, but it still rusted to oblivion. So I'm guessing it was rusting from inside out.

 

[COShadow]

Toyota needs to learn that putting hot exhaust components right next to the frame without good heat shielding is asking for rust through. I've seen this spot on these 4runners and spots next to the catalytic converters on the 2nd gen Tacomas. I like my Tacoma and 4runner, but I'm amazed that Toyota never learns from past mistakes.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Toyota needs to learn that putting hot exhaust components right next to the frame without good heat shielding is asking for rust through. I've seen this spot on these 4runners and spots next to the catalytic converters on the 2nd gen Tacomas. I like my Tacoma and 4runner, but I'm amazed that Toyota never learns from past mistakes.

If you look at the other side next to the gas tank, you'll see (maybe, as it rusts from the inside) that it rusts there too. The heat speeds up the process but there's some sort of missing drain or opening in the frame that keeps moisture in that area (right in front of the lower control arm mount). I know this because my 2000 was recently hit (and totaled) in the rear and this spot cracked about 1/3 the way up. The separation exposed the rot from the inside (mixed with the internal frame coating I got from Eastwood) I picked up another runner with much less rust and I'm going to go crazy, coating and protecting this thing.

 

[holytrails]

I just bought an 04. 120k miles. West Coast NorCal San Francisco.

The brace that the front skid plate mounts to and has the two tie down hooks is badly rusted. There's rust in many places on undercarriage. Heck even the aluminum covers on the engine are corroded. WTH!?

The previous owner took it in for regular service too so it wasn't abused yet it looks like its been having regular salt baths or driven in salt water or something. Very strange.

I've never seen so much rust on a car thats been in CA its whole life.

That front brace will need to be replaced but at least it doesn't look to be bearing any weight or load. Phew! But after reading about rust problems, I should've inspected more closely or walked away from it.

Any updates on a TSB or the likes?

 

[Ol'Blue]

I feel like it's in the maint. Plain and simple.

Both my rig look like this. Wonder why....

 

[Hepar]

I just bought an 04. 120k miles. West Coast NorCal San Francisco.

The brace that the front skid plate mounts to and has the two tie down hooks is badly rusted. There's rust in many places on undercarriage. Heck even the aluminum covers on the engine are corroded. WTH!?

The previous owner took it in for regular service too so it wasn't abused yet it looks like its been having regular salt baths or driven in salt water or something. Very strange.

I've never seen so much rust on a car thats been in CA its whole life.

That front brace will need to be replaced but at least it doesn't look to be bearing any weight or load. Phew! But after reading about rust problems, I should've inspected more closely or walked away from it.

Any updates on a TSB or the likes?

Have you checked its history? It probably didn't come from Cali originally.

 

[holytrails]

Yeah, I checked CarFax. Service records she had verifies its been in CA as well.

 

[holytrails]

And maintenance definitely helps; painting, cleaning off the corrosive stuff. But a CA car should last a lifetime as long as its not running on the beach and in the snow frequently. I just cant understand what happened to mine to make such rust.

 

[mviehweg]

Really? And ask him what? About the fixing the frame, getting a new rig or both?
Thanks.

Nevermind. I just saw your other thread regarding your frame replacement. Very cool. I will call about my options. Westboro Toyota is only about 30 minutes away.
Thanks again. That's what I get for ignoring the forum for a year or so.

What did Eric at Westboro tell you? I'm trying to gather info about cases where Toyota agreed to replace the frame at little to no cost to the owner

 

[SkidPalace]

What did Eric at Westboro tell you? I'm trying to gather info about cases where Toyota agreed to replace the frame at little to no cost to the owner

Check my follow up post shortly after that one. He said there was nothing he could do about it since it was so old. He offrred to look at it and report it, but nothing else could be done. He also said any Toyota maint mgr could do the same thing. I gave up and bought a Limited.

 

[Ausumm]

My mechanic says my '04 may not pass inspection.

(sniff sniff)

 

[brillo_76]

I doubt we will ever see a frame recall in 4 runners as the fact they are a true import from Japan. The tundras and tocumas are made in north America. So they will have safety recalls and frame campaigns on those for years.

The issue comes down to keeping your frames and undercarriages clean in the rust belt areas. Especially the inside of a boxed frame.

Frames have been rotting out in the rust belt areas since they were first imported over to North America.


It is shame. However, a little TLC and rust proofing can prevent them from rusting out.


I just weld them and even rebuild them when they get thin. If the states would quit using salt, calcium chloride etc. We wouldnt have this issue at all. Good luck getting States and provinces to do that.

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[ToyotaBrah]

I can't remember where I read it, but apparently the aggressive salt brine that is being used in the NE (believe Philly) is so caustic, it is literally eating away at the bridges. So, not only is it stripping away years of life from cars, but also bridges. Then, when that brine does run off and mixes with the waste water, it eventually mixes with the streams (wastewater filtration can only filter out so much), which plays havoc with the salinity levels of fish and other aquatic life. It's precisely why the state of Washington does not use salt there. They don't want to disturb the salmon. They use sand instead there, with mandatory use of tire chains (pretty sure on that).

Would be nice if the rest of the country employed sand as their primary method, but I think its cost prohibitive in respect to salt.

I just went on a complete tangent, haha.

 

[brillo_76]

I can't remember where I read it, but apparently the aggressive salt brine that is being used in the NE (believe Philly) is so caustic, it is literally eating away at the bridges. So, not only is it stripping away years of life from cars, but also bridges. Then, when that brine does run off and mixes with the waste water, it eventually mixes with the streams (wastewater filtration can only filter out so much), which plays havoc with the salinity levels of fish and other aquatic life. It's precisely why the state of Washington does not use salt there. They don't want to disturb the salmon. They use sand instead there, with mandatory use of tire chains (pretty sure on that).

Would be nice if the rest of the country employed sand as their primary method, but I think its cost prohibitive in respect to salt.

I just went on a complete off-topic tangent, haha.

If it's used anywhere in the state it's used everywhere. Yes the melt solutions are nasty in PA. Now, back to the frames..

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[JohnOfTheJungle]

opcorn:



I had my truck on the lift yesterday & did a full rust inspection. The frame is solid with just surface rust. There is flaking at the welds everywhere that will need to be wire brushed & POR 15'd. I took the running boards off & some paint has been scraped off by the plastic moving around. (see pic) My rear axle has deep surface rust that needs to be attended to immediately. The pinch weld under the body & above where the running boards go is bad in one spot. It looks like moisture got trapped in that area because of the running boards. (see pic) I will have all of this addressed before the winter. But overall it's in very good shape for 16 NY winters

I just drilled a 3/8” at the lowest point I could find near where those screws are on yours. Then opened my door and hoses out the packed up mud that had built up inside the rocker panel. Then sprayed it thoroughly with fluid film.

It’s a little bit of a scorched earth approach but better than what was going in - with one tiny drain hole that plugged with mud.


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[UnderFire]

The real story behind the frame replacement recalls for the Tacoma, Tundra and Sequoia is simple. The money didn't come from Toyota, Toyota was able to sue Dana Corp to appease unsatisfied buyers. Being in a state that doesn't have harsh weather and salty roads and having owned many Tacomas and 4Runners, I can assure you the factory coating on Tacoma frames is no different than the coating applied to the 4Runners. The frame recall simply would not exist if Toyota was making the frames for those models in house.

I feel bad for you guys that are in the rust belt because it really sucks for you, but you're definitely SOL if you think Toyota is ever going to be handing out new frames to 3rd gen 4Runner owners.





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[brillo_76]

[MENTION=90352]UnderFire[/MENTION] : Yes sir frame mfg was hit with those north American frames.


I agree 100% people are dreaming if they think they will get a new 4 runner frame for any generation.

As the frame rot is localized to a specific region of the world. It's not the mfg fault a state or province uses corrosive materials on the road surfaces.

The only way to slow it way down is to protect it when its brand new and be diligent about keeping the underside clean.

Coating the underneath with coatings and water displacement products also help slow the rot down. As steel can not oxidize if oxygen cant get to it.

It sucks dealing with it but unless the local government quit using it the drivers are screwed.

I am in the rust belt and been dealing with it all my life. It honestly sucks. As bolts swell and freeze up. Snap etc. I am betting a pile of wrenchers in the south would give it up if they had to deal with it.

However, it us what it is and just make the best if it.


My Tetanus 1 and Tetanus 2 are typical for when PO do nothing to the undercarriage of the vehicles.



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