Is there anything on this truck that doesn't destroy itself with rust??

Warning: rant/vent post, nothing too productive/informative offered here.

Today I changed my brake pads for the first time since I've owned my Tacoma. I must say there was a lot of cursing involved, as well as a smashed thumb with a hammer and several bent bolts / nail sets. Those damn little pins were welded into the caliper housing with rust. It was almost harder to get those pins out than it was to cut my LCAs out a couple weeks ago. I was quite surprised/impressed/pissed that I was able to bend a nail punch and a couple bolts from using them to pound out the pins. Got them out...eventually. Between those pins, the LCAs, and my frame that I wire wheeled and Eastwood coated in its entirety, I'm getting exhausted dealing with the rust issues. Is there any other future maintenance involving rusty parts that I should eagerly look forward to? My tacoma spent the first 5 years of its life in New York, so I guess that explains a lot. I certainly will take a closer look at the undercarriage of the next used vehicle I purchase.

 

Plastic doesn't rust........ Just sayin.

 

The bed liner won't rust

Otherwise, buy a harbor freight spot blaster and some black beauty sand...

 

I here your pain OP
Just spent 24 hours with a clay bar removing the rust outta my super white factory paint job .
I have to do this spring and fall . Once the rust is pulled out , I deep clean with a polish , Then seal , then wax . Very time consuming
I do live in the rust belt mind you .
I undercoat with 300 bucks worth of fluid film spring and fall .
The truck still rusts .
Doesnt help that the car wash we have up here uses recycled salt water

 

Recycled salt water? At a car wash?? That seems pretty pointless. Can you not wash it at your house?

 

I can wash it at home ,but not when its 40 below zero . I get 8 months of that weather up here

 

Oh, didn't think about washing it when it's cold out. I'm from Louisiana, we don't have real winters. Do they use the recycled water to prevent freezing? Or are you located on the coast and it's just more readily available?

 

The water they use is recycled . I believe most car washes operate this way . Huge water tank .
They spray the roads up here with massive amounts of salt to melt the ice and snow .
Guys bring their salt covered vehicles to the car wash to wash the salt off .
The huge water tank gets contaminated with salt water

 

Jeez I feel dumb, I wasn't even thinking about it becoming salty due to the vehicles it's being used to wash. It's been a long night.

 

I too live in the rust belt called New York. Granted mine is garaged and is not driven in the snow but is driven all year long. No rust at all. I spray undercarriage with mixture of WD40 and motor oil. Has worked well for me. Its dirty and grimey but totally rust free.

 

I feel ya. My 14 has 36k on it and alot of bolts and linkage parts look like they been sitting in a junkyard for 10yrs. As of now, if and when I half to tackle those bolts. I would half to use a torch to get that done.

 

I've had really good luck with the floor mats. They've, surprisingly, held up well.

 

Now that you live in CO you will see less corrosion and rust (you will however have more paint damage and cracked windshields though).
What you are ranting about is not quality of the truck but the climate and salt usage in NY. Where you live makes incredible difference in rust.

 

That's funny I lived in co. for 35 yrs, owned 3 tacomas out there, pulled the snowmobile up to granby every weekend and had zero rust. No undercoating on frame, just washed underneath . Ny was the problem.

 

Let's see you go too a car wash to wash the salt away but they use recycled salt water man I feel for you guys in the salt belt I don't know if I could buy a new truck knowing that it was going to rust away in 6 years!!!

 

I'm a commercial contractor and have built a few of the auto wash facilities and almost all municipalities require that the water is completely treated during recycling which includes removing salts and anything else acidic or caustic. That's in the States anyway, don't know about north of the border, and I only work in New England, but it's been the case with every facility I've built. It's required by the EPA and they will actually test the facilities water quality from time to time.

 

Truth... I don't believe that they could run salt water through their pressure systems. I worked at a car wash for a while in high school. It would have been absolute hell on the equipment if we used salt water...

 

I too find those silly pins frustrating. I replace them every time I do a brake job and coat them with grease to try and save off the rust but to no avail. This is the first vehicle that I have owned that even uses this pin type of system, is there an advantage to them as opposed to a track system most pads use?

 

They allow you to pull the pads with out pulling the caliper. Toyota re-used a racing style 4 pot floating caliper system on the Tacoma.

 

Fair enough but I am pretty sure I could pull a caliper off quicker than I could remove these pins. The added time of stopping the bleeding from my hand that I hit with the hammer is likely longer than remove two bolts!