Frame Rust Warranty

My new-to-me 97 taco has some rust, although nothing structural. I'm gearing up to replace a bunch of stuff to upgrade/update, and I'm finding that my leaf spring hangers are not at the expected spacing. I'm not sure if the truck was warrantied for frame replacement, but if it was, would they have put the exact same frame on, or would it have potentially been from one of the newer models of the generation? There are no cut/weld marks that would indicate that the frame had new leaf hangers installed at some point.

I'm getting 54" from frame hanger bolt to hanger bolt, not the ends of the leaf spring since it's all sorts of beat to odd shapes, like a "w" ... almost.

I've read that these should be 51" I think? Or 49.5"? Maybe I'm getting the 1995.5-1997 mixed with the 1998+ first gens.
So I don't know what the correct leaf spring is based on that measurement. Would toyota have put a frame that met newer specs on there?

I'll call Toyota on Monday to verify what was done unless I can find a lookup website somewhere.

Thanks!

 

95-2000 trucks were bought back by toyota, the frames were not replaced.

 

Only few 2004 trucks at this point are still within the 15 year warranty date, like said above 95-00 trucks were bought and crushed by Toyota. 2001-2004 trucks had the frame replaced.

You're shit out of luck if the frame is rusted and need help from Toyota. What's the condition of your frame?

 

I thought that the three options were to 1) provide a nasty waxy goopy coating if it wasn't bad, 2) sell it back at 150% value, or 3) to replace the frame, which meant moving all of the old truck parts onto a shiny new frame. Was that the recall only for the 05 issues?

 

The frame replacement was only valid for Toyota under coated 2001-2004 trucks. First they would spray the frame and after a few years they would replace it if it qualified according to Toyota's corporate policies. As far as I know 1995-2000 was only undercoated and if the frame was compromised then Toyota bought it back and destroyed them.

In certain states only I should add.

 

Yup

 

Oh, I don't expect Toyota to do a damn thing for me, haha! The frame is just fine. But, I'm scraping the rust off that has accumulated and am going to repaint it with the Eastwood line of products. Some debate whether or not to do some por15, but I already have all the eastwood encapsulator and chassis paint stuff. Also doing some removal from the inside of the frame, and will use their internal encapsulator once I get that all cleared out.

There were only two places where rust perforated the frame, the infamous areas under the doors. The rear end had work done previously where some reinforcements were welded on years ago and that's looking good still. But I'm getting the frame reinforced under the cab on Friday. Going to cut out the rusted areas and then weld some 5/8" steel over, and completely seal the inner frame once cleaned and "encapsulated."

I'll be taking the bed off once these storms pass to really get at it and grind all the old paint away. The Eastwood products I selected require that you leave surface rust, not going to bare steel, so I still have a fair amount of work ahead, but I'll make a build or repair thread for that once it's progressing further...

Here's some pics:

Just below driver door


Below passenger door.


Rear end, after scraping flakes off with a paint scraper


Same with this.


After a bit more aggressive of a scraping down where I removed the paint hiding the rust.


And the other side.


A little further forward.

You get the idea. It's rusty. But it hasn't lost a whole lot of actual metal.

 

You know that's really not that bad! I would box in the frame if I were in a situation where I had to deal with a rusted out frame but with that kind of damage just patching it, IMO, will be fine.

Luckily for me my truck has never left Northern California or seen snow so the frame is pristine.

 

Whoops, I selected "thumbnail" versions of those pictures. Sorry for them being so large!

 

Dang, yeah you are lucky! What do you mean "box in" the frame? Like weld new metal completely around it after doing all this too? This truck has been in Salt Lake City for a large portion of it's life and our roads are super salty in the winters (since there's an unlimited supply thanks to the namesake). Everything else seems to have been really well maintained on this rig so it feels worth it to me to ensure this lasts! Plus, great learning experience since I've never done most of these things that I'm now attempting...

 

Box in as in surround the frame with formed metal plates - essentially partially "boxing" it. Visit these guys for pre-formed metal frame pieces that you weld on.

https://www.autorust.com/product-category/toyota-tacoma/tacoma-xtracab-4wd/

 

Nice, I’ll have to check that out. My welder here seems to do great work and is pretty reasonable. Going to do the whole underweld on the frame where skid plates are for $300.

Look what I found just now in the maintenance folder that came with! They used the OME springs for the 1998+! I didn’t see this slip before.

I was planning on getting the CS020R or 21R leafs since they’re supposedly for the HiLux and this model year was supposed to have used that too... huh

 

There are still 2003 trucks eligible for coverage, under Toyota's conditions. My '03 was manufactured at NUMMI in Fremont CA in August 2003, and went into service in November 2003. So, since the truck was sold in the northeast, and was undercoated by Toyota in 2010, my extended warranty on the frame runs until November 2018.

Wish me luck, I want it to fail inspection in a few months. If it gets a new frame, I'll keep it until the end of time.

 

Does that mean I can only use these same leaf springs? I want something that will be stiffer, handle things better, and do the add-a-leaf that will allow me to keep those 200-400 pounds in the bed of my truck that are likely to always be there, let alone the bumpers, slide bars, tools, and camping bed unit!

How do the 46's compare to the 20R line?

Bed shot:

 

Right. I forget that the in-service date is when Toyota starts counting against you. Hope it goes alright for you!

 

My understanding is that that is a pretty good spring set. But you can do whatever you want to do. It's your truck.

 

Thanks. Come on, rust!

 

I really hope the using 5/8" steel was a typo .

That might just be a little over kill.

The person doing the welding hopefully knows what they are doing

For springs you might want to Check out General Spring out of Kansas City

Super Springs are another good option if your planning to put some real weight in your truck at times.

 

Haha yeah whoops I though I typed 3/8”
But yeah, I’m leaving that to the people who know what they’re doing.

Thanks for the recommendations on other spring options! I’m confused as to why they put those ome 46 springs on last time when it supposedly should have been the 19r model.
So those springs perform well off-road, or are they more for load capacity? Sorry if it’s a dumb question!

 

No telling what might end up on these trucks I have seen strange things over the years .

Could have been they had them or got a Super deal

New Springs beat old springs hands down for any use.

Super Springs are just for extra weight capacity !!