Frame warranty campaign

So now that we are talking about rust, again. To those who live in the cold climate states, has anyone skipped the FF spray and just water spray the undercarriage in the winters? If so, how has the result been? Are there any rust spots at all?

I am from the desert so I have no experienced with rust at all until I did some research. My truck will probably be spending 2-3 winters in the MO then I will probably be back to the desert. I am worried because they used lots lots of salt here last winter, like a lot.

 

They always use a ton of salt in MO because we have a tendancy to get ice, not just snow. Warmer melting snow during the days, freezes at night to black ice. We almost never get snow pack, just melted snow converted to ice at night.

With just a regular water rinse, I think you'll have only slightly better results than doing nothing. Because in my own MO experience, doing nothing means rust regardless of the temperature or salt.

 

I witnessed all of that last winter!
I was looking for a 2nd gen and came across one in St. Charles. The owner never FFed it. He just rinsed the undercarriage and surprisingly, the frame looked really clean, not like shining and such but it looked pretty good for a 7 yr old truck.
Now I am debating if I should get it FFed or just rinse it haha

 

The only time I would water rinse is spring and fall for frame preparation.If using fluid film and then wash you will be defeating the purpose of fluid film it washes away too easily for my taste.
My regime is wire wheel,scrape and wire brush as much rust away as possible preparation is 95 %. I use Ospho rust neutralizer, primer,Eastwood black chassis paint and then Amsoil heavy duty metal protector. I like the Amsoil does not wash away I find I'm doing less touch up in the spring compared to when I used fluid film.
I also recommend Eastwood internal frame protector for inside the frame.My .02
Rust never sleeps

 

I’ve got the letter. What I’m looking for is the dealer technical procedure for the work. I saw the 2nd gen version posted here, but looking for the third gen version.

 

Washing will definitely help you out and make a huge difference compared to doing nothing. The trick is to make sure you get outside weekly and really spray the hell out of the underside, in the frame, wheel wells etc. I still do this and had Krown applied to my truck. I touch up throughout the winter with cans of FF as needed. I have some rust on the heads of bolts but nothing else after one winter.
Not much you can do about the surface rust.

 

That sounds... really complicated! but I will do some research. Thank you

Gotcha. That's the plan. I was thinking of purchasing one of those undercarriage spray equipment where I just connect the garden water hose to one port and the water will be spraying out evenly. But there is a very high chance that the hose is frozen, which I think it will be! If that is the case then, I will bring it to one of the touchless carwash stations or a coin station. Hopefully, my trucks can survive

 

Your trucks should be fine. You can always touch up the underside and take care of all the surface rust when you get back to the desert. I have thought about one of those undercarriage sprayers, especially for the spring clean. What I do to avoid the frozen hose is have a seperate 15-20 foot hose just for winter use. After you wash the underside drain the hose and store it in the garage. This way it won't be frozen the next time you go to use it. Rust and salt sucks...but in the end its just a truck.

 

bingo, that is a very smart idea! Can't believe it I didn't think of having spare hose just for the winter. silly me

 

Look, I own a first gen Tacoma 2003 with 250,000 Ohio miles. Been through it all, salt, brine, slush etc. They are fools here with salt, they spread salt when it flurries and it is 40 degrees. Brine? I am surprised they are not laying that down now "just in case".

I don't have pictures of my frame but believe me when I say mine is fine, but I do take extreme care to rinse with a garden hose after each salt event. I avoid the high pressure because it is not needed to remove salt. Toyota did spray the frame as per the recall many years ago and I Fluid Film twice a year.

My point is, just a little bit of effort and you'll be fine. My truck is proof of that.

 

Towns/cities have to lay down that salt in the budget or it won’t get put back in there next year. Even 40 degrees and rainy two days after getting an inch!

 

There's was a truck unloading new Tacoma frames at my neighborhood Toyota dealer the other day.

 

Mechanicsville Toyota Is the Best Dealer in Central Va.

 

for whatever it’s worth, I switched to using a coin op bay for spraying down my undercarriage because of the drainage. I stored my hose in the basement so it wouldn’t freeze, which is great and all... but then I had a giant pool of water gathering in the low spots of my driveway (which at the time needed to be repaved and was really uneven). I stopped after about two rinses because the mornings after I came out to find a skating rink waiting for me between my truck and my back door. I stopped relying on the undercarriage spray from the touchless washed because they’re so brief, I’m not sure they do anything. I’ve also heard rumors that they use a grey water system for their undercarriage: basically reusing the water that’s drained off of other cars, meaning you’re just spraying more saltwater

im sure it’s been said in this thread, but if you do apply fluid film (and you should!) don’t rinse your undercarriage with a high pressure washer during the winter. Do a heavy rinse a day or so before you apply the FF, then for the winter every so often hit it with a light rinse with a hose or the low-pressure rinse at a car wash is fine (no different than driving through puddles which you’ll do a million times this winter). But hitting it with a high pressure wash will rinse the FF off more quickly than you want.

 

I'm impressed with Toyota's approach to dealing with this issue. They know it's a problem in specific areas and offer a free inspection plus FF application to extend frame life AND add an an extended frame warranty at no cost..! That's great customer support.
They actually replaced my 2008 Taco frame in 2015, with a similar "let's fix this" program. I later traded it and I'm sure got better trade value due to new frame.
My 2016 Taco frame still looks fine but driving in Northern NH & VT, both use salt to keep roads clear, so I expect there are issues brewing underneath where I cannot easily inspect. It's nice to deal with a company that stands behind their product and offers assistance ahead of a possible failure, with no hassles. This is why Toyota has high dependability and resale value. CR seems to miss that point in recent years when their new testers evaluate Tacos against other small P/U brands. I often wonder what happened to CR getting OWNERS opinions, rather than just using their staff of testers/writers, who don't seem to understand what a truck is and then whine about height, seats, ride and supposedly poor dependability issues (???). Getting a recall before a failure and monitoring frame rust & adding protection is far better than waiting until these issues are safety problems. Consider how the old Mazda/Rangers customers made out in the day, hard to get much value from vehicle frames & bodies that were disintegrating long before the engines failed... & frame failures were not covered under warranty, their customers lost out. Toyota's customers did not

 

I believe Toyota has been extremely generous to owners who neglect to rinse road salt from undercarriage during winter as the owners manual advises. You have gone the extra distance by applying Fluid Film. It works,

 

CR is a total hack outfit, filled with hipsters and know-nothings. My father-in-law gets me a subscription to this trash every year for Christmas, so I do use it for occasional study when dropping some friends off at the pool. I find almost everything they write to be comical. The items they concern themselves with don’t really mean much of anything to overall performance, reliability, and longevity. I think those 3 items are what most smart shoppers look for first. Just my $.02

 

Advanced auto parts has Fluid Film on sale for $8.99 per spray can so I pickup 5 cans at my local store. This stuff is great

Fluid Film Link

 

Wrong. I purchased my 2005 Trd sport new. I'm a nut . I cleaned that thing so much that when I traded it 10 years later it still looked new. I was a fanatic at keeping the frame clean. Every spring I would wash it with soap and water. Power wash it, then I would wire brush any rust starting, dremel with a wire wheel, POR 15, top coat, and that frame still rusted out. I know it's not just a Toyota thing But Toyota really should have stepped up to the plate after the first 2 generation Tacoma problem. Not to mention the Sequoia and Tundra. We should not need to climb under our vehicles every year and soak the crap out of the underside with whatever product we choose to protect with. All they need to do is zinc dip the frames and top coat. My buddy has a 2017 Canyon and all he does is drive it. His frame looks mint. No fluid film or washing it. Thinking that Toyota is being extremely generous is the most ridiculous statement I have heard regarding the Frame problem. My 2019 will be Fluid Filmed or Wool Waxed if Bob keeps his word , so much that it should never rust. Toyota will never coat my frame. And if it does start to rust I will get rid of it and find a new vehicle.

 

My post you chose to quote was to Taco57 not you. Did you treat INSIDE the BOX frame ? Does your buddies Canyon have C channel or box frame ?