Revisiting the frame recall

^ holy cow. Almost a little surreal to actually see it.

 

My front struts came in this morning so I dropped them off at the dealer. Got to meet the tech doing my frame swap. Real good dude who knows his way around this procedure. BS'ed about 15min or so. He started on this yesterday morning, said he'll probably finish it Thurs. So far, along with the LCAs & hard lines included, there's new tank straps & a spare tire mount, new bed bolts too. Told him I planned on putting front D-rings in the bed floor in the future. Said he Never-Seize's all the bed bolts. I asked him to have a good look at the UCAs, and contact me if he see's anything that may need attention there or elsewhere. I left feeling a whole lot better about this adventure..

 

wow, those pictures

 

My 08 frame passed two or three years ago, I got the goop spray. I took it back three more times and finally got a fail and new frame

 

Make sure your tank straps are good!! They fail near the leaf springs. Toyota missed it on my frame replacement and my tank dropped. Fortunately I was not on the highway. My bad, I should have seen this, fn'scary! Was able to ratchet strap it up and but replacements. Didn't happen until a year later and dealer didn't take responsibility.
I would also have the brake lines replaced that are attached to the rear axle, as not included.
Otherwise, great job.
PS. Off Road editions will not get a new passenger side tow hook, had to ask.

 

Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep an eye out and mention it. Talking to the dealer to see about replacement suspension since it's there and accessible. They did tell me though that I'd get new brake lines....but I'll bring it up again as this moves forward.

 

Out of curiosity, do they replace the cab mount bushings during a frame swap? I will also have a new suspension (and stainless rear brake lines) that need to go on. I’m hoping I could have it all done at once if I qualify.

I caught a glimpse of my 2009 frame yesterday while walking to the truck and it’s got a lot more rust on it than I remember. I got the letter in the mail and hadn’t really thought anything about having it inspected. But I think I’m gonna crawl under there and poke around this weekend. I have a feeling after 10 winters in the Midwest, there’s more than surface rust going on under there...

 

No, they don’t. You can see in the pics in this thread on page 3, that they swapped over the cab mounts to the new frame. I bought new cab mounts, core support mounts, and the bolts that hold the cab mounts to the frame, so they don’t even have to take the cab mounts off the old frame. I’m still waiting for my frame to come in. Now they’re saying it could be another 4 months.

 

Ok, yeah, that’s kind of what I figured. I’ll give my frame a thorough inspection this weekend and if I think it’ll qualify I’ll probably do the same thing you did. I figure if they’re gonna replace the frame and other metal components, I might as well pay a few bucks for new cab/radiator mounts and hardware versus having the 10+ year old crap put back in.

And ugh, I’m not liking that timeline. I guess it’ll depend on what I find when I crawl under there. Are most dealers keeping the trucks on their lot until the new frame arrives or would I still be able to drive it after the claim has been submitted to Toyota?

 

They said they wouldn't let me drive mine off the lot. I probably could have fought that, but they were waving keys to a 2019 Tacoma loaner at me and it was a siren's call to my ears. Said it would take 2 months.

 

I have absolutely no desire to drive a newer Tacoma. I’m way too OCD and all the new technology would be overkill. Plus, it just wouldn’t be the same without the lift and the larger tires. Also, they call the newer gen the turd gen for a reason...

I’d much rather drive a 4Runner if I’m required to have a loaner. I can already see it now... the dealership is gonna hate me if my truck needs a new frame

 

My Taco was originally sold in Canada, so I had to take it up there for inspection and then I’ll have to take it back up there for the frame swap. Mine is rusty, but not dangerous like some of the pics I have seen here on TW. Many US TW members have had their frame come in in just a few months. I don’t know why the big delay on my Canadian frame.

 

I know my frame is covered in surface rust... I just don’t know if I’ve got enough rust or any holes large enough to qualify.

And I’ve already had to replace the rear bumper support bar (was completely rusted through in several spots). I found that out when I removed my factory tow hitch to grind the surface rust off and repaint it. Here is what it looked like in the fall of 2018... and it’s already showing rust again in some spots.

 

That sucks.
Do the Canadian frames get the 15year coverage also?
Could be wrong but I thought they did.
I didn’t have an appt showed tech what I found. He says do you want to keep it with a grin while we wait for the frame.
Hell yes I don’t want it sitting on their lot.
3 weeks later they called I had the loaner for a week and the swap took 3 days.

 

When I told the service guy that I worked out of my truck he said he'd get me another. I wouldn't be surprise if they'd give anything that you asked (within reason and availability). Dealerships must be making a boatload on this procedure and the vehicle rental fees is the icing on the cake I'm sure.

My new truck has a few things that took a day or so to get used to...lane changing warning for one. But it also has a few things that i like- electric sliding rear window, Bluetooth phone connection and Sirius satellite radio. I'm a big Beatles fan and now have the Beatles channel for all the deep cuts that I've never heard before. It's been like a sugar high.

 

12 years on the Canadian settlement. July 21, 2019 was the cutoff date for all ‘05-‘10 Tacos. After that it’s 12 years. I took my ‘06 in there July 4th and was approved 2 weeks later. They said it would be about 4 months. I called in December and they said probably April. I called a week ago, and they said probably another 4 months. They said previous to my inspection they did lots of frame swaps, but they haven’t done any since then because the parts haven’t come in. It seems pretty strange, but I’m approved for a frame, so I just have to wait.

 

They let me drive mine home, they only keep it if it’s so bad it’s unsafe to drive.

I too found the new lane departure warning on the new truck that was my loaner to be highly annoying. I didn’t like some things about the truck but I did like others. Only had it a week, can’t complain. Got my own truck back now with a brand new frame under it after all.

 

Haha, my truck has the JBL radio with Bluetooth and Sirius. I made sure I could at least make hands free phone calls before I bought it.

And I wouldn’t be that picky I just don’t really want to drive a newer truck. I’d prefer my only experience in a truck to be in my own. Especially since it will finally be paid off in a few months and I don’t need to be tempted by fancy features to upgrade. I sure as hell wouldn’t complain about better fuel economy if I end up in a loaner though. Lol.

 

Mine is an '08 with 150K miles. Mechanically good shape and cosmetically god with a few scratches here and there- but nothing too bad. When I heard the frame costs might reach $17K I was almost thinking- give me the money toward another truck and we'll be good. I haven't gone too far in that thinking though.

 

Mine is an 09 with 120k. And if I wasn’t so close to paying it off, I’d be thinking the same thing. But after 5+ years of owning it, I’ve become quite fond of it and would like to keep it for a long time. A new frame (and cab mount bushings that are likely worn to hell) would just be icing on the cake. That and I’d finally be able to get my rear stainless brake lines installed. Seeing as I couldn’t break the nuts loose when I tried to install them after I did the fronts. There was way too much rust for me to get them loose without using a torch and I didn’t like that idea being so close to the gas tank...