PSA: if you have the option, park your truck facing uphill

Shit, i should definetily check mine then.

 

Well, that mirrors my experience, but I had no guards from factory. I guess it confirms my suspicion that the guards are mostly useless.

 

So there is no confusion, it’s the large plastic guards that block off the front box sections we are discussing. Not the rectangle plugs.


These guards we retrofitted by my Toyota Dealer under the frame rust campaign. All they did was seal all the crap inside my boxed sections that they did not wash out before fitting these guards.

 

Looking Good

 

Thank you sir!

Was such a bitch to clean everything inside and out. My truck smelled like campfire on the outsude for about a week haha. You could have smelled it about 6 feet away. Good times, love camping.

 

Looks epic bro!! Camp fire

 

It’s the large plastic guards that I was talking about, my 2017 came with them already installed, I was just wondering if others don’t have them. Surprised not all did, I wonder if they did away with them for any reason or just forgot to install them at the factory.

Also want to complement you on your informative post, well done!

 

That’s a nice wide pit, the challenge I tend to hate is keeping base inside the small fire rings. A buddy of mine was sleeping in a chair by the fire one night, woke up and looked at the fire. “Holy. Shit. That’s 3 levels”. Then he was snoring with in seconds, this is what we judge all campfires on now.

 

Thanks.

I’m still a bit chived my dealer “swept the dust under the rug”.

Anyways.......Toyota seems to want to address at least some of their problems with rusty frames, and the dealers are just playing games to get paid by Toyota for campaign services they didn’t do.

At the end of the day, it’s always up to us to maintain our own stuff, if you plan on keeping the vehicle long term.

 

There's the hitch.

We now have vehicles that can last decades, but the whole operation will go under if the masses keep them longer than 3yr or 4yr. There's big money in every step and progression along the way. It was a hard lesson that we learned.

 

Anything to prolong the life of our Tacoma’s is so appreciated. Like my other models, I keep mine way over average mileage and time as they are capable of doing that, and anything I can do that keeps them running safe and clean is a good thing.

Not to turn this into the Friday but,
Hooray to the leasers and obsessive brand new car buyers for keeping our beloved Toyota alive!! Sorry I’m not doing my part, but you know how that is. Just blame stocklocker and people like him if Toyota does eventually go under.

 

Yup. We keep our stuff for at least 10yrs, but we made the mistake of trying Euro brands. Needlessly expensive parts when the Japanese stuff just lasts.

We're a small percentage, so it's all good.

 

I was asking a few weeks ago about what those plastic guards were and no one answered at the time. I’m happy that I decided to shoot Woolwax deep into that area via the convenient X opening now.

 

Hey, @Stocklocker .

I got the shields on each side. No idea how long they've been there, but only ToyotaCare stuff for me.




I don't want to show you the rest of my underside. Might spawn some envy.

 

At a point inside the box, ahead of the plastic guard, there is a steel baffle. If you really want to coat the inside of the front box sections with wool wax, you need to pull the rectangle plugs located behind your front wheels. I don’t know if this is required in your case, but something to consider.

 

My underside is so clean right now, I’m getting extra MPGs.

 

I have never touched mine, but that's this slice of the PNW.

 

Whats the part number for the plugs?

 

I’ll see if I still have the bag they came in.

 

Thanks for this detailed post. I'll be having a closer look underneath. I already have rust showing on my frame and it's a 2019, which is a drag. I'll be hitting it with a twice a year spray of Krown rust proofing to slow down the progress. I will also start parking nose high, just means being more careful backing out of my driveway at zero dark thirty.

Very helpful information gives me a good incentive to get under there this weekend!