Rust already along frame and component welds on new truck?

OP: My truck showed the same right from the day of delivery. Undercoat it religiously and don't think twice.

 

Thats great but i don't ever see them putting salt on the road where you live. does it ever get below 45?

 

Salt in the air is just as damaging.

 

Yep my bad. trade you for my minus -10F

 

Move if you’re cold.

 

fluid film once or twice a year, for the win!

i never understood people that buy a brand new vehicle for THOUSANDS then, cheap out, and not spend the extra few hundred, to make it last, to protect the investment.

i live in the snow/rust belt, cars get coated with fluid film (heavily) the first 2 years, to get it into the seams. then after 2 great coats of FF, i coat it with woolwax (same as FF, only a bit thicker, lasts a bit longer, when exposed to constant water, snow, slop, undercarrige cleaning.

i coat everything that is metal except the brake rotors. the suspension, bolts, and bushings, all look like new. easier to work on when the time comes as well.

understand the auto mfgr's are not in the business to make cars last, they are in the business to sell cars. they only care if the outside/frame make it to 5 years, to get over the rust through warranty period. the rest is up to the final buyer, to maintain the auto to their liking, and how long they want it to last.

Ski

 

I have never used fluid film or any other rust prevention practices. Why? I believe any truck in the rust belt is going to rust anyway no matter what I do to slow the rust from happening.

 

Put Cosmoline on it once and drive it for 200k. Don't even think about it again.

 

There's a big difference (to me at least) in a vehicle rusting to shit in 8 years vs. 15 years.

 

I've seen what my neighbors tacoma liked like after 5 years here in connecticut with the rusty frame issues ....so bad toyota bought back the truck. I fluid filmed my 2001 tundra every year starting on its 2nd year after seeing surface rust on the frame everywhere. After 19 years, yeah the frame had a lot of surface rust, but it was solid.
I did my 2020 tacoma within a few months of ownership with cosmoline. Hopefully its just touchups down the road. It got to be a pita to apply fluid film every fall, not to mention the cost because it washes off. So far this winter the cosmoline still looks great.

 

Good information above.

I'm recently retired from a tier 1 auto manufacturer of chassis components. We welded, e-coated & assembled front & rear sub-frames & suspension components for 5 different OEM’s.

All OEM's are reducing the weight of all components in the quest to meet CAFE requirements. Sub-frames, Lower control arms etc. are designed to the cusp of failure. Meaning they are so thin & light they're barely strong enough to withstand the testing. If they pass the testing with any margin of safety the designers are told to "lighten them up". On top of this, cars are being kept on the roads longer than they used to be. This was a statement from the OEM's & why they have increased their corrosion resistance requirements from 10 years to 15. This has added another challenge to the OEM's to make sure their components do not fail when they reach 10-15 years of corrosion. As we can see, corrosion protection is more important than ever.

The three N.A. OEM’s now utilize Hot Dipped Galvanized metal. This adds years of life to the component except for the welds & heat affected zone. And those welds on hot dipped are dirtier than ever. The 2 Japanese OEM’s, 20 years ago were ahead of everyone else using electro-galvanized steel when everyone else was using bare steel. Unfortunately they haven't caught up to using hot dipped.

The capability of E-coating has improved dramatically in recent years. One improvement is a pre E-coating process called neutral de-scale that improves the cleaning of the welds & the black scaly stuff on each side of the weld called the "heat affected zone". This enables the e-coat to stick better in that area. One N.A. OEM was the first to approve the process in our plant. The other 2 N.A. OEM’s bought into it when they saw testing results. One Japanese OEM hasn't made any changes I'm aware of. I should say that I have no idea if this process has been applied by other Tier 1 suppliers or within the OEM paint shops.

We all know Toyota already had an under body rust problem. Toyota went their own way with changes to the painting process. In our corrosion testing their solution didn't have much measurable improvement compared to the Neutral Descale. But Toyota listens to no-one.

So my limited observation from one auto parts suppliers perspective, different OEM's have taken different countermeasures to mitigate the risks of their light weight, marginally strong enough components, that might end up on the road for more years than what they used to be. Unfortunately I don't think Toyota is leading edge on this.

I think it should be expected that you will see rust show up, particularity on the welds & the heat affected zone, on your Tacoma's. No need to panic. If you live in the rust belt, yearly undercoating should make a difference. I DIY Fluid Film each fall.

 

Normal.

 

Because some people also come from cars that have at least some part of the suspension (like lower control arms) made of aluminum alloy and quite frankly less to rust on a unibody car.

Prior to the Taco, every car I've owned was unibody with some part of the suspension made of aluminum. I never washed under those nor treated with fluid film and there has not been a spec of rust on anything. Granted I'm not in the heavy rust belt but VA use the brine and salt liberaly.

I agree that you buy it, its your problem but not everyone drove a truck or quite frankly lived somewhere where coatings were a necessity. Its a pita to do and put money towards which also detracts people from doing it.

 

+1 on the glass like appearance. I remember looking under it and being like "wtf did they clearcoat it?"

 

Yearly Rustproofing for the Win!

 

Is it a problem that ive already took it muddin' without having coated it? im looking at a place that steam cleans and undercoats but im worried preexisting contaminants will be trapped under the undercoat

 

pressure wash it before applying the corrosion protection. they make "brooms" that you attach to a pressure washer. get the majority off, let that dry, then apply the coating. Ski

 

You must have plenty of money then too buy a new truck every 8-10 years.

 

Well I don't have plenty of money. I briefly worked a job where I would on occasion presure wash fluid film off of equipment. I didn't like how sticky it was. I also thought that if the pressure washer would take off the FF, so would driving in wet conditions. Pressure washing the FF off did take some effort.

I also want a new frame so I left the frame untreated.

 

You'd need to pressure wash the undercarriage good then get good and dry. Imo, its best these rust inhibitors are applied on a good warm day when the chassis is warm to. I wouldn't worry too much about fluid film sprayed over any contaminants. FF basically encapsulates the chassis even if theres already rust. Stuff like cosmoline is better suited on a new clean frame.