A couple questions about new or used, given Tacoma frame rust issues...

Takes more than a few years to rust out a frame.

Plenty of 2016s that look pretty damn crusty already. Few of them have been posted on here.

2nd and 3rd gen frames are pretty much identical. What makes you think 3rd gens won't suffer the same issue 5-10 years from now?

 

Mine's 7.5 years old...how long do I have to wait?

Guess I missed the "few" that were posted and the alleged recall.

A "few" posted on an enthusiast's forum; I consider outliers due to 'circumstances'. I'm willing to bet those outliers share similar circumstances; location(salt belt) and lack of preventative maintenance.

 

A frame should not rust out in 7.5 years with or without preventative maintenance.

Someone is in tacoma denile...

Can you explain what's different on the 3rd gen frames that will prevent the same issues the 2nd gens had since you seem to think Toyota magically fixed it?

Since not everyone goes on a toyota forum, what happens to the people that buy a new tacoma and have no idea about coating the frame for protection? What happens to them?

 

If you can swap the cab, bed, and components over yourself, and get a good deal on a frame ($1850 USD) it is worth it. OP never mentioned location. Almost tempted to buy this myself as well as a rusted frame truck for 4 grand and transfer everything over, or make it a flatdeck conversion.
Toyota Tacoma brand new frame extended cab V6 4x4 2005-2008 - auto... (craigslist.org)

 

I don't think I'm in denial at all. I can be convinced given the right persuasion. You and the 'others' are not convincing.

So...how long then?

To be frank, your argument sounds like, '1st and 2nd gen frames sucked, therefore 3rd gen will suck...eventually...just wait'.

 

Well yeah, if you're mechanically-inclined and can handle the labor yourself, it's absolutely worth it to re-frame that truck. But from the OP's posts, they are not capable/willing to handle it themselves. So it jumps up into the $10-15k bracket...which IIRC is about what Toyota was shelling out per 2nd gen truck, to replace the frame. Parts aren't that bad in the grand scheme, it's the labor costs that kill it for most.

 

Pretty much. It's an issue they have had for 25+ years.

We all know how important it is to coat the frames but does your average tacoma buyer?

 

Hello, everybody, so just an update on the "new or used" issue and my wariness about frame rust -

After stalking autotrader.com for a couple weeks, I took Friday off work and drove from Northern Virginia to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania to go and look at a 2021 certified used TRD Access Cab Toyota with a manual transmission and hair over 16k miles. As soon as I pulled in the lot I saw the truck parked right in front of the dealership. I jumped out of my old Tacoma and crawled underneath the 2021. It was clean as a whistle underneath with none of that horrible rubber-y Toyota undercoating crap that ends up trapping moisture and killing frames quicker.

Needless to say I must have liked what I saw and liked the price, because the picture above is of "Mabel" parked in my tiny driveway Saturday morning...

Thank you everybody for all the good points you made and experiences you shared, your comments really helped me make a fully formed decision. --- And --- I left the dealership to late to take Mabel to the Krown Rustproofing shop in York, PA on the way home, but I'll be getting her there within the next two weeks...

 

All I can say is they were replacing frames in gen 2 tacomas that were under 10 years old here. When I bought my truck in 2020, one dealer had frames stacked like cord wood along side of their building. We live in a salty area for 6 months of the year. If you don't be proactive with some sort of rust inhibitor applied, your a good bet for a frame replacement down the road.

 

Looks nice and good luck. I see you decided to go the Lanolin route instead of cosmoline. That should be fine, just be sure to get it done every single year religiously and if you wash the underside a lot check it every spring too. I see it recommended all the time that a lanoline product might need to be applied twice a year depending on use.

 

Having had a frame swap myself (see sig) I can speak to a lot of the process.

If I was paying the bill mine was 12K for my single cab frame. Not sure the cost for the actual new frame on yours as I'm unsure of the cab. That includes frame, new rear leafs, new metal brake lines, new LCAs, and some new fluids (antifreeze is one I just can't remember the list)

True that there's many factors, plus think about what's the worth of the reframed vehicle as well as overall condition. See my above post re the rough cost in actual money. Plus there's the "how do I get around in the interim?" though in my case Toyota provided me a rental for the duration.

I forget the breakdown of it all (per part etc) but I recall it being booked as 40 hours per tech and 2 techs required to do the job.

My wife's 1996 was bought back in April 2008, and my friend's 98 or 99 was immediately after. When I went to the dealership to meet my wife they had about 30 trucks parked and wouldn't let us get anything out of her truck without a rep there.

My 2010 was inspected in 2019 and passed/coated but was barely 11 years old in April 2021 when I found the 2 rot holes and I'm guessing they were there prior, unsure how long. IDK if there were additional issues, as I told the rep when I dropped it off where I found the holes so it would save them having to lift the truck. When I got the call back the following day I was told all they look for is one hole and then stop, and the one on outside passenger rail was 1 by 2 inches.

 

So I couldn't find any places doing the cosmoline. There is a place near me that does the Woolwax, however it's alot more expensive than Krown. What I took from different folks on here is that different people have some good experience with a number of different products, but that the one thing a person should avoid like the plague are those rubbery/tarry undercoatings that are supposedly "forever." I don't want some substance that traps moisture, and Krown sounds good, provided that they actually do a good job on the pressure-washing prep and on the application.

I am committed to getting into a battle rhythm of once a year application (and maybe I will do some in-between touch ups if it looks like it needs it. It's nice to be able to get this right from early in the truck's life versus what I did with the last one, which was too get too emotional about the car I was looking to buy and buy it even though it was already nine years old and had just had the bad rubbery Toyota crap put on the frame...

 

I wonder if someone in your area on here does it. I know here in New England a couple of members do the coatings out of their house and very reasonable.

I didn't hear about it until after I got the rubbery crap and at that point just wanted it to rust out for a new frame, which it did. Since the reframe I'm getting Woolwax done yearly by a TW member.

 

Rubber undercoating will kill the truck. The tar like stuff is very good provided it is done early on a clean underbody. Other than rubberized coating anything is better than nothing and sounds like you have a good plan.

 

Good on you that you caught the rust in time to get a new frame from Toyota!

And perhaps someone will chime in with some info about other local options.

I'm not adverse to doing some things myself, however spraying under the truck without a lift, with all that crap chemical inches from my face, laying on a rutted driveway pushed up in the center by tree roots... that's just not appealing. A lift would make a world of difference, but that's true for alot of jobs!

 

2.6K on my 2023 Tacoma and the frame at the welding areas is rusting. Will get rust prevention and undercoating on 01FEB.

On that note, when opening up a panel, I spray rust prevention. E.g. when installing the remote tailgate lock, I sprayed the tailgate. Selling my plane but have a bunch of aviation stuff left, I used the LPS3 corrosion inhibitor. A bit sticky that stuff, but it works.

Else, the A/C drain mod is usefull.

 

I was well aware of it especially after my wife's 96 buyback so I periodically looked around underneath, probably had done so last in fall 2020 prior. The exhaust hanger was falling down one day April 21 and I looked under it at lunchtime (working from home) and found one hole bottom of the rail and another outside of rail both at least 10mm, a slight push with 2 fingers caved in the outside one. Pics in my album.

The local guy here uses ramps on the front though he has a smooth driveway. Does about 7-8 a day on some weekends. He did mine despite being a 2WD and less room to work under it.