How much rust is too much rust

2015 Tacoma with 110k miles. A lot of rust under this beast but this one part makes me worried. It’s rusted to like half the diameter. Not sure what it is, steering related?

 

Welcome to TW...thats the sway bar. Hows the frame look?

 

Cool, should I be worried about the sway bar and replace it?

i don’t think the frame is too bad. Was going to bring it to a dealer for a free inspection

 

Looks like too much rust for my blood, especially on the welds.

 

There's a frame replacement in that vehicle's future if everything is done correctly....inspection, treatment, etc. Where are you located.

 

Coastal Massachusetts. Salty winters plus salt air…

what do you mean everything done right??? And I hope you mean a dealer warranty replacement… nervous sigh…

 

That's more rust than I would even consider buying.

 

Buying it? What price. A 2015 should have had the frame notification and been blasted, cleaned, and treated at the dealer IF the owner kept up on the notifications. It should be easy to see if it was don, it's pretty thick and goopy. [NOT the black asphalt crap done earlier] It it hasn't been done, a frame replacement is SOL I believe.

My 2015 frame, you can see the treatment . It's the white stuff. Mine has also had yearly LPS3 or Fluid film treatment.

 

My dad was the owner, I highly doubt he brought it in for anything. Does that mean I could bring it in for an inspection and they’d do it now? Or replace the frame for me?

 

Ooohh shiny and black.

yes OP you are opening a can of worms with that truck.

If the frame is that rusty I’d hate to see the spots that is hard to see or get at.

 

Oh I think there’s some confusion. I’m not looking to buy this, it’s my truck that I own.

my dad was the original owner and gave it to me just before he passed. I’ve been driving it for a couple years and doing my own maintenance and fixing things as they break.

looking for any advice on how to see if I can get the frame issue helped at all!

 

Take it to your local Toyota dealership ASAP and let them inspect it. Only they can determine if you're still inside the "12 years from first in-service date" window to get a new frame. With a 2015, you should be inside the window.

As for next steps, let's be totally honest. That frame is in rough shape. I'd be surprised if it passes the inspection process. (Then again, I've been surprised before.) The big thing is to follow - exactly - what the dealership tells you to do next. Although the frame might pass today, it's probably going to fail in the next few years. Don't mess up and miss out on a new frame.

 

That frame looks pretty bad.

 

Dis/\

My truck passed the inspection and just a few months later I had a huge hole form. Here's the chunk that came out...

 

Ignore the chatter and follow @Too Stroked s lead

If you've been paying to have services done at someplace other than a Biffy Lube, they have done you a disservice by not pointing out the frame condition

 

Well… not the way I hoped this post would go, but thanks for the advice.

I’m going to get it to a dealer ASAP and see my options.

If I go to one dealer and they say no warranty is it worth it to go to another? Or are they likely all going to say the same thing (yes to warranty or no to warranty)?

 

If the dealer says they won't do anything, there are other options as well. My truck had extensive frame rust and the dealer denied repairs under warranty, so my PO took it to a frame shop here in TN that repaired the original frame for a reasonable price.
If not for that, my truck would have been scrapped in otherwise decent shape...

 

I'd Fluid Film it (yearly), and drive it until it dies.

 

Yeah my friend suggested this. Any you would recommend?

 

A second opinion costs you nothing. If the first dealer claims it passes the test Toyota dictates, a second dealer may flunk it on the exact same test. Much of this depends on how eager a particular dealership is to do a frame swap.