Ice between Rocker Panel, Front Wheel Wheel, and Frame

I think what it comes down to is this: Yes, it's annoying. No, your truck won't blow up. The sound will go away when it warms up. /armageddon

 

Maybe the tires I have now throw more snow than tires I've had in the past, and really jam it in there. That could be why it's never happened before.

 

I don't think the issue has been articulated clearly enough here.

The ice we are talking about is not on the surface of the truck (i.e. windshield or body), it is not a build up around the tires in the wheel well. The ice appears to be inside a body cavity where ice simply does not belong (much like ones' asshole). I checked the wheel wells and the frame rails under the truck. I crawled under to poke around the frame body mounts and could not find the ice. I even went as far as checking the bolts on the body mounts and my running boards to ensure they were tight. The ice was inside of the fender just ahead of the firewall or in the void under the door sill. In reading the threads above, it appears that some have had build up sufficient enough to make it visible around the body mount.

In my case, every change in direction the truck made as a result of a bump in the road, an acceleration or braking resulted in an audible thump that could be felt through the floorboards like someone had just tapped it with a hammer from below.

I have never experienced this in any vehicle I have ever driven or ridden in over the past 37 years residing in Canada during in the winter. The fact that there are so many people here on a Toyota Tacoma forum describing the same problem which looks to be common to 2013 / 14 models tends to point to it being a Toyota problem.

 

Derp. First gen FTW!

 

Mine's a 2010, so I'd say it's not relegated to 13's and 14's.

I've been meaning to take a picture, but since I knocked it off (Monday or Tuesday, I think?) it hasn't built up again. We also haven't had a fresh snow though to knock stuff up in there.

 

Anyone else have a clunk noise when leaving the drive way first time of the day? Sounds like the tires are frozen to the concrete, you have to give it a little gas till it breaks through

 

Guys...It's winter.... Shit freezes and get hard...Builds up to the point of rubbing on tires, etc....

It's a part of winter.... Noise will go away in July...(Maybe)... hehe

 

LOL at all the pansies in here.

"oh no there's ice on my truck there's ice on my truck the sky is falling whatever will I do!"

 

Have you ever had this happen to you?
This is the first time it has happened to me in the 5 years I have owned this truck and it sounded like I broke something.
I go snow bashing every winter here in colorado and untill now nothing, so you can say pansie all you want but there was no ice build up I could find that explained what was going on.

 

Yes, it happens almost every day that I drive through heavy slush/snow and then it freezes overnight! And not just on my Tacoma either! Welcome to winter everybody!

 

What did you see the first time it happened to you and you looked for what was doing it?
Cause I didnt find anything that would explain what was going on and that is why I thought something broke. Now that I know what it is and how to deal with it I feel better.

 

I never looked for anything, I just assumed it was ice build up. I had heard it before in other vehicles though. It has a very distinctive sound - that "knock knock knocking" on your floorboard like someone is tapping on the steel with a hammer.

 

I think lots of people are assuming we're talking about a typical ice build up in the wheel wells that makes noise when your tires rub wuzzy. Some of them maybe don't get a chance to be right very often and they see this as a chance to finally make fun of someone who is dumber than them. I know exactly what you're talking about as I was experiencing the same thing. The noises it makes and the fact that you can feel it through the floorboards can be a bit unnerving. I'm glad it's been figured out, that it's no big deal, and that I wasn't the only one experiencing it .

 

I wasnt just getting a knocking, when I turned left I was getting a grinding clunking noise. Now that it has warmed up and from yesterday in a warm garage it is all gone.
Some one said to go through a car wash or a self car wash the other day, but we had negative temps, and I think doing that would have just added to the problem, and I dont have a garage for it to sit in with a heater.
But the odd thing about it all is this is the first time in my 30 years of living 27 of them in states that get snow each winter, that this has ever happend to any vehicle I have ever owned.

 

Lack of front mud flaps will make the problem much worse. It will allow snow to build up more heavily between the top of the frame and the bottom of the cab floor.

 

One time, at Band Camp, I was driving my Tacoma in the snow, and it was really cold, and it started making noises, and I couldn't understand why it would do that, and it was really loud, like someone had a snare drum under my foot, and so I took it to the Toyota dealer, and they were really nice, and they told me I should get my hair dryer outside, 'cause I have a 400W outlet thingy in my truck, and I could melt that icy thing, that thing making the noise like a snare drum, they were really nice, but that 400W thing it wouldn't work with my hair dryer, so I didn't worry anymore about it.

 

I don't even live in snow country......
I'm just here because of Wuzzy's avatar.....

 

So ice is getting INSIDE parts of the truck, and acting like a giant baby rattle. No big deal, right?

WRONG (at least for those of us who live in areas where they salt the roads)

Salt has to be getting in there as well, and it won't easily be rinsed out. I envision a lot of prematurely rotting Tacoma's.

Exactly what they need, ANOTHER rust issue...

 

I didn't even think about that.

 

I haven't had the ice issue yet but when i cut away the lower fender flare and plastic wheel well trim to clear my tires i found that this area was full of leaves and dirt with no way to escape. Now that i have it cut i can hose it out easily after wheeling or snow driving but its not cold enough here for i ice to build.its a bad design when crap that big can make it in there but can t get out.