Can anyone tell me if this looks like Toyota's frame undercoating?

Hi guys,

I'm starting the project today of fixing my rusty frame and was looking for some help - I apologize since this has been covered before, but I wasn't able to find the info I needed in other threads.

So - I was in the middle of prepping to coat my frame with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator, and I noticed that there are some sections of my frame with a rubbery undercoating of some sort - not everywhere, just in sections (not much of anything in the middle part of my frame, but it's there on the outside of the C channel in the back and also there towards the front of my frame in places.

Could it be Toyota's undercoating that's just mostly worn off at this point? I had my local stealership take a look underneath and the tech said that it hadn't been coated by Toyota, but he only glanced underneath and I'm not sure I trust him. Nowhere in the PO's service records can I find any indication that it has been undercoated by Toyota, but I can't be sure of this.

Also - the truck was originally a Canadian truck, and lived its whole life in Calgary, AB before being imported into the U.S. and sold to me. Do the same frame replacement rules apply to Canadian trucks? Was the dealer undercoating an option in Canada?

I doubt it will affect anything regardless, as I don't have any holes in my frame, but it wouldn't hurt to get it checked out by Toyota just in case before my 15 years ends in December of this year.

Also - will it void my chances of getting a frame replacement all together if I coat it myself today? I'd like to start applying the rust encapsulator, but I don't want it to end my chances of getting a new frame.

So let me know what you guys think!

Inside of the frame - NO sign of any undercoating, or it's all worn off by now.


Outside of frame in places where I've scraped off part of the rubbery stuff.

 

it sort of looks like the goop they put on mine. but the fact there is no record of it being done could mean someone applied it themselves or had a professional shop do it.

as far as the warranty, hopefully a northerner will chime in

 

Only way to know for sure would be to call Toyota Corporate (not a dealer) and have them run your VIN to see if it was done

 

Thanks guys. For now, I think I'll go ahead with the prep and painting! I may give toyota corporate a call later and have them check. Like I said - no holes, but better to be safe than sorry

 

Same warranty for Canadians trucks. Mine was undercoated by Toyota but they replaced it last year due to intense rust holes.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone! So I just called Toyota corporate, and my truck was indeed sprayed back in 2009. So now my question is - is it free to get my truck inspected by a dealer? Or do I have to pay to do this? If it's free I might as well do it, but if not then I'm not sure, being that I'm 99.9% sure there aren't any holes (there are a few thinnish spots, however)

 

its free to get inspected. Just be courteous and make an appointment.

 

You should inspect it. They hit it with a hammer so maybe the thin spots will fail.

 

Will do. In that case it can't hurt to get it inspected!

 

That's good it was sprayed, if they inspect it and it fails it will qualify for a new frame (at least it should) through next year. Provided you haven't had sliders or anything else welded on to the frame that they could use as an excuse to void the warranty. Not sure that they would but I wouldn't put it past them.

 

Yep! The date of manufacture is December of '02 so it looks like I have until the end of this year. And nope, no sliders yet, so that shouldn't be a concern.

 

Well guys - I talked to my local dealership today, and the service lady on the phone was completely clueless, went "uhhh I'm pretty sure that expired a long time ago but I'll check," called me back an hour later, and said that "um, well, um, there is no time frame on any frame settlement currently and all I can do is direct you to our website if you want any more information"... so even after talking to the service techs she still had no idea what I was talking about or even referring to

So meanwhile, while I was waiting for a reply from the first dealership, I called a different dealer about an hour away, and they immediately knew what I was talking about and I now have an appointment for next week... so I'll keep you guys informed with what happens!

 

I recently purchased an 03 an noticed some superficial frame rust. I had it evaluated by 3 different non Toyota shops and none thought that it was significant. Nevertheless, my son and I have been under the vehicle doing some de-rustification ourselves. I did use the Eastwood internal frame rust encapsulator, and after much sanding and grinding have been spraying the Eastwood rubberized rust encapsulator on the rest of the frame. We are about 2/3 complete at this point. All that I had read about the 1st gen frame rust replacement program was that it expired in 2012. Where are you finding information about 15 year coverage for the frame? I would be very interested in that but doubt that my frame would qualify. I believe that I am the 3rd owner and only purchased it this past June. While there is superficial rust, the metal does not appear thin anywhere. Also, if it did qualify, I may have just voided that by doing my own anti-rust application. Anyhow, where can one find the information about the 15 year issue?

 

So basically, to qualify for a new frame you'd need to have had Toyota apply a rust-preventative undercoating in the past, and assuming this has been done, you then have 15 years from either the date of manufacture or the in-service date (I can't remember which) where you can bring the truck to Toyota for an inspection, and if they find any holes in your frame larger than 10mm, they will replace your frame with a brand new one. The 2012 date you are referring to was the deadline to have the truck undercoated by Toyota.

Check out these threads for more info:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/massive-frame-rust-crack-i-need-your-help.446948/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/first-gen-frame-rust.280080/

Hope that helps

 

Many thanks. I'm very curious as to how your situation gets resolved. I can't help but feel envious of those that were able to obtain a new frame; although I understand that some folks have dealt with very a lengthy process. Best of luck with your situation. I hope Toyota rises to the occasion.

 

Thanks man! Odds are, they won't find a hole, but the worst that can happen is they turn me down and I coat it with the Eastwood stuff I bought. I'll keep you updated.

 

So guys, I took my truck in today to have it inspected and, as expected, they found no holes. So it looks like in a week or two here I'll put on that Eastwood rust encapsulator - I was hoping to do it with the bed on, but it's looking like it'll be a lot easier if I just pull the bed off.

 

Quoting this for further research tomorrow morning.

Technically, I qualify for the lawsuit that just went through, but I only have a few months before that expires for me. However, I've had the undercoating applied already, so I'm wondering if I have and few more years before that warrantee expires.

Again, research for tomorrow morning.

 

I can't believe they found no holes .... I saw another member
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/matthewmay1s-build-thread.354786/

with way less rust and his frame got replaced last June. If you still have the time until December and you had open the case # with Toyota Corp. I will look another Toyota Dealer for a second inspection , second opinion because just by the pictures and the fact you were undercoated back on 2009 you should definitely get a new frame on their dime

The guys that did your inspect didn't seem interest on helping, they may have no experience doing it or whom knows why they declined this work or the help is just a matter of LUCK , some they get their new frame easy some don't, if the terms expire Dec 2017 I will tireless look for the frame replacement before any kind of DYI spray that will cover reality , that frame looks very advance rust but it just IMHO. ( in my humble opinion) ..... God luck ... let us know the outcome ...

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm not surprised that they found no holes though, since I have poked and prodded around everywhere underneath the truck and more solid than it looks in the pictures. It's also deceptive - I've seen pictures of trucks with pretty rusty frames that are okay, and pictures of trucks with near-perfect looking frames that have holes in them since they rust from the inside out. All of the dealerships within an hour's drive of where I live have very limited knowledge on the issue, probably because they aren't very familiar with the issue (at least with the first gens) and they don't seem like they've done any frame replacements in the past. I'm not in the rust belt, so most of the frames around here aren't as bad as the ones over to the east, even though they do use salt/chemicals on the roads here in the winter. And the rust encapsulator I'm applying isn't just some rattle can undercoating, it's a brush-on encapsulator that seals the rust in and prevents it from spreading, but is much heavier duty than the spray-ons (which I agree are crap).

Here's the link to what I'm using - it's gotten a lot of good reviews from people here on TW and I decided it would be better for my application than POR-15 so I'm giving it a try. It's $40 a quart BTW.

http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-black-rust-encapsulator-paint-over-rust.html