Lucky Frames?

I'm trying to understand how lucky I got here. I have an 08 that's spent it's entire life in the upper Midwest. Parked mostly outside. I got the CRC TSB coating years ago fully knowing my frame was in good shape 10 years into it's life. But I just spent some quality time under my truck looking at the frame and she's still showing no ill-signs of real problematic rust.

So, yay, good for me. But I fully expected my frame to become an issue at some point...a point where I'd be SOL. I can't be the only one who surprisingly missed all of this frame debacle. Just doesn't make any sense to me.

 

Very few frames have failed in my region, but the ones that do fail are usually neglected and in terrible shape.

Ownership matters with frames in "light" regions.

Out east you really cant control it.

 

My personal observation tells me most northeasterners (prime area for the Tacoma and other Toyota rust issues) who have terrible rust on their frames consider it “normal” until they all the sudden get told by a dealer they are driving on genuine Swiss cheese. Then they get all up in arms about it and act shocked. At least those have been majority of the one-of posts on here regarding a rusted frame.

Fwiw I looked at a different model Toyota that lived a long life in Utah and that pos looked like it had been resurrected from the Mariana trench. It’s all about local conditions. If you see salty winters or sandy beaches frequently, you need to conduct preventive measures just like for any other vehicle. I don’t personally think Toyota’s frame coat is up to snuff compared to other manufacturers, but regardless, a rusted out frame is nothing but the lack of due diligence by the owner. Plenty of people who fluid film their vehicles on here every winter have spotless frames and live in some corrosive areas.

I have 2 vehicles, one model year apart, I bought used that lived their entire lives 20 miles from one another, exact same Toyota 120 frame. One is a pile of rusted shit, and the other is pristine, go figure.

 

I have an 08 that’s spent it’s whole life in Maine. It passed the frame inspection spring of last year.

 

Speaking of Second Gen frames, my neighbor is looking at a '15 with about 60K miles on it. He looked at it the other day at the dealer and thought it had a lot of rust. He then looked at my '19 and saw that the one he looked at didn't look much worse.

We were discussing that and I reminded him that Toyota is still replacing 2nd Gen frames. At least I think they are. The most recent experience I had was with my son's '05 which had the frame replaced about six years ago. Can anyone point me to a page with the details of what years Toyota is still covering?

 

There’s no luck here, it does require some effort. Northeast truck, 1/2 mile from ocean. Bought in dec 2014.

 

Make an account on the Toyota owner website and add your vin to your account. You can then look through Toyota’s records on the vehicle.

 

This ^ owners need to do their job and maintain their trucks,ALL vehicle brands will rust out if neglected.