03 Failed Frame Inspection today:(

Well it's finally happen to me too. Just put new Bridgestone Revo 2's last week on my Tacoma and we noticed a penny size rust spot on the right rear frame wheel well.

Toyota confirmed it today, frame failed now the hole is about 1" round. They are telling me it's about a 6 to 7 month wait on the frames. I see many posts on this, but has anybody had good luck with the out come? no rattles, lose parts etc..

 

I had my frame replaced in November of last year. I had great luck. Nothing negative about the process other than the fact that it took 2 or 3 months from the time my frame failed to the time I finally got the call that they had the frame in. I got a rental for the week that my truck was in the shop.

 

I delayed having mine done because of the same concerns you have, but I finally had it done a couple years ago and have been nothing but happy with the whole process, no loose clips, squeaks or rattles. Don't be cheap, pay for any possible upgrades such as shocks, struts ,fuel filter and anything that you have been thinking about doing. Now is the time to get it done without paying for labor or having to do it yourself.

 

Where does the frame usually experience this problem? I've been under mine a lot and never noticed any rust like you describe. I have seen some surface rust here and there but i usually wire brush it and hit it with Rustoleum followed by undercoating. Guess I got lucky? Or is it because I live in the south?

 

Rust is one of those things that varies from case to case. I have seen many forums of holes near the leaf spring mounts, rear part of frame, and also frame splitting on the boxed part of the frame.

There isn't one place in particular that fails on these trucks, its more so how your truck stands up to the environment.

In my case, I live in the Northeast with lots of salt and I have all surface rust. My 03 truck has 140K on it, and I personally have inspected the frame with a hammer and found nothing wrong or concerning. For me, I am lucky because my truck is in great condition and I plan on repainting the frame in the next three weeks.

There are plenty of horror stories on this forum that will make you lose sleep at night if you have rust on your truck, but the most important thing is to be proactive!

 

Tjsingle26 I've been proactive with this but after this last winter here, the salt must have done the deed. My truck was treated by Toyota in 2010 , I cleaned and coated the frame after that. This started with rust the size of a penny on the rear wheel well. 03's are great trucks, be on the look out.

 

Oh for sure man, reading these type of forums freak me the hell out. The scary thing for me is, I am not covered by the warranty because the original owner didn't ever take it in to Toyota . But my frame would not have failed before 15 years IMO.

A couple of days ago I went under my truck and performed the frame inspection toyota does with a hammer and luckily I didn't find anything at all. I found some surface rust which is manageable. I looked in all the drain holes too, and there wasn't any inner rust in the frame rails. I just washed the entire underbody of the truck and got all the winter salt out. The worst spot on my frame is a section under the cab, but I took a screw driver to see if it was soft in the drain hole and it wouldn't budge. Made a metallic sound, so I am happy that everything is nice and solid.

In three weeks I will be painting my entire frame.