Frame rust, dealership shenans, and Saf-T-Cap install

The Noxudol application was a joke when mine was done late 2017, I don't think there was ANY frame prep before they sprayed. Ended up with a frame swap a year later. Fluid Film every fall since.
Sorry to read the whole story. Very surprised about the "no hammer marks" because mine was hit with a pointy hammer to find the hole in the cab mount.

 

In my case the coating def killed my truck. If I had started caring for it properly instead of thinking the TSB treatment would actually do anything, it would have been GTG. By the time I figured it out, it was too late and the coating had been brining my truck with yueg pockets under the improperly applied coating. It was way worse than nothing. I'm just glad I caught it early enough to make a long term difference - by the time a lot of guys realize it, the truck is out of frame coverage and not savable.

 

Not sure off my head if they did any prep on mine come to think of it. When I found the holes in mine this April I showed the service rep upon arriving, they were visible just by kneeling on the passenger side..in hopes of saving them from having to pick it up in that shape.

Not sure, mine probably was doomed regardless living outside etc. Though I'm not minding one little bit of course.

 

I don't know if the treatment made it worse (probably did) but it certainly didn't do any good. According to the dealer, the town didn't let them set up a spray booth so they had outsource the treatment to local body shop. When I stopped by the shop the morning that my truck got sprayed it was still sitting outside, in the cold (December) with all the salt and crap covering the frame. Along with a few other Tacomas. I don't believe they got the frame properly cleaned to spray that day.

 

What dealer did you go to?

I went to Copeland in Brockton..though I'm in no way blaming them, they've always been great to deal with regardless the type of transaction.

 

Bernardi in Framingham. They where fine to work with on the frame swap, didn't give me any problems with the aftermarket bumpers and worked with me on doing secondary work while the truck was apart.
But I had a few other disappointing experiences with them though.

 

Question - where does Toyota state that they will grind off or remove rust before applying the CRC coating? I was under the impression all they do is clean and dry the undercarriage before applying it. I agree that it’s detrimental the way they go about it but that doesn’t mean they did something wrong legally or owe you something

 

In the TSB that contains all of the instructions for the dealership to follow when completing the procedure are very detailed instructions regarding rust removal prior to application of the Noxudol. It states clearly and several times that all.loose rust must be removed, and it even outlines what air and power tools are appropriate for the job.

Toyota pays the dealership to complete that procedure as written in the TSB. Dealers skip the labor and halfass it to pocket the money, and Toyota doesn't care to pursue the matter, because as long as the frame passes inspection within the window (with the inspections getting more and more halfass as time goes on - dealers in heavy salt states are no longer even permitted to scuff or pick at the frames, let alone hammer them), Toyota is off the hook.

 

I've yet to have a bad one with Copeland..minor one getting a sticker, though to be fair it was right when the new process started and the rep even agreed with me personally on the pass/fail (no middle seat belt) but the RMV was being so strict already that any grey area had to be a fail. That said I don't usually do service there unless it's a recall or something similar.

 

Getting mine done in two weeks and wondering do they treat the outside of the frame as well or just the inside

 

Just the inside.

 

Don’t know when the hammer test ended but that’s what was done to mine. I watched. Got a new frame out of it.

 

I got the white wax coating. They actually called it wax on the invoice. This is different than the black goop?

 

Mine had 2 holes visible by crouching down on the passenger side, one on the bottom and one on the outside that caved in under my 2 fingers of pressure to 1x2 inches. No need for a hammer. IDK if there was more under it elsewhere, once they can establish one spot that meets the criteria they stop.

Yes, mine got the black coating. In my album you can see some of it in the April 2021 pictures still.