Frame rust recall

In regards to your 08 Tacoma, please do not give up. You still have time to take it in again. Best wishes!

 

You have until July and have to do something to either keep it or make the decision to get rid of it while you can.
I did my time on maintaining my frame and failed luckily.
Not sure what or how but mine looked like a missing weld?

The rest of my frame looked pretty good, I thought I’d done good and lucked out on my spot.
I visited a few times while the swap was being done and took some pics.
A few of the old frame to see where I was lacking on protection.
Seems the gas tank location was lacking and hard to get at or see.
I encourage everyone to try and good a good look at this area.
This pic of my frame ontop of someone else’s.
Pretty sure it may be an area to look at seeing how I’ve worked hard on mine for the last 6yrs.

Hoping this helps another taco carry on!

 

Thanks for the post Jeffch. Where was this spot on your fram. It is a spot I may not have checked yet if it is hard to get too. I am really hoping that I can find something before my 07 is out of warranty. I dont mind taking a few days and working on my frame but I would love a new one if possible.

 

My 2006 was undercoated with CRC in 2014 and is holding up well. I have been using Fluid Film over the CRC every fall since 2014 and the FF seems to soften the CRC, so IMO I would just coat over the CRC. What the coating of FF does is deprive the frame of oxygen which is needed for rust thrive and expand.

 

Apparently the company, Dana?, Toyota subbed out the frame manufacturing to skimped on the painting process on the early 2nd gens, 05-10, and here we are 7-10yrs later with holes and or broken frames. It's especially bad in areas where salt is liberally used in the winter.

 

Tl;dr

Since my in service date is 11/12/05, it seems I'm too late for any course of action. However I keep reading 1/31/19 as the end date but it seems to just be hearsay. Is there any documentation out there from Toyota that lists Jan 31st 2019 as the end date for those that are older than 12yrs?



Not sure if it's been discussed in the 166 pages already so I'll ask anyway. Has Toyota released terms of the inspection that they could/would disqualfy a truck for certain reasons? I know if it has a salvage or branded title they won't honor it even if it's failing.

I'm curious because I've had my truck previously inspected ~2yrs ago when I didn't have sliders welded on to the frame, or a shackle flip that required the removal of the stock shackle hanger and drilling a hole in the frame to install. I have a feeling that when the tech looks at my truck and sees the sliders welded they'll automatically stop and note on my Vin it is exempt due to frame modifications. I could see them saying that the welding process caused the fatigue or accelerated the problem.

Also, is the CRC required to be applied if the frame is deemed to be satisfactory, or? The dealer that inspected my truck, didn't apply the credit and made no mention of the undercoating, just that it's passed. I think Washington state was one of the areas added at the end for coverage and it's possible the dealer I went to didn't have the technology to perform the process.

I've noticed some flaking around the spare tire area and the frame overall appears to have superficial surface rust. I definitely don't have any noticeable defects around the cat converter area, and short of attempting to pound a hole in the frame myself, don't see anything serious.

I'd consider getting another inspection, probably at a different dealer and if I've interpreted it correctly, I'm allowed to have it reinspected annually with in a certain time limit, for signs of symptoms that would qualify the frame to be replaced. Just worried about the welded sliders.

 

1st pic is front cross member the round piece showing is the tie down front drivers side.


2nd pic frames are upside down but frame above the tank is delaminated.
I don’t think it would had been noticed left to Toyota.

I also had some areas above spare tire I’d been watching for some time.
I don’t carry my spare there so it’s easier to get at.

I kinda threw in the towel on maintaining the frame when the class action suit was won so my frame hadn’t had much done to it by me since then.

 

Hope your frame actually is good. Do it before July and check for perforations (I found my frame fail) after it passed, albeit a couple years earlier.
Good Luck

 

Yes welding on the frame can void it pending dealer.
I asked my dealer about the rebuilt stuff and if there was a bought by date?
I thought I’d read that somewhere.
My dealer said as long as it’s registered to a private owner.
I don’t think there is any limit to the inspections.

 

Well I guess I just need to call and see what they say regarding my truck being eligible with the time frame.

Also, I noticed on Toyotas internal zh6 wep bulletin, they only inspect certain areas of the frame for failure.
The way it's worded in the courts final approval states: pg 5 line 6; "With respect to all Subject Vehicles, “if
any perforation in the frame is found to be 10 mm or larger, then the frame will be replaced, ". So it's not necessarily the areas oulined in the bulletin, but rather the whole frame including cross members that may contain ANY perforation to be eligible?

The copy I found of the bulletin detailing areas to test is in b&w, so the black areas of the should be green.

Pg 4 line 23 of the final approval states "
Salvaged vehicles or vehicles with titles marked flood-damaged are not eligible for this
benefit. (See Dkt. 91, Settlement Agreement at § III.A.1; id. at § II.A.34" which I'm not worried about since my title is clean.

 

Thank you for your input robssol. I already have another inspection scheduled for June. I plan on removing the bed and the spare tire and scraping all the undercoat off my frame just before the inspection date so if there is any chance of a hole I will find it. It will be a lot of work on a frame that might get junked but it will be worth it to me if I get a new frame out of the deal. If there is no hole to be found then I would have to do it anyways.

 

With my new frame, its covered in maybe 3-4 huge white stickers. Has anyone peeled theirs off? They're an eyesore without side steps and even in the wheel well.

 

Lol, no. I would like to have a faulty design fixed. The oil usage problem (1 qt in 1000 mi) shows up around 80k mi. My Rav is low mileage, so it's not burning enough yet. Seems like I'm being penalized for trying to take care of the car.

 

No matter the mileage, the vehicle is 11 years old, so that ain't happening.

 

@Jeffch Hi Jeff! Tomorrow is the day I take the truck in! I'll be posting tomorrow as what they tell me. I hope I can sleep tonight. : )

 

You should be good!
I’ll watch for you!

 

@Jeffch My appt is at noon my time. Fingers crossed and cannot thank you enough.

 

No thanks needed!
Glad to help out by sharing my experiences!!

Also remember they may want you to leave the truck there.
Pretty sure the suit only provides a loaner for the week of the frame swap.
My dealer gave me the choice to keep it until the time of the swap.
And I did.

 

Bingo. Driver and passenger side where the rear cats sit. Frame inspection scheduled for next Saturday.

 

I believe that the duration of the loaner depends on whether your truck is deemed unsafe or not. My truck had a frame like swiss cheese, and there was no way they were going to let me drive it out of the dealership. They put me in a loaner (brand new top of the line Taco) for 2 1/2 months.

I have no idea what the criteria might be for 'safe' vs. 'unsafe', and presumably it's up to the individual dealership to make that call. I must say, it was fun driving around in what I called my 'Cadillac Taco' for a while, but I was real glad to get my truck back...