Friendly reminder to clean...

This spot. For all those hat haven’t removed the plastic wheel well walls- peel back the seal on your forward door jambs and get all that crap out.. I upgraded to this truck in October, and I don’t believe the previous owner ever did this. Picture included was maybe half of all the stuff collected in there... That’s virtually rust in the making. Luckily is was still dry.. somehow.



What are some other often-overlooked places to clean on your Tacoma? Nooks and crannies that are missed on the casual wash?

 

So much crap collects in that spot. I clean mine out a couple times a year and have had to do a little rust repair.

 

Great post, Hyper. Didn't even know about that panel.

 

Fender liners are always good to check if you've been parked under trees long term. This may be an extreme example but it doesn't hurt to do this at least once if you bought your truck used. Especially if you have any odd odors, I pulled all the old carpet out replaced it with rubber flooring and deep cleaned the floor pans. Amazing how much mud, loose change, and crusty coffee the previous owner got under the carpets.


Little example of what the entire floor pan looked like before cleaning.


Cleaned up nice with very little rust.



You'd be surprised how nasty it is under the center console.

 

I had an ant issue one and this is where the nest was.

 

Dang.. Sure that wasnt a rodent nest? Ive poked in there a few times to spray Fluid Film and dont think Ive ever found more than a few leaves here and there.

Another good one to check is under the rear bumper cover, below the plate. A decent amount of rust hangs out in there and its really hard to get to normally. Same for the entire rear bumper area in general I suppose.. Collects a lot of mud and dust off road

 

Thanks! This is a very good idea.

 

I can't quite figure out what I'm looking at here. Where is this stuff collecting?

 

Found an alarming amount of composting leaves behind the front inner fender liner on both sides.

 

Oh that puts it into perspective much better. Thanks, I'll have to check mine.

 

I'd especially worry about any drains (if the Taco even has them)

passengers cars usually do. Holes in the body metal designed as a pathway water follows with gravity to drain out through the bottom of the car. Works well when new. Find different places on a car and pour water (kind of like rain) and watch it find a way out down through the bottom, sometimes via holes.
Sometimes those holes have a rubber grommet and are recommended maintenance to do things like clean out with a bent metal coat hanger, test for water flowing through it successfully, etc.
(often neglected)
at 100k mi, those drains fill up with leaves left to accumulate. Which prevents the water from draining. It can sit there causing rust. Or flow into other places it shouldn't, like leaking into interior.

 

Agreed. Especially the sunroof drains which are usually not even considered yet they are probably the most important drains to keep clear. If not it can cause water to infiltrate the cabin and allow mold to form. I did a detail on a vehicle where the carpets were literally soaked and they couldn't figure out why. Sure enough the drain holes on both sides of the drain channels were jam packed with debris.

 

Got any pictures, or links to the rubber flooring you used?

 

Yes I get junk accumulation there too, more than any other place (that I know of) on my truck.

 

Oh yeah man- thanks for that clarity. Good pic!

 

These are the only pics I have of my rubber flooring at the moment. I can take more pics later. It's actually an OEM Toyota part. I don't know which model year Tacomas were shipped with the option for rubber floors but I would take it everyday over carpet.

 

I did this when I first bought my truck, definitely have to do it again. It sounds like there's an acorn or something rolling around in there too.

 

do you access the liner flap from the angle of the photo, looking forward?
or do you mean looking rear, at back of wheel well area? i need to do this for sure