My 2007 has frame rust!!

Toyota won't do anything, they will offer spraying with their undercoat which in my dealership is some NAPA undercoat.
I opted out of that solution and instead went ahead and did the paint job on the frame. Two NE winters and its still black all around.
problem here is not enough paint and spraying undercoat only covers it. Funny part is even Toyota in its own body repair guidelines (old one I have) indicates bigger thickness o n the paint and more layers. So not sure what went wrong with the frame process and we end up with mediocre paint job.
You have two choices, paint it or leave it and hope for frame replacement which I am pretty sure is coming.

 

I'd rather have a rusty frame than a red frame

My 06 has a tiny bit of surface rust starting, expected in places like this where they use liquid calcium and rock salt on the roads for about 5 months of the year. It should have been undercoated the day it rolled off the lot. I picked up some zinc chromate primer and a cheap can of matte black rust paint for the small areas that need some coverage.

I think its a good idea on any vehicle that spends time on salted roads to pull out the inner fenders/mud flaps periodically and wash the area's down or else you end up getting rot fairly quickly.

 

The comment about painting it or rubberizing it is crap ! The frame should not be rusting , let alone this early. We are not taking about a little discoloration here, we are talking flaking, and scaling. I have it on My 2007. Just got it back from the dealer and they said it is normal. It is not " normal " My 94 with 200K showed no frame rust, ZERO !. My Jeep wrangler showed not rust either. This is a defect. I have not doubt this will lead to perforation.

If you have rust on your frame CONTACT TOYOTA ASAP so they become aware of the problem. If enough people raise the issue they will not be able to DENY IT !!!!!!!!!!

 

Put some POR-15 on it and be done with it.

 

It's absolute bullshit that we'd have to spray down our frames every few weeks, and constantly be retouching, repainting, wire brushing, undercoating, etc. But sure enough, AFTER I signed the contracts, a dealer rep came over to tell me I needed to wash my truck after every snowstorm to prevent corrosion. I live in the friggen mountains. Every storm? HA!

My wife has a 5 year old Subaru with 90k miles on it that lives outside, and gets washed maybe 6 times a year ... zero rust. The two Subarus before it ... zero rust. My 86 4Runner ... surface rust. Six months after buying my 2010, sure enough I was under it touching up the first surface rust. There's no excuse for shit frames. None at all. I love Toyota. I do. They're still the best small / midsize truck out there. But they need to get their act together.

 

Surface rust on these trucks seems typical.

Flaking is extreme and definitely a concern. My 2007 only has a tiny amount of surface rust in certain areas.

Time to get the drill or angle grinder out with a wire wheel and some paint.

 

If you live in the rust belt sh1t happens. Not one vehicle manufacturer is immune. You have to deal with it or move where you don't have the corrosive salt.

 

Crappy frames are the weak link of TOYOTA trucks...they simply aren't of very good quality, meaning they rust much faster than is reasonable. Paint touchup alone WON'T work to control rust, especially if you don't get all the rust off the frame first. The best bet seems to be to clean the frame well of dirt/salt/grease (soapy spray and rinse), use a rust converter to kill whatever rust you have (phosphoric acid base), prime it all well, paint it all well, then put a coat of decent rust protection (commercial or home potion) over the new paint as a barrier to salt/water. Repeat annually. A pain in the arse to do, but it's the only way to keep your frame alive in the snow/salt belt.