owners with rusty frames: did you neglect your frame?

New member/owner here. Picked up a 2015 access cab SR5 a few months ago. Really happy with the truck.

Just curious as to the level of care given to the truck by those who have had serious rust issues over the years... I see a lot of threads on rusty trucks, and a lot of threads on preventing rust. The threads describing trucks with lots of rust rarely seem to touch with the owner did or didn't do, and I was hoping to get a little discussion on that going. Not going to be surprised if most of them turned out to completely neglect the truck, but I'm also curious to see how many owners made a real effort to mitigate any serious amount of rust, but still would up having to do something like a frame replacement.

 

I owned a 2001 Wrangler for six years before I bought my 2009 Tacoma in 2012, so I am very familiar with rust prevention. When I bought the Tacoma, the frame was in very reasonable condition for my area. In the three years I've owned the truck, I've been very diligent about cleaning the frame and undercarriage after wheeling and weekly (when possible) during the winter months. I also religiously spray rust preventer on the frame year 'round. However, rust is still winning the battle. My Tacoma frame now looks much worse than my 2001 Jeep, which has seen far more abuse off road and survived seven more ugly western PA winters.

Additionally, I have a buddy who's owned his 2007 Tacoma since it was new. He was not neglectful by any means, but Toyota recently replaced his frame due to rust.

I would get on the rust prevention like a democrat votes... early and often.

 

This is a dumb question because there should be no required maintenance on your frame. Not to be a dick... I live in MN king of the road salt, and no one talks about "maintaining" their frame. Should be a non issue. the body should rust out before the frame has problems.

 

Agreed, but unfortunately not the case with the Tacoma, which is why Toyota has been replacing their frames at no cost.

 

Yep i got my frame replaced but the truck is in mint shape in all other ways.... so definitely wasnt neglected. Always ran synthetic and the body and interior is spotless. Frame, not so much

 

Also i think that the 15's frames dont have the rust issue like the older tacos have... can anyone confirm this? This would mean that the OP wouldnt have to worry about his frame.

 

Toyota trucks been rusting forever especially in salty areas.
First it was the body seams welds, the bed boxes, now frames.
My pre-95 was never treated & frame is still good today (built in japan)
The body though is a rust mess - still on the darn road though (my friend bought it)
My 2006 I power washed religiously (live in VT) treated with fluid film.
I am sure who ever bought needs a frame replacement.
My 2013 I had undercoated before it drove off the lot. Looks pretty good so far.

 

Let me make this short.. your 2015 frame will rust to Shitz and nothing you can do about. You can slightly delayed but not much you can do about because how Toyota designed and build the frame.
I repainted mine, not once but three times. And I repainted my truck fram with stuff that cover bridges near the ocean.
Still got frame replaced.

 

i can confirm this. The 15's are only 1 year old. Joking aside, i read on here that the frames were changed in 08 or 09. So hopefully they are better. Im going to spray my frame with ff before winter.

 

Paging volcom!

 

My 2011 gets little rust bars where the welds from the cross members, etc are. Couple times a year, I power wash the frame take the rust off ( really minor surface rust but still) ospho prime and paint the spots. As well, I did the best I could to shoot undercut thru the holes in the boxed parts of the frame. Takes about 2 hrs 2 x per year, so no bug, plus allows me to inspect every visible inch under the truck, so no big. Enjoy your new rig!

 

The frame on my 2002 Tundra was loaded with rust but Toyota opted to just do the rust proofing on it. The underside of that truck looked horrible. I did nothing to prevent the rust. The welds on my 2014 FJ are starting to rust after just one winter of driving through snow and salt covered roads.

 

Yes I've taken care of my truck.
Yes I live in the rust belt.
Yes the taco's frames are shit.
Yes my frame rusted out.
Yes I now have a new frame.