Question about this frame plug....

Hi

I did a little clean up of the frame before the annual rust proofing and i found something weird going on.

When i bought the truck it had the CRC recall done maybe a year before. The inside of the boxed section near the cat each side is covered by a white goo (i think Nox-Rust) and the outside of the frame got the black stuff. There 2 plug (1 each side) near the front door under the frame they are glued with some sticky felt and they are not square like someone cut something of the plug before installing them.

When removing some sand and stuff in the frame channel. I found some water dripping from the plug (picture attached) It's a mixture of rustproofing stuff and water. It seem for now that the water is stuck in the felt/glue of the plug when it rain. The black CRC was cleaned around the plug because it's a lift point so i assume the crc was sealing the plug outside too and with time the felt/glue started to keep the rain water splashed on it.

I think the plug number is 90950-01A24. Mine have the tab cut so it's now flush with the frame...

Can anyone who got the CRC with the white goo in the front section can post a picture of this area. I don't know if this part should be sealed or not. I tried to move the plug and it's not glued in the Nox-Rust inside, only the felt/glue keep the plug on the frame.

I don't see anything about this on the 2nd gen. The 3rd gen have these plug factory installed... So it is an afterthought? a result of the recall or someone broke both plug and had the idea of gluing them on the frame to save the day ??

 

I looked at pic of your part number

I believe you should remove both plugs and replace with new

Those plug help prevent stuff getting in. While allowing moisture to escape

What you have doesn't

 

I ordered 5 new plug today. Friday i will remove them and check. It's it was done 2 year ago when getting the CRC i hope the white goo did is job keeping the water/moisture reaching the frame. The frame sound good everywhere with a hammer and looking inside where the frame is boxed i can tell that the goo seem intact and there maybe 1/8 inch of rustproofing sitting on top of it. I can scrub the redish color near the plug, it seem to be some mix between dirty rustproofing sand water and crc (tar like) no doubt there some surface rust there but i think i caught it it at the beginning.

Not a bad place to do repair, i there no water inside and it's only the felt i will blast it with rustproofing to clean the rust and remove moisture, install the new plug and keep an eye on it till i do some paint work.

 

I got the plug last week.

It was easy to remove the old one. I was surprised how the white goo was still soft. No damage and no water inside. Lucky to catch that early. The felt/glue was keeping the water around the plug. I bought the truck like that in 2021 never seeing the problem. I know the truck got the goo in January 2020 so the plug was installed at this date. Someone tried to save the day gluing them on the frame....

I cleaned and sprayed some T-40 from Krown around the hole each side. With the new plug installed i will monitor to see if the goo stay in the channel in case some will drop in the plug after a while.

The plug 90950-01A24 is installed when doing the CRC frame application for the 2011-2015 Limited service campaign.

 

If you haven't done so already I'd add an extension to the AC moisture drain so it goes around the frame. The Tacoma engineers have this drain exit so the AC moisture drips onto the top of the frame.

 

It's the first thing i did when i got the truck last year. I saw many post talking about that so it was officialy my first mod. I got 6 feet of quality tubing and routed the tubing near the brake spiral, enter the first hole in the frame where the crossmember start and exit between the crossmember and the lower tab camber/bolt. The tube exit maybe 1 inch so i'm sure the drip will not splash the crossmember. The other side is slided on the existing drain tube and a clamp is tighted near the firewall to keep the inside round and use the exit of the firewall to secure the tube.

 

I hate to see how you keep rain water off the frame.

 

Being my frame is coated in rust-preventative products inside and out I don't see rainwater as much of an issue. I live in the rust belt where road chemicals are used and find these of a larger concern than rainwater.
In some climates, I can see the moisture from constant AC use as more of a problem. And once the moisture trickles down into all the little crevices Toyota provides with over-lapping plates and brackets in these frames rust is a sure thing. Adding an extension is just a preventive peace of mind measure.