Rusted Roof

The B52s were big when I was a kid, but I never wanted my truck to have a "tin roof, rusted". This is my 2007 DCSB that lives in dry, sunny Southern California. The rest of the paint is tolerable for a car built in the"eco-friendly" NUMMI plant (i.e. chips to primer all over the hood and sides, stains from bugs and primer from bird poop left on longer than a day), but this one center area of the roof is totally rusted out. My 69 Nova didn't even have this much rust, and my crappy Wrangler didn't have one spot when I sold it after 18 years.

 

have you ever done anything to protect it like sealants or wax?

 

that's really odd. My 08 has lived through multiple harsh Ohio winters, complete with healthy doses of road salt, and there's not a spot of rust on it.

 

Not all that uncommon in the southern part of the country.

 

It's pretty common for auto makers to not use "automotive exposed" galvanized steel for roofs. For the most part they have just been using cold rolled steel and counting on their paint to prevent oxidation. This might be a cost saving move, again, used by most manufacturers. But it could also be a safety issue as the cold rolled steel is likely stiffer. I also have some rusty spots on my roof. This is a sand and clean and Tremclad job for one weekend before winter.

 

I was actually waxing the roof of my truck today, wondering if it was normal for one to do so. I think I will continue waxing it. I've never seen a roof rust like that though and we see road salt for like 5 months of the year.

 

I wax it a few times a year. My issue is the hood, the rest of the roof outside this center strip and other horizontal surfaces are fine considering their age. I have never had rust like this is 30 years of driving in socal.

 

Are you the original owner? This may be way off base, but it doesn't look like normal wear and kind of looks like someone was hauling a wood plank on top of the roof, causing the paint to be removed.

 

here's how mine looked after 5 years in the texas sun

 

Does the UV from the sun break down the paint and is the black color more susceptible to UV/heat damage than other colors?

 

Mine started out with the clear coat breaking down first, and from there it started rusting. Im assuming the sun would be a little harder on darker colors like black and my green, but i couldnt say for sure. I also attribute the clear coat starting to break down from dew that is always on that portion of my roof in the mornings. i think thats how it all began.

 

I know for a fact white vehicles stay cooler in the sun than other colors. Would this ever happen to a white Tacoma?

 

My hood was also starting to do the same thing, near the very front by the grille at first. I had the hood and roof repainted though before it got much worse

 

Would a hood air deflector make any difference, as the airflow would be less and with less airflow = less friction on paint?

 

i doubt it would make any difference. Youd be better off keeping it washed and waxed if you want to try to prevent this from happening. And if it did end up happening, i would just get it repainted and tell them to put an extra coat of clear on it and your paint should last much longer.

 

Holy shit! That's crazy for a 5 year old truck.

 

I would suggest to Toyota that Tacomas sold in the south have an extra clear coat and the Northern Tacomas get an extra frame undercoat.

 

yeah it was pretty bad. it was to the point where the rust was starting to cause pitting. I also didnt have a garage to park it in though, so it was exposed to the elements for those five years.

 

I tell you one thing, I will take rust in that area all day long, as opposed to having perforations on my frame, which cause it to fail inspection and is basically a giant paperweight.

 

That is unacceptable for being 5 years old. I heard years ago Dodge Dakota trucks had paint peeling from their hood and think they were being repainted under a recall.