rusting frame 2017 campaign

All trucks rust

 

No, they don't. I have a 23 year old Ram that has no rust, and I drive it on salty roads in the winter.

 

Sounds like a total disaster.

The truth: don’t trust non-experts to prevent your truck’s frame from rusting.

The definition of a non-expert: Toyota Motor Corporation

 

Same with Fords. Toyota’s only rust because Toyota purposely cheaps out on their frame coatings. They’ve been doing the same nonsense for decades. They know what they are up to. The science of corrosion and anti-corrosion coatings is well understood. Toyota chooses to not do the things they should do, likely to keep costs down, or speed up production.

Fords don’t suffer this problem.

 

You just gotta take ownership of the issue. Wash you frame and fluid film it a couple times a year. It’s the price you pay for owning a Toyota truck.

The New Ranger is more money, but has a rust-free E-Coated frame.

 

Undercoat every year and your golden ! I live on an Island surrounded by salt water. My truck gets undercoated more than the oil gets changed

 

Rubber undercoat or oil based?

 

The RAV4 is amazing, she loves it. Got the “Adventure” model, which I don’t know how adventurous it is really but it’s a fucking nice vehicle and super super safe. Most important she adores it and If she’s happy, I’m happy...

 

You would have thought they would have figured this out a long time ago. My old school Tacoma's frame was as sound seventeen years after I bought as it was the day I sold it. It seems it was the second gen going forward is when they started cutting corners. A two year old truck and the purchaser is expected to be doing major restorative work? No other Company of any product would be in business long.

 

Yeah, it's really a shame. I guess I just don't understand how a company, renowned for quality, could allow something so substandard for so long. I've now been trying to search to find out if the 5th gen 4Runners which are made in Japan have rusty frames. If not, I think I'll just go with one of those over the Tacoma.

 

Oil, always oil. Same with my 07, it qualified for the recall but underneath all the slime it still looked brand new so they wouldn’t replace it .

 

Do you keep it washed off or ever spray any protection on it?

 

I guess I should have more accurately said all trucks can rust

 

Toyota is the lamest when it comes to coating their truck frames:

Ford = E-coated
Dodge = E-coated
GM = Paint plus hot-wax-dip
Toyota = Just paint (that isn’t even properly applied - rust spots and welds showing through right on the dealer’s lot)

I don’t know at what level of their corporate structure they decided to do the absolute minimum for frame paint, but it’s a shame. They really, deliberately screw us on this detail when it comes to a Tacoma. It’s kind of unethical, especially after decades of it being a major problem for people.

They offer these band-aid solutions, but nothing beats properly coating the frame before you assemble a truck on top of it. That’s the missing step at Toyota. Even GM is trying slightly harder.

 

If they made it seem like they were doing you a favor, my guess is they were not. The instruction is to inspect the frame, if significant deficiencies exist, they must replace frame, although I don't know what the specific threshold is. If no significant rust/no rust at all, then the frame gets treated. Not really their option to do it or not, according to the letter anyway.

 

wut? You must have totally missed the class action lawsuit and buyback that started with the 01-04 models. Does anyone want to guess why you hardly see any 1st gens out on the road anymore? 05-06 apparently was still the timeframe where Dana was coating frames, and then sometime later this process apparently changed but doesn’t seem like any improvement was made.

4Runner is the exact same story. People think because it was made over in Japan that it is somehow immune to these rust issues. Can’t be more far from the truth. Go look at NHTSA on any of these and see the rust complaints. Are they as high as Tacoma’s? No, but still. If you want any of the body on frame Toyota’s to last you need to coat them with rust preventative and rinse during the winter when you can, bottom line, and you won’t have an issue.

 

If the vehicle is included in the letter, it will get a treatment, rust or not. The qualification I think you refer to is frame replacement. According to the service department I use, the material they will use will be different from what has been used in the past as well.

 

But yet, here you are.....

 

4Runners also have no corrosion proofing on their frames and crap frame paint as well. It’s a corporate level decision at Toyota to short-change us on good frame paint on trucks only.

My wife’s Camry, with no special treatment by us, has zero underbody rust after 5 years on the road. Much more care was taken with the underbody coating on the Camry. Granted it has no frame, but even the a-arms, spindles, and mounting brackets under the car are still rust free.

 

Not true. Treatment only available if it has evidence of pending frame rot.
Only caveat is, if you have a great relationship with your dealer they may hook you up if your truck is listed.