Tacoma Frame

2012 Tacoma 2.7L 5 speed. Picked it up about 4 weeks ago only 52,000 miles. I have read online that the 2006-2010 were the “worst” when it came to frame rust/damage. While inspecting this one I couldn’t tell if the frame had been painted or not. If it has been it looks professional because there is no overspray anywhere could someone tell me if it looks like it’s been painted and if it has is this bad? Thanks.

 

It doesn’t look painted. You got a great undercarriage there just protect it with a coating and enjoy

 

Thank you! It came from Montana so it was worrisome but I also live in western North Carolina so we get salt and snow here. My only worry about getting a Tacoma was the rust stories as the motors and transmissions last forever in these things if we’ll maintained.

 

Definitely a recalled and replaced frame, nice pickup OP.

 

How can you tell if it was recalled or replaced, just curious? And thanks it’s 4x4 as well 52,000 miles got it for 20k which I couldn’t pass up as I’ve seen some with 300k miles for close to 15k.

 

10 year old truck from a rust belt state without a spec of rust on it? Its definitely a new frame, I'm sure you could call a dealer to know for certain.

 

get a couple of can of this, and spray the inside of the boxed in parts of the frame. It will keep it from rusting from the inside out.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-i...lt|e&msclkid=a09c9232b22814da0f80f0e36f5b8f6b

show us some pics of the Truck.

 

That's definitely not a new frame. That's been painted with a satin or semi gloss paint, just a somewhat decent job. That fill bolts, misc bolts, and u-bolts are not supposed to be black. Can see some flakes of rust they painted over on the rear diff. Also the welds on new frames would show a little bit of rust by now if it was replaced due to the way its made. It could even be POR15, they make a satin black I believe.

 

You can see the rust under the paint.

 

I can see in some spots some rust but I wasn’t sure as most frame DIY jobs most people don’t cover things they just spray and there is zero overspray underneath I figured if it was painted it was done professionally or very carefully. If it is just a paint over is that a bad thing? Thanks.

 

@dwilliams81 - welcome to TW , good straight forward questions about your Taco . Enjoy the truck and site .

 

Should be good for years to come. Get a frame inspection at a Toyota dealer before the year is over.

 

This will tell you. You'll need to create an account (free and easy) enter the VIN and it will show all the service records done on it by Toyota.

https://account.toyota.com/XUI/?realm=/toyota&goto=https://account.toyota.com/api/oauth2/realms/root/realms/toyota/authorize?client_id=ToyotaWeb&response_type=code&scope=openid%20profile&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.toyota.com%2Fowners%2Ffederate-identity&code_challenge=oqvIx60HUr6eadDGwrq7evY8rrkfnQ9T7wJ0pJF_aVY&code_challenge_method=S256&state=L293bmVycw%3D%3D&response_mode=query#login/

 

I checked the website no indication of a frame recall this was all that had been done according to the website. Should I be worried about the frame health? Thanks.

 

It's definitely been painted. Did you purchase the truck from a private owner, Toyota dealer, random used car dealer, or...?

 

I purchased from just a used dealership not Toyota affiliated. I just had the rotors turned and brakes cleaned they didn’t say anything good or bad about the frame. I’m taking it back in for warranty work on the catalytic converter once parts come in I’ll ask about a frame inspection too.

 

That frame looks pretty good. Can you get some pics inside the frame rails near the catalytic converters? I don't think you have anything to worry about. Just treat it with some Fluid Film or something similar every couple of years and you should be fine for a long time.

 

Here is the pics first 3 will be passenger side near cats others will be of driver side frame rails. I See dust not too much rust.

 

No matter what you do the welds will look rusty When I treat my frame I wire brush the welds and paint them next year the welds are rusty again no big deal but I all was wondered why. Mine is a 2011 and there is definitely a difference in the frame construction. I live in an area of snow and salt (Maine) and my frame is still black like that but it gets treated every year since new. Nice part I own a lift that really helps.

 

So far it appears to be the original frame, plus it looks like you don't have the big frame plugs for the openings by the cat sections which all the new replacement frames come with. The other thing would be the ID stickers on the exterior side of the new frames similar to the ones shown in the post.

That being said, so far from what you've shown it looks pretty good, or at least it doesn't appear like there was major rust cratering going on that they were trying to conceal with paint.