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Fix for frame rust - replace it!

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Toyota recently announced a frame inspection program for owners of 2005-2008 Tacoma pickups living in states that tend to have heavily salted roads. There's no mileage limit. If the frame isn't in too bad shape, they'll treat it with some sort of rust proofing. If it has any serious rust issues, they replace it(!). They're doing this at no cost to the owners.

They inspected my 2005 pickup and are replacing the frame at the dealership. The new frame includes new rear springs & front suspension control arms. Unfortunately it takes 4-8 weeks to get a new frame and they insist on keeping the truck on their premises during the wait. (Apparently it's a liability concern, which is understandable).

They are providing free use of a similar truck, a 2015 Nissan - the dealer sells both - for the duration.

One concern was for all the minor clips & clamps, brake lines, etc that'll be involved but they assure me that Toyota ships a kit with each frame that includes all the necessary bits & pieces. I just hope they get everything aligned properly so the thing doesn't crab down the road.

I've talked w/ a few people who have had this done already. One had the rustproofing applied and, even for that, they removed the truck bed. Two had complete frame replacements & they're very happy with the results.

I'm impressed by Toyota's support here - these trucks are up to 10 years old - but really have to wonder why rust is such a problem on Toyota pickups since the late nineties.

We'll see. It'll be interesting to see if it feels like the same truck.
 
We did several of those while I was still at the Toyota dealer. They have been doing 98 and newer Tacomas, and all the first generation Tundras up to 05 for several years now. If you had a 96-98 Tacoma with a bad frame they were buying them back at %150 book value (yes, that's one hundred and fifty percent) and offering BIG discounts on a new Toyota. They had to do that because they no longer had the tooling for the older truck frames. I guess they have seen issues on the newer ones now. Glad to know they are still stepping up for their customers.
They do have the hardware pack for each truck. They don't leave any lines or things hanging. everything is secured just like it was from the factory.
 
I remember when the first Taco Ma's were bending frames when loaded, tailgates buckling when you stepped on them.
Made me happy in the knowledge I had banned any asian imports from my driveway.
 
HealeyRick said:
I'm not sure how altruistic Toyota is being here. The NHSTA was breathing down their necks: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/...r=PE09049&SearchType=QuickSearch&summary=true
Click to expand...
I never once maintained the illusion they were doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. The thing is, the big 3 trucks around here are just as rotten (You should see the flapping fendered, folding in half, rust bucket 02 Chevy at the end of my street) but I don't see Detroit giving a hoot. Nissans are terrible (Sold my 98 because the rear axle was about to fall off due to fist sized holes in the frame) but somehow they are not in NHSTAs crosshairs. I suspect Toyota is being a bit too successful for their own good.
 
I agree with Banjo here. I do wonder, though, what happened in the nineties? The earlier Toyota pickups were far more robust - my '88 had about 170000 miles on it when I gave it to my daughter. Her husband still uses it with about 300000 on it - it's had one clutch replacement, a head gasket, front wheel bearings, 2 mufflers, and some rust repair on the bed at about 250k miles. That truck is not an exception for that vintage Toyota.
 
My friend's '99 Taco has 250k miles and is going strong. Bed has a bit of rust but so far the frame is okay. They salt the roads here like McDonald's salts fries so he must have just gotten a good one. It's a great truck -- he's hoping for another 100k miles before he has to replace it, and I see no reason he won't make it.
 
John, my '01 Tacoma was re-framed at Berlin City in Portland. They REUSED every single rusted clip, bolt piece of rubber etc. They even glued in an O2 sensor in rather than chase some threads on a rusty stud and use a new $4 nut. I'm not kidding. I discovered that one on my back, in the snow last December after it blew out of it's hole. They reattached every bit of rusty, worn out peripheral stuff, rather than change it or even offer the option to buy any extra parts. A year later I got another recall notice for the rusted spare tire carrier. Which they replaced with a new one... Is that Toyota? Is that the dealership? I don't know.... All I know is, I'm glad I got the frame, but I wish I made out like my pal who surrendered 2 trucks when the buy back was $150%. He's the only one I know that really made out.

The whole thing is a real head-scratcher. On the one hand I'm glad Toyota stands behind the product. On the other hand, using decent steel and a coat of good paint was all they needed to do...I've had my share of frame rusted Fords and was S.O.L. with them.

The coat of paint on the new frames is a joke. Make sure you get the undercoated before you drive away... I think that's the only way to protect yourself in the future. Just my . 02...
 
Ouch. They glued it in? Unfortunately there's no choice here but to use a Toyota dealer and take your chances. Thanks for the info - I'll crawl under it as soon as I get it back and check things out.
 
Two years ago my next door neighbor took his '99 in for its yearly PA state inspection. The Toyota dealership wouldn't give it back because of "unsafe frame rust". Toyota paid him a fair price for the vehicle. Co-worker's very clean, low mileage, 2005 Tacoma just had its frame and its rear springs replaced (on Toyota's dime) because of the rust problems.

 
This thread is deffinately enough to make me decide to never buy a Toyota pick-up.
 
waltesefalcon said:
This thread is deffinately enough to make me decide to never buy a Toyota pick-up.
Click to expand...

And, waren't it the Toyotatas that had the uncontrolled runaway throttles that killed people? And tried to blame it in mats in the wrong position?
https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyo...dly-unintended-acceleration/story?id=22972214
$1.2 BILLION fine for covering it up.
Now this frame sheet....how long can this go on before whichever gummint is funding Toyotata decides to come to a full stop?
Dave
 
Funny. This thread actually got me looking for a Toyota truck. I know if it has a bad frame, I'll get a new one.
I was a Toyota tec during the whole pedal recall. The only "unintended acceleration" we EVER saw was from people stacking multiple ill-fitting floor mats on top of each other.
 
My pick-ups are both over fifty years old and still have solid frames. I don't think I want a pick-up that has these kind of rust issues after only a few years.
 
Well, as this is the Pub, and we're supposed to keep it light and non-controversial, I won't bring up the GM ignition switch debacle/cover-up.

OOPS - too late! :devilgrin:

Guys - for the record, we have two Toyotas. An '05 Tacoma. And yes, I received the recall notice regarding the floor mats, but didn't take it in as I'm pretty sure it's more operator error as Ben mentioned above. And we have a brand new, just-got-it-last-week-and-absolutely-love-it, Highlander. Our son and daughter-in-law have a Tundra and a Sienna. We've had several Toyotas and NEVER had any issues with them.

Bottom line? ALL manufacturers of ANY product are bound to run into production issues. The value/worth of the company is in how they handle those.
 
Internationals are EXCEPTIONALLY rare in N.Y. They were known for rust issues. So were AMC/Jeep (especially the trucks),any VW, Chevy LUV trucks , Early Toyota trucks (80s) were rusting on the lots right at the welded seam on the beds. Corvairs, Opal GTs, Pintos..... Everything rusts where I live. I even saw a Corvette with rust holes!!!!
I think the magic mix is the road salt and the temps that tend to swing just above and below the freezing point. Either way anything over three years old here will require a torch to have an alignment done, anything over 8 years old has no dust shields left behind the brakes, and the spare tire is never coming down again, at ten years it probably needs all new brake and fuel lines, the fuel tank leaks, the muffler fell off last year, and the fuel tank straps now have the strength of notebook paper. after 15 years you can install swamper tires without cutting the wheel wells open bigger, and you have to be careful that your ice scraper doesn't fall out the gap below the door where the rocker panel used to be. On the bright side, if you lock yourself out, you can pull the flapping door skin out at the bottom and reach up in there to pull the latch rod.
 
I had a car in Connecticut in the very early 70's. The Plymouth Dusters were new...we bought a 60 Shoveitorleaveit Biscayne....235, slip and slide PowerGlide...body rot to the window sills...floors gone (especially the rear seat foot wells). Hand painted "Ruster" on both front wings and below the deck lid.
Front set..nothing to bolt it to...hit the gas, wedged your knees under the wheel, hit the brakes, you were wearing the wheel.
Sheet of 3/4 ply and a bag of 3/8" carriage bolts. Cut it to fit on top and miss the tunnel, all the way back under the rear seat,, scraps underneath..drilled and bolted (the footwells were literally not there). The suspension and frame bolts were growing...looked like the hardware on a salt water pier. Last General Misunderstanding I'll ever own.

Oh...on the mats on the exciting Toypet, with features galore..176 of them, who could ask for more? After one of them killed an off duty cop and his family, and several crashes where the mats had been removed...well, a 1.2 billion dollar fine is generally NOT for operator error, folks.

Computer control in motor vehicles. What a crock. Oh' yes, let's just feed the throttle signal through the computer, and let it control the throttle body motor...yeah, that's the ticket...and maybe we can provide the means to have the local constabulary kill the car if it won't pull over at the same time.

Gimme a break...and not a limb.

Dave
 
Can you imagine if Triumph/MG/Austin Healey/Jag had done warranty or recall work on structural rust issues after ten years or so (yes I know that would have never happened back then, but the topic got me thinking about it). I lot of the cars were already pretty bad after ten years in the rust belt, would have save a lot of cars, but the British car industry would have gone belly up even sooner from the cost.
 
My 22 year old half ton Chevy has 251,000 miles on it, original 350 engine, never touched and the chassis is as strong as it was 22 years ago! And, unlike the new Fords, I don't have to pull the cab off the chassis just to change a head gasket! What a :stupid: idea! :disgust: .
Only thing this indicates to me is, if a new head gasket or anything to do with the heads, the truck will eventually end up at the dealer for repairs. Wonder what the labor would be on a job like that?
 
PAUL161 said:
My 22 year old half ton Chevy has 251,000 miles on it, original 350 engine, never touched and the chassis is as strong as it was 22 years ago! And, unlike the new Fords, I don't have to pull the cab off the chassis just to change a head gasket! What a :stupid: idea! :disgust: .
Only thing this indicates to me is, if a new head gasket or anything to do with the heads, the truck will eventually end up at the dealer for repairs. Wonder what the labor would be on a job like that?
Click to expand...

Maybe...but gawdhelpyou on older GeneralMisunderstanding vans.....thermactor....changing out plugs usually ended up in the ER to have your hands stitched up....pull the heads in the car? Oh, my.
 
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