Do new 4runner frames have rust problems?

Good point, the boxed issue was just an assumption on my part, looks like I could be incorrect. I've never hosed out my frame, so I've never noticed the water coming out of it.

 

True, it has at least 3 or 4 drainage holes at the very bottom of the frame and the way the 4runner front end sits on a downward slope, when we use the brakes I'm sure water will come draining out. I did end up spraying surface shield all over the frame and undercarriage (not the exaust). I have some woolwax spray cans with the 24" wand on order, to get inside the frame. Should be good to go. It hasn't snowed yet so I'm still good

 

I don’t think most manufacturers care what happens to their vehicles five or six years after they are sold.

I don’t think Toyota learned a damn thing from the frame replacement debacle with the Tacomas.

Your anti-corrosion warranty isn’t worth the paper it is printed on.

You can smear of vast array of expensive treatments on the frame, this will definitely improve its cosmetic appearance over the years, but it may or may not help with “rusting through.”

Your best chance at having a long lived Toyota is to live somewhere where cars and trucks don’t rust.

 

My woolwax application was probably less than 100 bucks in materials. Of course my time spraying every nook and cranney has some value too, but I file that under “hobby”. Cosmetically it looks like crap under there, but I have high hopes my 4runner wont die from a rusted frame.

Agree with all your other thoughts!

 

It’s worth spraying inside just to get a visual on all the places water drains out. I park on a bit of an incline, then spray my hose on “jet” into any little hole in the frame on the high side (relating to incline) It will flow all the way to the rear wheel well where it turns upward. The I spray inside at the top of the frame at the wheel well, and try to get it to flow fowards and back to the bumper. I also spend some time spraying the crossmembers.

probably overkill, but probably not. I’ve got the insides woolwaxed, but im just trying to avoid any blockages with all the crap I drive through off roading

 

It's not just toyota frames that rust. The liquid brine that they put on roads up here in northeast for the winter is nasty stuff. I have always sprayed my frames with a little oil but now use CRC rust inhibitor. Look it up. I have never had a problem. Fluid film is okay too.

 

Are 5th gens worse than 4th gens?

My '03 was never undercoated. I ran it through a touchless automatic every 2 weeks or so the entire time I had it. The frame was rock solid after 15 years and 257K miles. This is in Wisconsin.

I haven't seen any threads or heard of a 5th gen rusting out.

I'm not saying that it shouldn't be taken care of. I just am not aware of any rust issues like the Tacomas have.

 

If you look at the SDS sheets, they're all basically the same stuff with 1-10% of additional things like lanolin and woolwax (surface shield has both). I dunno that I want to coat my frame in naptha, which is what you're doing. I guess it works if you guys say so.

 

I’ve seen a bunch in New England, Maritime provinces, and Hawaii that are completely rusted to shit.

 

I wonder if it's just people who don't take care of them at all. I had rust on suspension components, but the frame was in pretty good shape.

Obviously it's not as bad as the Tacomas, otherwise half of us would be on our second frame.

 

No, I think Toyotas are just prone to rusting.

I think whatever formula of steel they use in the frame is susceptible to corrosion and they don’t take the necessary steps to prevent it.

The worst rust appears to be in the main frame rails, front crossmembers and subframe, and also the radiator mount.

I don’t even know what is considered to be taking care of a vehicle in winter? To me it means running through a car wash at least once a week if there are salt conditions and making sure to wash the underbody.

I don’t think it should be expected that end users should have to religiously apply rust proofing to the underbody.

 

That's what many folks think, and it is incorrect. It's not the type of steel they use because it's the same type(s) of steel everybody uses. It's the finishing processes they use. The surface preparation and painting processes just aren't providing the levels of corrosion resistance some of us need. And notice that I said, "some of us." If you don't live near salt water or where they use road salt and / or other corrosive chemicals, there is not corrosion problem.

 

I think it’s basic common sense to make a vehicle resistant to the climate and road conditions of the market it’s being sold in.

 

I fully agree!

I wonder if the regular washing and undercarriage flush was just enough to keep mine from getting bad. Heck, I did CV axles at around 240K and was able to get most of the bolts out with a cordless 3/8" impact.

 

Let me phrase it a different way then. Well over 95% of T4R's have zero corrosion issues due to where they're sold. Apparently, the additional cost of better (more corrosion resistant) finishing processes on all T4R's is too hard to justify when only a few have issues. This is a common design / engineering / manufacturing problem.

 

Where are you getting this 95% figure from?

Everyone I see in salt conditions has surface rust at least, which may simply be a cosmetic issue, but even mine with minimal rust had the front lower control arm bolts and sleeves completely rusted into place at 90k.

Far more than 5% are exposed to road salt throughout their life. otherwise, there wouldn’t be such high demand for vehicles from the Deep South, desert, and non-mountainous/non-coastal California.

 

How much time and money do you think your weekly car wash visits cost? My 80 bucks and 2 hours time in November means I don’t have to wash my truck every week, and I have seen enough evidence that my methods are working. Is it perfect, nope, but good enough I was told by a service advisor if I continue to take care of my frame, they will not be able to replace it as it will clearly last past Toyota’s time line.

 

Most car washes in Colorado are on a subscription service, 30-40 bucks a month.

Even if you have an undercoating, you still have to wash the truck.

 

95% was a somewhat unscientific guess. What percentage do you think it is? Hint: It can't be all that large or Toyota would have to do something different with their finishing specifications. Just look at how many Tacoma (and Tundra) frames they've replaced at over $10,000 a pop. They must be making all that (and more) back someplace else.

As a point of reference, a good friend of mine is a hopeless Ford (Super Duty) truck fan and absolutely will not drive anything else. This is not to say that he hasn't had any problems with his fleet. He actually talked to an engineer from the mother ship once about some of the corrosion problems he'd been having. (Nothing major, just pickup boxes rotting so badly in 5-8 years as to be falling off.) My friend's question was why the hell Ford didn't sink some money into more corrosion resistant finishes. The engineer didn't even sugar candy coat his response. He basically said that Ford sells more trucks just in Texas than the whole rust belt. Add in the rest of the "salt free" states and you have a pretty significant number of their trucks that don't have rust problems. Sound familiar?

 

Here is a novel idea

They could add an option to have the frame undercoated at the factory prior to the build for $500-$1000. Or they could do it and bake the cost into the vehicle.

It’s ridiculous really we pay big bucks and have these issues.

Heck mine was built in April delivered to MIchigan in June and I never drove it in rain. In July I noticed some rust around welds and I got whole thing fluid filmed in Sept.

I am clearly not like most as mine has not seen rain and is stored inside and it’s insides now for winter. But nonetheless a typical driver/buyer should not have to deal with this bs.

Although I have looked at new GMC Canyons and F150s on the lot this summer that had surface rust. So I think most manufacturers are the same. GMC sprays a nice bed liner in a Denali Canyon but the frame looks like shizzo new. Hmm could you not spray the frame too before assembly. It’s all about the money for every company sadly

 

Well you totally pulled that number out of your ass, the real issue is that most of these problems start to develop at six years and above when the vehicle has been either traded or sold by the original owner and is on its third or fourth owner who are likely not going to file a claim with Toyota or don’t even care that their vehicle is disintegrating around them.

So you would be correct that a small amount of vehicles have this problem that is brought to the attention of Toyota, but not for the reasons that you think.

 

Ordered a new Chevy 2500 crew cab in 2015.I live in Michigan. Took it right home when it came in and painted the frame and whole underneath with Rustoleum high heat ultra.
Sprayed up inside the doors and engine compartment with Hornady one shot extreme.Had bedliner sprayed in the bed.So far the worse surface rust I have noticed
has been on a couple of the body mount washers,which I touched up.
When My 4Runner came in in August I did the same thing except did a little extra.Pulled the brakes off and painted the calipers black,got rid of the silver,and backing plates along with putting caliper grease on the pins and such.Seen those pins can be a problem in the rust belt if you don't keep them greased.They were dry from the factory.
Then I warmed up some woolwax on the grill and soaked the underneath especially inside the frame.
Already driving it in the salt.
See how it holds up.

 

wouldnt it be nice if toyota powdercoated the frames....or applied a tenifer coating like Glock pistol slides?
Hmmm

 

I live in Western NY where they salt very hard, I just purchased my first 4 runner and being my first brand new vehicle I refuse to drive it until it gets its oil based rust proofing done on 1/5/22, some call me nuts but I spent to much money and plan to keep for a very long time that I kept my 01 Tahoe for the bad winter days, and the 4 runner for the nicer ones. Love the suv to much to see it go that way.

 

I live in Colorado and this weekend I am applying a few coats of POR-15. I couldn't find the Blaster product. From the reviews PRO-15 is second best to the blaster so should be ok. They don't salt the roads here but nevertheless I think it is a good idea, as there are a few small surface rust spots on the frame on my 2015.

 

If you're crazy, I'm worse. And I also live in western NY. This might help:

Complete Corrosion Protection for my New T4R | Toyota 4Runner Forum [4Runners.com]

 

I favor the Schmidt’s auto body and glass in Depew for my winter rust proofing jobs. They don’t go light on what they use and after I seen it keep my neighbors Chrysler aspen looking new, that sold me. If it can save a Chrysler product it can save anything!

 

I have an anecdote from one Tacoma that I bought new in 2006 and sold in 2020, the first 10 of these years were in WI and MI. I did not undercoat and never washed during the winter. I gave it 2 thorough spring washes, in about May with an "underwasher", I did 2 because I knew I was probly missing spots and the salt continued to seep after one wash. The first year I did not think to drop the spare and wash above it. When I sold the truck in 2020 the frame looked pretty good, mostly surface rust. The bad spots were above the spare tire so it seems like that first season of neglecting this spot was all it took. When I bought the truck I payed the dealer to mount a Toyota heavy duty receivccer hitch; when I sold the truck this hitch was the only thing under the truck with true rust cancer, the rust seemed to be coming from within the solid steel and when I tapped it with a small peening hammer the cancer was obvious. The rest of the frame looked and sounded solid.

So, my experience with my daily driver Tacoma in extreme road salt conditions was: The thorough wash seemed to work, I really mean thourough when I say it. Underwasher makes all the difference and I'd argue is much more effective than the low-volume underbody wash at the typical car wash. I can't explain why my hitch rotted except different metal chemistry about that steel.

 

1. as a former Michigander, quite familiar with the salty roads, and watching rust, eat vehicles up...everything from wheel wells, frames, fenders, bottom of doors, etc.. I wouldn't believe any 'anti-rust' claim from Toyota, etc....