2018 4R superficial rust?

Hey all,

I need some advice on an 18’ SR5 I picked up a few days ago
(My first ever Yota’). Unfortunately, I read the carfax for the wrong vehicle before I had gone and checked it out. I was unaware it was a Virginia based car.
Another thing is, there is literally no service history until it was sold to my local dealer here in SoCal @46k miles.
I checked the undercarriage for rust but it was pretty late at night. It seemed like superficial rust and not much of it but I took some pictures and it looks a little bit worse than I had initially thought. Question is, how bad is it being it has seen 3 winters & nearly 3 and a half years old? Am I exaggerating? Any insight you guys have is greatly appreciated!

 

I am not educated enough to tell you how bad it is but my new 21 ORP had rust starting in the seems of the welds with a month of ownership. In your first pic that appears what it is.

I am in Michigan and ordered mine so it was built in April and delivered in June. My goal was it would never see salt and I store it in winter. In fact has not seen rain even.

There are some other posts about this. I had someone put POR 15 on these spots and the fluid film frame before winter.

Others can chime in but I would think you can still get that treated and be ok. Obviously your weather is better for the long term.

There is a video by car care nut that talks about frame rust and spots to pay attention to. I would check that out too

 

People smarter than me will chime in, but that all looks superficial. Clean it up and protect it and you should be good to go.

 

Not bad. Now that it’s in California, the rusting will slow down substantially, unless you live right on the Pacific.

 

Coat it with POR-15 every year or so. You should be ok.

 

Hit the frame and weld joint rust with a wire wheel. Spay some Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and you should be good to go. I wouldn't worry about the drive train surface rust at all.
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-rust-encapsulator-black-aerosol-15-ounce.html

BTW - When you do all your fluid changes make sure to grease the propeller shaft and re-torque the bolts. Also, take a look at the rear differential front pinion oil seal- it looks like it might have leaked at some pint.

 

That Eastwood rust spray works really well.

 

Yup, that's typical.

 

I’d assume that some surface rust would appear on almost every new car but this is little bit more than I had expected. I’ll definitely take a day out of the weekend to go under this rig and prep for some coating. Thanks for the input!

 

I actually noticed this as I took the picture but didn’t know what it was. Thank you for pointing that out. I’ll have to clean it up and check back after week and see if it’s still leaking. : /
I’ve read somewhere on this forum that it’s possible to replace without removing the driveshaft. Is this true?

 

That’s my hope!
I live about 6-7 miles from the beach so it shouldn’t be of too much concern.

 

Rust? what Rust? I lived in Upstate NY for years and they would say that there is no rust there on that..... Just wire brush it off and Put POR-15 on it and enjoy the ride.

 

That is 100% normal. As stated, POR15 the welds and Fluid Film or Wool Wax.

 

Sorry if miscommunicated. I meant I had rust starting at the weld seams when new. Yours is definitely beyond that.

This was mine when new a few weeks off the truck. This is how it starts.

Good luck with the truck

 

Lol! The more I explore this forum, the more I realize I don’t have it nearly as bad as some others.

 

Ah I see, yep looks pretty similar to my uncle’s 20’ TRD OR. This runner will get its proper treatment soon.
Thanks for sharing this pic.

 

Mine had that on the welds brand new. I looked at a couple of other new 4Runners on the lot and same thing.
I think I read somewhere it was the welding slag and its normal?

Mine hasn’t progressed in 3.5 years. But I live in the desert and they don’t use road salt.

 

Yes I remember reading that also Slopemaster. I hope so. I still put POR15 on it and then fluid film whole whole thing. It’s going to be a fair weather vehicle and never see our salt so I will hope for best

 

lol every single vehicle in the east coast looks like this. it's surface rust.

that said check back in 12-15 years and it might be rotted by then.

 

I have no doubt about that but my runner will live in California till either myself or it dies, it probably will last longer than yours truly if I’m being honest lol.

 

I am in Utah and I still do the same to my vehicles as I did in Upstate NY and that is keep it clean and POR-15 any time it looks like there is a rust attack.. Remember Rust Never Sleeps..

 

Oh yeah, lots of Toyotas died prematurely due to corrosion out here. Honestly I'm wondering ho much longer I should hang on to my 2013.

 

Don't use POR-15 because it converts and seals the rust but will not stop it from forming under new coat. I used POR-15 for several years with terrible results at the end. I found this at local Home Depot and it works perfectly where i don't have rust coming back in same area. Just read instructions because it calls for few coats if rust is deep.
https://corroseal.com/

 

Did you use the POR-15 Primmer? Follow directions? or did you just slop it on over the rust? I been using POR-15 for 16 years now on everything from Boat trailers to Classic Car restorations following the directions to clean the surface well then use the POR Primer follow that with the POR-15 and yet to see any issues of such only thing Had one person change their mind about what color they wanted and it was too late since it had fully cured.

 

Nah, I rolled it on with old mop from my kitchen. Is that why it came up lifting the finish in scales few years after flawless application? I knew it...