FRAME RUSTED on your 4RUNNER?

[foggysps]

File a complaint here @ NHTSA and get a campaign started.
Apparently Toyota is not going to step up and fix the issues unless they have enough complaints and the government feels that there are enough incidents to pose as a safety concern.

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

Look on the Left hand column and click "File a Complaint"

[foggysps]

My best recommendation to determine if your frame is actually rusting from the inside out is to probe inside the access holes (both sides) that are found along the frame rail and/or run a compressed air line inside to see if any big chunks of rust come flying out.
My frame looked totally fine until I further examined it. Major scaling on the inside. Outside looks perfect. Well, it seems that the inside rotted so bad that my inner frame rail on the passenger side near the rear track arm had almost rotted through. It is soft like a sponge, but yet the factory Toyota frame paint held it together. Poking it with my finger and it all crumbled revealing quite a few holes.

[humanoid]

They stepped out and helped the folks with 1st gen Tacoma frame rust issues. This is the first I've heard of this on 4Runners.

[foggysps]

An extensive search through NHTSA's database and 4 maybe 5 other Toyota dedicated forums have turned up that this is clearly a problem. I have surmised that it is due to a lack of proper drainage just before the track bar mount. Testing my vehicle by running water in the frame rail has shown that the location does not drain AT ALL. After a week I stuck my finger into one of the access holes and I had at least 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water still remaining. My solution.....drill a small hole so the water can weep out.
All vehicles that I saw in my search turns out to have the same rust / rot issues in the same locations.

[humanoid]

Whoa, those pics look very similar to the 1st gen Tacos that had the rust issue. They bought back trucks at 1.5X KBB excellent value for 95.5-00 and did the underbody rust prevention for years 01-04 if I recall correctly.

[fourwd1]

You don't know what rust is until you have to do a frame swap yourself.
Frame rust has been a big problem with Toyota trucks since the 80's, ask me how I know.
Living in the rust belt doesn't help.

[PhatRoyale]