2001 Tacoma Frame Corrosion-Preventative Compound Application at Dealer -- Photos

[4xdog]

I had the frame of my 2001 Tacoma Double Cab 4WD TRD treated with corrosion-preventative compound inside and out in early July 2010 as part of the Toyota Limited Service Campaign LSC 90D program. I thought details about the program and photos before and after the treatment might be interesting to other drivers.

It takes two visits to the dealer to have this done. The first visit checks the condition of the frame, especially with respect to perforation. If the vehicle has perforation it's repaired or repurchased. (Repair means a new frame). If the vehicle passes the frame examination with no perforation, and is registered in a list of certain Northeastern / Midwestern states with cold winters and significant salt exposure, the vehicle is put through the corrosion-preventative treatment on another dealership visit.

The guys who did my vehicle in Northwestern Ohio were conscientious, quality-oriented, and very professional. As they explained to me, the light-colored wax injected into the interior of the frame has indeed dripped out of the drain holes for about a week after treatment. They used a lot of compound, and it definitely seems to be moving around inside the frame.

My frame wasn't at all bad -- nothing near perforation. But, given the track record on the Tacoma frames from this period, I feel a lot better with the corrosion-preventative compound applied to my vehicle. I expect to have this one for a lot of years yet, and I think this treatment will help.

Don

Here's the NHTSA link to the Toyota LSC 90D details -- an 85 page document that takes a long time to load. It's an interesting read, though, with lots of detail on how to test the frame, the specific materials used for treatment, and exactly how the treatment is applied.

Here are some images of my Tacoma before and immediately after treatment. (They were taken by my very helpful service advisor, but he didn't quite get the same angles for each shot).

 

[RMP&O]

Here is the problem I see with that....

Unless the compound they use converts the rust or nuetralizes it it will get worse. By covering it up with a compound it is only hiding the rust. Yours doesn't look bad, just some surface rust. Yet, if rust is not stopped it just gets worse. Do you know exactly what the compound they used is? I see you say a wax based compound was injected into the frame rails. That is good if you had no rust inside the frame rails, wax compounds do stop rust and last a fairly long time. Yet, wax compounds do not convert or nuetralize rust they only work on fresh steel or freshly painted steel not on top of rusty steel.

Not knowing what they use I can't say for sure but I am betting you will see rust showing up in a year or two through that coating. There is very few products on the market that actually neutralize the rust, POR15 being the most popular. The cheap spray on stuff you can get at auto stores doesn't do a very good job of stopping rust, the black converting paint. They did do a good job though without a lot of overspary. They did not do the top of the frame rails though which is impossible to get with the body on the truck. The same goes for the inside of the frame rails which can not be gotten by simply spraying on a product.

I had the same thing done to my Taco. Chassis was pressure/steam washed and undercoated. It lasted about a year before it was showing signs of surface rust again. If I ever get around to it I want to wire brush all the surface rust on my chassis and then POR15 everything and then paint on top of that. It is a huge and messy job though!

 

[4xdog]

I've used POR-15 for years, and love it. (I'll continue to use it on the restoration of my 1962 Triumph TR3B). POR-15 is a moisture-curing isocyanate-based coating that bonds incredibly strongly to whatever it's applied to, and is a tough, impervious moisture (and probably oxygen) barrier. I don't think it technically "neutralizes" corrosion.

I've had good luck with wax-based treatments (think Waxoyl), although I'd agree they aren't the same as POR-15. The Material Safety Data Sheets for the corrosion-preventative compounds are included in the big, slow NHTSA download -- mainly microcrystalline waxes in a petroleum-based solvent. As with most coatings, the key is surface preparation. The guy who worked on my car took a lot of care, but time will tell. These treatments are mainly designed to exclude moisture and ionic materials (salt) from the metal surface.

There are two materials used in the Toyota program -- a carbon-black filled material for the exterior, and a more fluid, white wax material for the interior of the frame.

I feel marginally better using materials and methods developed and approved by Toyota. I went through all of these pros/cons before having the frame treated, and decided to go ahead.

 

[austintaco]

Thanks for posting. When the 2nd recall came out, I was very concerned about having some hidden rust, eating away at my frame. Being in TX, my truck just qualifies for an extended rust warranty, but I still check it whenever I am under there for maintenance.

It looks really good, and like you said, Toyota can't afford to have this fix go bad for them, so I would feel confident of its application.

 

[Toyotero]

I had the frame of my 2001 Tacoma Double Cab 4WD TRD treated with corrosion-preventative compound inside and out in early July 2010 as part of the Toyota Limited Service Campaign LSC 90D program. I thought details about the program and photos before and after the treatment might be interesting to other drivers.

Thanks for sharing the photos. I've been wondering what the treated vehicles look like.

It will be interesting to see how well it holds up. Although it's not ideal (strip and repaint frame would be best, although cost prohibitive), it's better than nothing. Painting over the rust might work to keep it dry and keep salty water off of it thus slowing the corrosion.