Hi Scotty, love the videos & appreciate the advice. Everyone who knows engines knows the 2UZ-FE is one of Toyota’s best (which is about the highest endorsement there is). I have one with over 200k in a 4th Gen 4Runner in a part of Alaska where it does what it was built for (arduous duty that would’ve destroyed most trucks a long time ago). Unfortunately, keeping up with the frame disintegrating is a losing battle, which is a real shame on an otherwise outstanding vehicle. Toyota usually owns up to their mistakes, & while they recalled the frames from just about everything else in that production run, the 4Runner was excluded. Do you think Toyota might ever make things right for us 4Runner lovers out here, or will we just have to drive our otherwise perfect rigs to the junkyard when the frames inevitably snap? I sure don’t want to lose the old girl, but a frame swap without manufacturer support is a pretty tough investment to justify.
Larry in Alaska
{black}:excitement:
The chances of Toyota making good on the rusted frame of your 18 year old vehicle are somewhere between none and none.
Yep, POR15, Corroseal, Fluid Film, needlegun & welder are my friends under there, but it’s starting to come apart at places I can’t get to without separating the body & that’s just not gonna happen (Uncle). Just a bummer, love that V8 (driving the modern 5th Gen’s feel like rental cars by comparison), no arguing the new ones do look better though. Would’ve been cool if there was an option to save it, but even Toyota walks away from a problem every once in a while I guess.
Have you tried the CRC marine heavy duty corrosion inhibitor? I have seen tests that show it does even better than fluid film.
I am about to head north in a couple of weeks, to upstate new york, and that is what I will be coating my GX470 frame with, same frame as your 4runner I think.
Unfortunately, if Toyota USA has not done anything by now for that generation (ended with 2009 model year) then they will probably not address it in the future, so the owners might be stuck.
