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Have you ever seen this much rust on a new tundra?

Discussion in 'General Tundra Discussion' started by jvt3, Oct 12, 2019.

  1. Oct 12, 2019 at 5:20 PM
    #1
    jvt3

    jvt3 [OP] New Member

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    Hi tundrapeople: I bought a new tundra a few months ago, even though I noticed rust at that time inside the center of the wheels...because the small ?? ??hubcaps?? were off...exposing the axle-ends (axle-hubs?)...
    I didn't think much of it, but I always wondered about it....
    At my 5000 mile service, I took some photos. I'm not sure these pics are clear enough, but in real life it sure looks more than just surface rust....it looks like deep rust (mainly the pics of the front side of the wheel).........How worried should I be.....I plan to keep this truck a LONG time.. By the way, not surprisingly, the service dept. will always say "nothing to worry about".....and they say "most" new trucks come like this....I really doubt that....I look at plenty on the lots and none had rust like this......But if it really is just surface rust, I guess I'm ok......I wonder if I should post better pics (with flashlight) to give a more accurate view.or is this sufficient?? Thanks much for your opinion...

    20191008_154447.jpg
    20191008_154603.jpg
    20191011_121732.jpg
    20191011_122029.jpg
    20191011_122047.jpg
     
  2. Oct 12, 2019 at 5:32 PM
    #2
    ProtoJ

    ProtoJ New Member

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    Mine has rust in the same spot since new. I don’t believe you need to worry.
     
  3. Oct 12, 2019 at 5:55 PM
    #3
    Bucktail

    Bucktail New Member

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    Surface rust... Nothing to worry about. Give it a few more years and you’ll see surface rust on the frame, frame welds, bolts, etc...
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2019
  4. Oct 12, 2019 at 7:05 PM
    #4
    Scuba

    Scuba Sober member

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    The rust on the wheel and wheel hub is normal. Every single vehicle will do that.
     
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  5. Oct 12, 2019 at 7:11 PM
    #5
    Rubberdown

    Rubberdown Spilling my guts here.

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    Normal... but I don’t like it.
     
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  6. Oct 12, 2019 at 7:27 PM
    #6
    GravityGear

    GravityGear Parking Lot Prerunner

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    Normal. If you're irked beyond comfort, grab some POR15 and throw that on. Just lightly wire brush, then apply POR15. No more rust... ever.
     
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  7. Oct 12, 2019 at 7:31 PM
    #7
    Jackdiesel0688

    Jackdiesel0688 New Member

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    I flew to Texas to pickup my truck just to be certain it was completely rust free. I drove it back to Wisconsin and had it undercoated right away. So far so good no rust of any kind. If it is only surface rust you might be able to have it acid treated then undercoated like I did on mine. I went through a company called Zeibart. if your vehicle is new enough or has under a certain amount of miles at the time they treat the vehicle they will warranty it for 7 years to stay rust free.if you go back and have it retreated/touched up($50) every year they will warranty it won't rust for life. So far so good. I am very happy with the service and how my truck is holding up. My entire thought behind my Tundra purchase was 10 years or 300k miles at least. If you are in a similar situation check them out.
     
  8. Oct 12, 2019 at 7:48 PM
    #8
    GravityGear

    GravityGear Parking Lot Prerunner

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    Have you had Zeibart before? I'm curious if you've had any extended experience with it. I'm probably moving to somewhere that MIGHT require undercoating. I saw Zeibart and looked some stuff up. I found some positive and negative, then I found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXvl9nt57Kg.
     
  9. Oct 12, 2019 at 8:13 PM
    #9
    Scuba

    Scuba Sober member

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    It’s not recommended to add any kind of coating to the wheel hub where the wheel seats. Doing so could cause the wheel not to seat properly thus adding the possibility of vibrations and even worse, a wheel off.
     
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  10. Oct 12, 2019 at 8:43 PM
    #10
    GravityGear

    GravityGear Parking Lot Prerunner

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    Even the outside? I'm talking like the outside of that stuff like in the pictures. I've known of people putting POR15 on that and the outside of the hub (the visible part if you have no center caps).
     
    Tundyfundy likes this.
  11. Oct 12, 2019 at 8:47 PM
    #11
    TILLY

    TILLY Gently Used Member

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    Wow! what a mess that Zeibart coating makes. :eek2: Great vid.
     
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  12. Oct 12, 2019 at 8:54 PM
    #12
    Scuba

    Scuba Sober member

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    Paint the outside all you want! Hell, the ones on my trail rig are painted. I did say it’s not recommend coating “where the wheel seats on the hub.” ;):thumbsup:
    Maybe my previous post had bad semantics. IDK.

    Edit: Our wheels are hub centric and you don’t want any paint or coating in that teeny tiny space that between the wheel and the hub.

    Second edit: this thread is so popular right now because someone used “tundra” and “rust” in the same sentence.
     
  13. Oct 12, 2019 at 8:59 PM
    #13
    GravityGear

    GravityGear Parking Lot Prerunner

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    No, I feel you. Just wanted to clarify. I didn't qualify my previous suggestion at all. Yes, it would be a terrible idea to put any coating on the wheel mounting surface. Coating the visible areas should pose no problems.
     
  14. Oct 13, 2019 at 8:20 AM
    #14
    JohnLakeman

    JohnLakeman Burning Internet Daylight

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    Not very worried. That level of rust will occur anywhere it's humid. Sometimes these trucks set on the lot for awhile before they're sold. If Toyota was concerned that rust would deter sale or reduce reliability, they would have coated them with grease or oil during production. I believe those are just spacers for the back plate. It's not like they're unimportant, but they're probably cast iron. Except under extreme road salt conditions that can "devour" brake calipers, cast iron components don't rust much beyond surface rust. Wipe some grease or oil on the rust if you're worried.

    Wow, that video on the Ziebart undercoating was ugly...and I have recommended Ziebart here for the other product they spray inside the doors and panels. :( I used Ziebart once decades ago, but that was in Texas and it never looked like that. I was not far from the Gulf of Mexico, but road salt was never used. I never saw the need to do the annual renewal, which has contributed greatly to that build up seen in the video.

    I watch some of that guy's videos, but in this case, I'm not believing his explanation that the coating "doesn't breathe" to allow moisture out, or that it traps moisture underneath. The surface would have to be wet when the coating was applied to trap moisture if it "doesn't breathe". By comparison, Fluid Film doesn't breathe at all...it works by excluding all moisture and oxygen. It's definitely the better choice in the rust belt.
     
  15. Oct 13, 2019 at 8:35 AM
    #15
    Northern Toyota

    Northern Toyota New Member

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    Don't know if it's been said yet, but those are cast pieces and water turns them like that before you even took delivery of your truck. Depending where you live something as simple as wd40 would soak in and protect the metal, or if you see winters with road salt etc use rust check our fluid film etc to stop it. The oil based products will soak in and darken the rust and prevent any further rusting
     
  16. Oct 13, 2019 at 8:39 AM
    #16
    pickeledpigsfeet

    pickeledpigsfeet New Member

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    When I changed my oil the first time I took a brush and coated all the surface rust parts with the used oil. I had to do the same thing on my other Toyotas as well. I never had a problem with fresh surface rust again on them.
     
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  17. Oct 13, 2019 at 5:42 PM
    #17
    jvt3

    jvt3 [OP] New Member

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    Thanks for the replies......I hope it's just surface rust....but it looks like more than that to me....(looking at the 2 FRONT-of-wheel-views).......
    People always talk about "surface rust"...so what do you call all of the alternatives?, going in order of severity: "slightly deeper rust", and then "deeper rust"
    and then "even deeper rust"...etc. How would you visually distinguish those levels compared to my 'surface rust".......
    One point I want to emphasize: Although it may not be a problem, it is definitely not common on a brand new truck that's still
    sitting on the lot......I looked at a random sample of about 10 trucks on the
    lot, and NONE had this rust.....and mine had it from day 1, and I bought it only 2 months after manufacture date. So, I'm glad to see these positive responses, but I wouldn't say it's "common" on a brand new truck...based on my observations of the other trucks on the lot. So...maybe it is just harmless surface rust....nice to hear...
     
  18. Oct 13, 2019 at 5:52 PM
    #18
    BTBAKER

    BTBAKER DIFFERENT NAME. SAME JUNK.

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    I would not spray that crap on my truck if they paid me to do it.
     
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  19. Oct 13, 2019 at 5:59 PM
    #19
    Festerw

    Festerw New Member

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    My truck was treated with Ziebart when I had the rocker panels Rhino lined. It doesn't look anything like that video but they do offer a few different products. Mine was an oil type spray rather than a rubberized type.
     
  20. Oct 13, 2019 at 6:27 PM
    #20
    Pudge

    Pudge Super Secret Elite Member #7

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    That looks like normal surface rust to me. I'd hit it with a wire brush and use some CRC or Amsoil HD metal protector on those areas, or fluid film. This will prevent it from getting worse. You can reapply every year or 2. You could also try a rust converting primer and spray paint for mental/rust but you'll always be chasing it. Never use any kinda of rubberized or bed liner rust treatments on your undercarriage, they trap water and cause worse rust issues. I use and like fluid film but have read and heard a lot about the amsoil stuff that has me thinking I will buying some to use in certain areas, that i find fluid film is easily rinsed off from road spray. I think the amsoil hd will get some good use for me
     
  21. Oct 13, 2019 at 7:05 PM
    #21
    GravityGear

    GravityGear Parking Lot Prerunner

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    Surface rust. Discoloration of the surface from red iron oxide while the actual material is still strong and intact. This example has some minor pitting that yours does not have. This is EASY to treat.
    [​IMG]

    This is deterioration. Still savable with some new pieces and converter for the more solid spots.
    [​IMG]

    This is death.
    [​IMG]
     
  22. Oct 13, 2019 at 8:24 PM
    #22
    Jim LE 1301

    Jim LE 1301 Camaro Lover, SSEM # 11,TTC#179

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  23. Oct 14, 2019 at 8:40 AM
    #23
    prerunnerseth

    prerunnerseth New Member

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    You should see the rust on the rear end of a New F150
     
  24. Oct 14, 2019 at 8:54 AM
    #24
    MistrRoboto

    MistrRoboto '17 MGM SR5 TRD CrewMax

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    It's common on "brand new trucks" that have some road miles. If it came right off a transporter and was put on the lot for sale, it likely wouldn't have had enough moisture exposure yet. If your truck has seen rain, that part will show surface rust. Here is mine...

    Stop worrying and drive your truck.

    [​IMG]
     
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  25. Oct 14, 2019 at 8:55 AM
    #25
    Tchase

    Tchase MostlyLurk

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    WOW glad i declined!
     
  26. Oct 14, 2019 at 9:25 AM
    #26
    Northern Toyota

    Northern Toyota New Member

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    Basically you don't want anything rubberized or something that hardens on the outside. It dries out and the salt and moisture gets in behind the coating and rusts the metal out. You don't realize it until it's too late and hunks of that garbage falls off exposing the rotten metal
     
  27. Oct 14, 2019 at 9:29 AM
    #27
    Tchase

    Tchase MostlyLurk

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    We are in a "humid" climate here but not a lot of salt goes on the roads Washington State (west of the Cascades), and I garage my truck, I've never purchased an undercoating.
     
  28. Oct 14, 2019 at 10:06 AM
    #28
    Northern Toyota

    Northern Toyota New Member

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    That sounds like a good place for a long life for your truck
    Unfortunately I live on the north east coast of Canada, I rust check everything like crazy, inside panels and everything underneath. Rust kills everything up here. The older I get the less I like winter
     
  29. Oct 15, 2019 at 10:58 AM
    #29
    jvt3

    jvt3 [OP] New Member

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    Responding to Pudge, gravitygear, Mistr...and others....thanks........Although I'm not very concerned now, I want to point out that it's kind of unusual, because
    the truck was manufactured only 2 months before I bought it...so it was on the lot a short time (and I bought it with less than 5 miles on it)....but it had
    that rust on it at purchase time....and no other trucks (that I"ve seen on the loets) have that rust....so...I'm just saying it's not common in that sense. ..even if it's not "a problem"
    One question: Given the above, and given that the service manager knows it came like that (since we discussed it), do you think the service dept. would do some kind of "rust inhibitor"
    treatments for free, since it's only a few months old. I'm definitely not going to mess around with that myself...(all these possible treatments I could try, etc.).
    I really don't do those kinds of things..and I don't want to screw something up....
    If the service dept. says no, I wonder where I would bring it for "rust-inhibition"....a body shop?....??
    And if the service dept. says no, I wonder if I should ask toyota-corporate?

    p.s. Of course, in hindsight, the best thing would've been to raise these issues at the day of purchase, but I didnt know anything at that time.
     
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  30. Oct 15, 2019 at 11:21 AM
    #30
    Big Red 1969

    Big Red 1969 New Member

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    I agree with what others have said that it looks like normal surface rust -- I don't like it either!
     

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