Do you think Toyota will take responsibility for the 2nd gen bed rust?

There are a few threads on the forum regarding this subject. It's funny that since those plastic drop in liners are evidently a problem for other trucks, Toyota apparently got that part right with the Tundra. But then they dropped the ball on the underside of the bed!
I bought my truck when it was seven years old, so it was long out of warranty. I don't know for sure if the rust was there then, but I've known about it for several months now, and it doesn't appear to be getting worse fast, so I'm speculating that it's been there several years. I haven't decided what I'm going to do about it, yet.

 

I have a 2007 in SoCal with 40k miles. I looked under the truck and doesnt appear to have rust, then I lifted the bed liner and i can see surface rust from couple contact points but it wasn't TOO bad, looks like a line-x type of spray could easily cover it all after being cleaned up.

 

I bought a 07 CM couple of months back from dealer that came with Toyota plastic bed liner. Is there a way to know if there is rust without removing the entire bed liner ?

 

with your tailgate open, you can literally lift up plastic liner from middle and take a peek.

 

That' exactly what I did when I removed mine. It was very easy. It helps if the sun has heated it a little.

 

Just joined the rotted out 08 truck bed club! WTF Toyota!! I bought the truck used from local Toyota dealer 2 years ago. Truck looked awesome and was very clean with only 89 K miles.

Brought the truck in to my body shop since they have no work due to Covid. Plan was for them to fix some surface rust at bottom of doors, tailgate etc. I asked them to take out the plastic factory bed liner to make sure there was no rust below. Body shop called me this morning and said you have to come look at the truck. They were shocked with the rust holes they found! There are 5 or 6 rust holes you can put your fist through. I am pissed! The rest of the truck looks awesome.

I am not having much luck finding any used truck beds and I live in New England. Any bed in a salvage yard around here is going to have the same rust issues.

Did I read that Toyota made a change to the 11 - 13 beds to try to address this rust problem?

 

Here are some pictures of the bed off the truck. My body shop is going to weld in new metal in rotted areas. We are going to Por-15 all new metal and the entire underside of the bed. Also going to Por-15 the exposed frame. Then we are going to Rhino sheild both sides of the bed.

 

That looks like it's going to be very expensive to fix.
So much for Toyota quality.

 

Actually my body shop called a local salvage yard that had a complete bed with tailgate and lights and all the parts. It was in silver so no paint needed. But the bed had two dents in it so it would require 3 hours of body shop labor. Cost of the used bed was $2800! Once I paid for it with tax I would be into the used bed for $3200. And the bed is located here in Rhode Island so who know's how much rust there is in this salvage yard bed. Body shop is going to let me do the grunt work grinding the rust and loose metal. This will save me dollars.

 

Yes Toyota quality on these trucks is a sham!!. Without removing the bed liner it looked like a pristine 2008 Tundra. I had no idea this rust was lurking below the liner.

That is when I found this thread and learned this is a common problem with these truck beds.

We should start a class action suit against Toyota!

 

I suggested that earlier.

 

I am up to looking into this. I know they have a ton of in house lawyers but this is bullshit!!

 

Sorry you guys are going through this crap.

 

I researched a lot of things about Tundras and I learned a lot from this forum. However I didn't find out about the bed rust issue until after I bought my truck. Had I known this, I would checked under the liner this truck had and then I could have passed on it. I did not think a Pacific NW truck would have had the kind of rust it does in the bed. I have a lot of buyers remorse with this truck. Knowing what I know about 2nd gen Tundras after spending a few months with my truck and on this site I would have rather bought a similar year GM instead and not worry about rust. I would have spent a few thousand less and got a nicer truck. From what I've read here Tundras don't appear that much more reliable than a GM. I don't understand how Tundras have such a good resale value. I researched GM full sized trucks and the most common issue they had was the fuel pumps going out at about 125K. I rather deal deal with that than the PITA starter replacement and timing belts.
I could go on and on about other issues. The rust issue these trucks have and the way Toyota has treated their customers is downright criminal.
I'm really debating about keeping this truck. I really feel like unloading it on a Toyota dealer and trading it on a GM from their lot.

 

I think you should trade it in. Clearly you won’t be happy unless Toyota gives you a new bed, which isn’t going to happen. I’m pretty sure drop in liners can cause rust on any brand truck. I searched google for “rust under truck bed drop in liner,” and there was 1 link about Tacoma’s and 5 for Chevy on the first page. Good luck with a GM.

 

That’s a bummer man, imo, like with anything research is key. Every vehicle company has issues, lemons and 1000000 mile trucks. I’m not too sure I’ve ever had a used vehicle without any issue. This rust thing is criminal though I agree, my truck bed is full of rust, and mines been linex’d since day one. It’s one of the only things about my truck that ticks me off, and would love for Toyota to own up and take some responsibility

 

I have a 94 F150 4X4 that's had a bed liner since new that came from Minnesota. It has never spent any time garaged and the bed has no rust under the liner. I've had the liner out twice since owning it just to wash it out. The last time I had it out was last month just to have another look to compare it my Tundra and it looks better than the Tundra under the liner. It does have other rust issues but they're minor especially considering where the truck is from. I've owned it for over 10 years. I've had three GM trucks before it and the Ford was never as good as any of them. I'm ready to go back but never to anything newer than a 4th gen C/K, 2nd gen Silverado/Sierra.

 

I am sorry you guys are going through this. I hope that for the newer models, they were able to innovate a bit to avoid this.

I guess I will plan to spend more time under my truck, maybe quarterly to try to catch rust early if it starts.

I have worked on rusted cars quite a bit. The downfall of any car that is exposed to water, salt, air, friction, etc... is that it will eventually rust. Something about these beds’ construction is causing the rust to happen sooner. It appears to me from the posted pictures that it seems concentrated around the mounting points, where there is going to be wiggle and friction constantly, as well as the upward spray of water, dirt, and whatever your state or county is applying to the road to abate winter ice and snow. That stuff can all adhere where it accumulates. And if a foam type material was being used at those points, it would make it that much worse by trapppng moisture. Reminds me of the VW beetles of the late 60’s and 70’s, where the factory started using expanding foam in the C pillars and behind the rear windows. The rust issues that stuff caused were so bad it got its own lasting name... Death Foam. If you need a break from the bed woes, there are plenty stories about VWs and the Death Foam to give you a giggle and add perspective. AND- seeing what talented body men do to save those cars is nothing short of miraculous.
Best to all.

 

If Toyota has or does improve on this problem then that's a silent admission on their part that it is indeed a problem. It doesn't help any of us with older trucks though.
It'll be cheaper for me to dump the truck than look for a lawyer who'll be able to solve this issue. I'm sure Toyota knows that owners can't afford to fight their lawyers.

 

Google ford or Chevy bed rust and see how many threads/articles there are. Seems like they all have problems. Just like your ford doesn’t have any, I’m sure a lot of guys don’t have any on their tundra. I guess that’s why everyone is moving towards composite beds.

 

I've seen plenty of Dodges from the early to mid 2000's that have rusted out wheel wells and tailgates.

Not defending Toyota, just trying to offer perspective. I've driven a lot of pickups over the years, and I can't recall many that didn't have issues. Some of them far more significant than rust.

 

My neighbor went through 3 new-used dealership F150’s in about 2 months. The first one he got he had to return. When he was washing it, he noticed brown water running off the truck. He looked under the truck and EVERYTHING was orange and corroded with rust. Otherwise, it looked like a new truck. It had to have been a 2017 or 18.

 

I'd never buy another F150. The 94 was my second.
I'd never own a Dodge. I had a 97 with a Cummins. Excellent engine the rest was crap.
I can deal with anything mechanical but I never got the knack for body work except for replacing unboltable items. I could easily go about R&R-ing the bed in my truck but I could not justify the cost nor hide a job like that from my wife. I also can't let her know I bought something that needs this kind of work. She'll think I really screwed up, I spent $11300 just to buy this truck. It would have been a good deal if not for the rust.

 

We all have our life experiences and opinions. I drove a 99 CTD for 170k trouble free miles before I wrecked it. Bought an 04 CTD with 200k on the odometer and drove it to 302K before I sold it. It had front end issues, which are normal for that vintage of Dodge, but I sold it with the original transmission and injectors in good working order.

I'd never own a Ford. I've driven three of them for work and every single one spent significant time in the shop with the engine pulled out. One of the most trouble free pickups I've driven was an 06 GMC 2500 with the 6.0L Vortec. Worse than a Tundra on gas though.

Wish you the best in finding resolution to this issue. Sucks for sure.

 

So I worked on the bed all morning at the body shop. My friend helped me. We ground all the weak metal back to the solid metal. We cut out a few of the rotted metal on the bed cross rail. It is a shitty messy job but doing this grunt work myself is saving a lot of labor dollars!.

 

Yep- what you’re doing is the only proper way to repair.

did you say you were going to do a spray liner top and bottom?

 

All pickup trucks rust regardless of the brand. The manufacturers do not want to make trucks that don't rust out. If they did this everyone would keep their trucks 10+ years and new truck sales would go down. Planned abosolesence. This is why Toyota and other brands don't worry about them rotting out.

My last truck was a 99 Silverado. Went over a train track crossing and heard a loud bang. Pulled over to see the gas tank hanging down. The crossmember it was strapped to had totally rotted out to the point of there was nothing left. I sold that truck to buy this 2008 Tundra thinking the Tundras don't have rust issues like the Chevy, Ford and Dodge trucks! Shame on me for not doing more research and inspecting this truck closer before I bought it. If I ever replace the Tundra, any truck I consider with a bedliner, I will not buy it until the liner is removed so I can inspect the bed closely. Lesson learned!

 

Yes the body shop is going to weld in new rectangle metal plates on top and uderneath. They are going to bond them together and seam seal all the edges. I am going to buy a gallon of POR-15 Chassis Seal and paint all the new metal, weld spots, and the entire underside of the bed. We are then going to spray both sides of the bed with Rhino sheild.

Also now that the frame of truck is exposed I am going to wire brush any surface rust and paint the entire frame and cross members with the POR-15.

Ironically, when I bought this truck used in 2017, the frame recall came out. The Toyota dealer I bought if from did the frame inspection and found now rust perforations. So they sent it to a different local body shop to undercoat the entire frame. They did a poor job undercoating the frame since they did not remove the truck bed. I am going to repaint the entire frame with the POR-15.