What if my new-2-me 2006 Tundra had its frame coated?

Seller told me the owner before him told him "frame had been coated."

Local shop put the truck up onto a lift and told me "frame looks immaculate."

So if the frame has been coated, do I need to worry about the frame rusting out?

It seems really solid right now and the truck is 18 years old.

I looked on Toyota.com/Owners but there was no mention of the frame at all, just an all point inspection and the airbag getting something done to it.

Thoughts?

Did I screw up big time buying this?

 

That statement alone is good news. But post pictures of underneath so the FGT folks can better help you. Worrying about future rust depends on where you're located. I live in Ohio so I have to apply rust protection annually, I personally use Amsoil HD metal protectant but hear good things about Fluid Film.

Congratulations on your new truck and welcome to the forum, great place, active, and full of great people. Post some good pics of your truck when you get a chance.

 

I need to find my camera or get my wife and her fancy-smancy smartphone going on those pics.

I'm in WV but don't plan to drive the truck in winter.

 

Coating can be a death sentence, depending on what it was coated with.

You really need to do two things:

1. Get a borescope in the framerails and see how bad they are inside the rails, since they'll rust from the inside out (and you can't see under the coating, where it may still be rusting)
2. Take the ball end of a ball peen hammer and tap the framerails in all the normal hotspots (if you don't know where, read)

We've seen a steady trickle of trucks with framerails breaking almost directly below the brake booster on these trucks, so that's definitely one spot to really keep an eye on too.

Toyota gave two options on SSC/recall-eligible trucks: (A) replace the frame, (B) coat the frame. Coating the frame was lipstick on a pig and the worst of the two options, it didn't help with the rust, it just covered it up. It was a cop-out that should've never been approved as a "solution", and if your truck was bad enough to qualify as eligible, it was far enough along that coating wouldn't have helped anyway.

 

Grabbed a ball peen hammer and flashlight, tossed on a pair of safety glasses, and slid under the truck.

Findings: I'm still slim enough and agile enough to do this quickly and easily.

The frame looks really good. All thick metal (I'm guessing 1/8 inch?) and only rust is surface scale, especially where panels are bolted together. I looked inside (no borescope) and felt where water could be expected to pool and nothing.

I know the truck was Rhinolined in Georgia, I'm assuming it was bought there. The seller said she bought it from a guy whose son lived in Georgia. The seller was an elderly couple, I've mowed their grass for three years now and maybe seen it moved out of its parking space once.

I only intend it as a work truck: it'll pull a trailer full of mowers spring, summer, and fall only.

Thanks for the advice guys---I was really stressing! I'll go on with replacement parts now, figuring out what I need to get her reliably into service.

 

The "read" link in my last reply will give you all you need to know as a new owner. That's a compilation of years of people falling on their face in this forum, sage advice from pitfalls others have found. It'll help avoid stupid mistakes.

And you'll find guys, especially on Facebook groups it seems, who are, like, "The only-use-OEM snobbery! It's such bullshit!" It's not. There are people on here who'll be honest with you when it's 100% safe to use aftermarket. There's even a thread with big wins/fails with aftermarket parts. But there are some parts on these trucks where it's either been proven why OEM is better (like legit OEM coil packs, which absolutely fire hotter/more consistent whe measured with proper tools), and others where you just don't want to fuck around because the work involved with replacement may take hours, or faulty/inferior parts may have catastrophic results (lower ball joints, timing belt/water pump/tensoner/pulleys). It's at anyone's discretion to ignore those pointers with their wallet in-mind, but 50%+ of the posts on this forum are, "Help! My shit is fucked up!" and it's been my observation that a massive amount of problem posts originated from the rapid decline in store-brand and aftermarket parts during the last 10 years especially.

Welcome to your new 1st Gen, and welcome to the forum. Feel free to pick brains, it's why we're here.

 

Coated frame could mean a lot of things. Of course we all assume it means Toyota recall coating, but for all we know it might just mean at some point some previous owner sprayed fluid film or something on the frame, and that info was passed down owner to owner. Seller - "I coated the frame". Buyer - "Cool, I'll remember that and tell the next owner"...etc. A lot of people here "coat" their frames yearly.

Photos would be cool.

 

What?

 

I should have come here before I bought her, but I've joined so many forums over the years, and have so many forums' passwords logged into my "internet password logbook," well, I just got lazy.

I think the frame is OK though, at least OK enough for a work truck. I'll try to get the wife to get some pictures later.

Taking a lot of notes concerning replacement parts of timing belt, CV axle, radiator, and lower ball joints. I'll order all of those before I hire a shop to put those in. I MIGHT can do the LBJ's myself but I work literally every day it's not raining and I have so many clients and so much work to catch up on, well, you get the picture.

Hope to check out the timing belt this week......I have the 10 mm socket and a rachet.

 

Wait, did the shop owner look like this guy…

 

Something like that. LOL

 

Wait…. You don’t have a smart phone?

 

Thank Heavens no. I found I was addicted to it, went back to a flip phone, and I'm a much better man for it.

Good thing I'm already married though.....no way I could "date" in these days of snapchat, Instagram, and whatever else people use to "communicate." I don't even text if I can avoid it.