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

Dude, just relax. It's fine. You dont have a rust issue and the dealer and corporate don't owe you rust treatments. It's all good, just drive!

 

I haven't done any treatments on this yet, but I'm thinking of going to a ziebart-type
of place to do some protection work.
I'm planning to get a tire rotation soon,
and I hope to get another look (and photos) of the axle-ends.

I'm uploading some additional photos, because I'm still curious about the origin of this rust, because none of the comments
a few months ago really applied to my case (which is: the car was NOT sitting on
the dealer's lot for a significant amount of time...It was manufactured in January 2019
and I bought it a few months later, so it didn't have much of a chance to get rusted at
the dealership).

So, these other photos (taken at roughly the same time as the previous ones)
show rusted screws on each of the 4 wheel-wells (and this is how
it looked when i bought it) So..
I am guessing that these rusted parts (axle-ends, screws, etc) were sitting around
at the production stage....got rusty while sitting...and were then installed on the
truck when building.....Yes? No? I'm not really concerned about it..but still curious about
the origin of this.
Thanks for new comments.

 

Exposed metal doesn't take very much time to develop surface rust. The metal composition will affect this, but surface rust will start in a matter of days. You said this truck was produced 2 months before you picked it up, and that is PLENTY of time for the minor surface rust in your pics. All it takes is some moisture, and if you add in anything even slightly acidic then it takes even less time.

As for undercoating, I would recommend you looking into things you can do yourself like Fluid Film or Wool Wax. They are excellent rust protection (though they stink for a few days) and they won't hide rust issues like the rubberized coatings will. You can also spray them off with a pressure washer and reapply periodically. Just watch them around non oil resistant rubber as they can make it swell.

 

NO rubberized undercoating. Your truck will chock, rust and die from inside out. You will be sorry.

 

Thanks. But the odd thing is those SINGLE rusted screws in each wheelwell. It's the "same" screw in each wheelwell...nothing
else is rusted (except for.....the axle ends....)....which is why I wrote that the parts must've been sitting around before assembled/produced...
Or...I guess the explanation is...those screws are the only thing that are susceptible to rust in that area..and so it would've rusted
while sitting on the lot. ?????

As far as treatment, I never had any plan for undercoating. I was only talking about protecting those axle-ends (in the pics), if important. I'm definitely not doing any treatment myself....
I don't even feel like taking the wheels off. I'm very unmechanical...I would hate working on stuff like that. So.....I'm thinking of bringing to a ziebart type-place to treat the axle ends (??)...but I'm not sure if it's important (and it sure sounds like it is NOT, from the previous responses) .

But it's definitely "odd"...because I've looked at lots of new trucks...and none had this rust....so that's why I'm curious.

 

It is not that unusual. The metal the shock cylinder rod is made of is not galvanized or treated in any way, and the simple action of threading on that nut will create 'fresh' bare metal that is expecially vunerable to rust.

 

It’s normal , Toyota,Ford,Chevy,Ram and Nissan all do that . Probably happens when they’re on the transport truck on its way to the dealer .

 

This. New, my 2013 F150 looked far worse than my 2020 Tundra does. Everything I've seen here is simply surface rust on the bolts; nothing to worry about IMHO.

 

I'm still puzzled on how only ONE screw of three in the left front wheelwell (and the right wheelwell as well) gets rusted. They
all look like the same screws.....and I can't imagine it is the only "ungalvanized/untreated" one out of the three.....??
p.s. The bottom 2 pics are the front wheelwells.

 

That rusted 'screw' is the threaded part of the rod of the shock assembly. For the front shocks, it is what holds the top hat and the spring in. The ones that are not rusted are bolts that hold the shock assembly to the perch. Shocks are not made by Toyota so depending on the brand, it may or may not be treated.

You can always wirewheel the rusted parts to remove the rust and put a light coating of grease or oil to prevent anymore surface rust.

 

Thanks for the info!!.....As I look again at those 3 "screws" (well, i guess they're not screws), I notice that the rusted one is different (shape) than the other two....so i was wrong when I said they all look the same.

 

I honestly think you need to stop worrying about this very benign surface rust that is easily caused by moisture and humidity. If you want to continue to obsess over it, your going to drive yourself crazy. Anything other than stainless steel is going to immediately start showing signs of surface rust once it’s exposed to the elements. Doesn’t matter where you live. The factory didn’t use rusty bolts when assembling your truck. The bolts are not stainless steel, therefore they will rust.
I’m not trying to be harsh but this type of wear is completely normal on any vehicle on the market today unless it’s made of aluminum or stainless steel.
As others have suggested, get some fluid film and a wire brush and spend an afternoon under your truck coating everything you see that has surface rust on it.

 

Please read what I wrote earlier a few times......NONE of the 50 new trucks that I looked at on the lots had this rust when NEW. Mine did. So obviously,
one would want to know what caused it. And, in my spare time, if I'm at another toyota dealership and on a lot in the future, and if I see another new tundra with similar rust, I'll let you know. But so far, mine is the only one out of a large sample.

 

Unfortunately, if your local service manager doesn’t think it’s a big issue your going to have to escalate your complaint. 800-331-4331

 

This is what I wrote at the end of my very first updated post yesterday (after a few months of inactivity)
"I'm not really concerned about it..but still curious about the origin of this"......and in subsequent posts, I said i"m just curious.....

 

As stated by a number of people, it is absolutely nothing to be concerned about. Every one of those trucks on the lot that had less surface rust on the wheel hubs at the time you picked yours up will look like yours in short order.
Do not take it to Zeibart, just squirt some fluid film or brush some grease on it if it bothers you.

 

To revive a thread. Any guess on how long before this rusts a hole through the body panel? That pic is after like 5 days. And I have about 4 months before the truck can even be accepted into the shop.

 

THROUGH? That'll take a bit. We're coming up on warmer weather now and it'll be pretty dry. If you're concerned, hit it with some sand paper and primer. coat it with something that will come off. The body shop might hate you if you put something like POR15. I'm pretty surprised you have that much rust already. I had a spot on my bedside that was scratched down to metal. It had been clean for 2 years, until I touched it up the first warm-ish weekend of the year.

 

I'm more curious than worried about it! The bedside is even worse, with more rust. There was a ton of paint that just came off in huge flakes. I'm actually hoping it gets totaled after it finally gets into the shop