Early 1st Gen (2000-2003) Tundra Frame Replacement FAQ

So you've got a 1st gen tundra that you love. It runs great, and is in beautiful shape. You bring it in to get an oil change, or you are under there doing it yourself, and you notice a giant rust hole in the frame. Crap! That's not good. you do a quick google search and you see that some Tundra owners are getting their rusty frames replace for free from Toyota! Will Toyota replace yours? This thread is here to help you find out.

First of all, this thread only deals with the early 1st gen trucks. That is, 2000-2003. However, if you have a later first gen truck, you still can type your VIN into www.toyota.com/recall to see if you have an open recall that qualifies you for replacement.

So, on to the meat and potatoes. does my frame qualify for replacement or not!?!

Well, that depends.

in order for you to qualify for the frame replacement in 2019, you need to:

1. Have an early 1st gen truck that did NOT have the rust preventative coating applied in the past. This is seen as an acceptable remedy and means the recall is closed on your truck.
2. Have a truck that has been titled in a rust belt state in its lifetime.
3. have a marble-sized hole caused by rust in the frame in a few key locations, outlined in red in the image below.

If you fit all of those requirements, then you may be eligible for frame replacement. if you don't meet all of those requirements, it's still worth calling your local dealer to see if they'll help, but they are not legally required to.

The areas in green on the image below are sections covered by a limited service campaign launched by Toyota. This however, expired in 2012, so it is no longer relevant.




That's about it. I'll keep editing this post as I this of things, but that's the skinny on the early 1st gen Toyota Tundra frame rust recall.

Source: https://tundraheadquarters.com/toyota-launches-00-03-tundra-frame-replacement-program/
toyota.com/recall

 

Good, concise info.
This, and any follow up about the rust issues should be stickied. I’m pretty new around here, but I see new ‘my frame is rusty!?!’ threads almost every day.

 

@Pinay Definitely sticky worthy!

 

Just bought a 2002 AC 4X4 in Colorado. Pickup in good shape..... except rust the red recall areas. I checked my VIN on the Toyota web site. My VIN had no active recalls. Is there any recourse?
Thanks

 

If there are no recalls listed, you’re probably out of luck. Call your dealer and see if they’ll help you, but if the recall was performed, you’re probably out of luck.

sorry!

 

Solid post @lsaami. I had no idea the truck was required to be titled in a rust belt state in its lifetime.

 

Yep. There’s actually a separate recall for southern trucks that came from the north or vise versa. I forget.

 

Isaami, thanks for putting this post together.

I understand how to determine the undercoating was applied. How do you determine if the frame was replaced?

There is a 2004 for sale near me, I ran the VIN through the Toyota recall link above and it came back with NO open recalls. This means either the frame was replaced or the undercoating was applied, correct?

Thanks!

 

If you go to Toyota.com/owners you can input the vin and it will show you any work that's ever been done at a Toyota dealership, including a frame swap.

 

Not exactly....if you look at @lsaami first post again, you'll notice one of the important points concerning your 2004.

I did not receive a recall notice on my 2004 for that reason. We have had other recalls on 2004's but not a frame replacement recall.

As @FirstGenVol very importantly mentioned, register your VIN at Toyota and see not only what recalls if any but also maintenance performed at a Toyota dealer that should have been recorded.

 

Here is what the Toyota owners site came up with:
Seems like something is missing. Why does this not show the Takata airbag recall, whether open or completed?

 

That's not a report from "the Toyota owners site", that is a report from Toyota.com/recall site. You have to register your VIN Toyota.com/owners as FirstGenVol mentioned.

BTW....that is a very nice looking 2004 and according to what the frame looks like, not a bad price either.

https://www.auto.com/cars/toyota-tundra-sr5-2004-5tbdt44114s442462

 

Was able to login and add the VIN to my account. Found the following:

9/29/2014
EXTERIOR BODY

EXTERIOR BODY ~|~SSC D0D ~|~NO RUST PERFORATION FOUND ~|~CAMPAIGN COMPLETED CRC APPLICATION PERFORMED

Name - Part - #Qty
T00-CORROS RES KIT 00289T00KTDS 1
PLUG, HOLE 9095001824 2
PLUG, HOLE 9095001539 2
warranty pay

Assume this means they did the "treatment", correct?

 

That is the corrosion kit they use when performing the Limited Service Campaign(LSC) for all cold climate states and would have to assume that means a previous owner had Toyota to apply the "treatment". The attached pdf below is the LSC issued for 2004 through 2006 Model Year Tundra Vehicles.

 

Thanks for the information BubbaW!

 

Hi all, new to the forum and saw this thread - was at my dealer a couple of weeks ago inquiring about the treatment as I had the inspection for rust and needed the rustproofing but the original dealer did not have the equipment to apply it at the time. I went past the date and did not push the issue. Bottom line, apparently the first rustproofing recall was inadequate and a new treatment is supposed to be available soon through a new recall. All hearsay from the service tech, but if you can check with your dealer, we might have some new options... I am going to check back in a month or so.

 

Hello all, new to the forum. I had the spray "fix" back in 2011 and now I have holes in my frame and is very soft in sections behind the front wheels. I knew it had surface rust for years now but it has become progressively worse. I'm interested to learn if we have any options open to us, I'm afraid the truck is unusable now and the vehicle just reached 90K miles. I might take to the dealer in the near future for the airbag recall and have them take a look at the frame as well.

 

This worked for me!

https://www.autorust.com/product-category/toyota/

 

Thanks w666!

Do these caps slide over the existing rotted out frame and weld into place from the bottom/top? Did you need to remove the steering knuckle? I was trying to determine if this was a DIY job or if it requires a shop, this kit seems to cover the section of my frame with the worst damage. Thanks!

 

I posted about this in another thread. Yes, remove all the cancer first. I had a shop do mine.

Was the 2004 Tundra included in the frame recall? Is it too late?

Was the 2004 Tundra included in the frame recall? Is it too late?

 

So I called the Toyota dealer who performed the spray treatment back in 2010 and they said the recall for the frame expired in 2012. They must be referring to the Limited Service Campaign but I can't find any source information from Toyota about a Safety Recall for frame rust. I have a 2003 1st gen Tundra. Does anyone have a link to the actual recall regarding this vehicle besides the Limited Service Campaign? It seems that some lucky folks had semi recent frame replacements with similar vehicles, I wanted to share source documents with the dealer if at all possible. Otherwise, I'll be looking into the patch kit illustrated above as I don't think the vehicle is safe to travel with any kind of load.

 

Perhaps @Festerw can verify but I've always read that a recall never expires !

 

Because there wasn't a frame recall specifically. There was one for the rear crossmember (NHTSA #09V444000) the frame was replaced if the mounting points were unusable.

The LSC expired 10 (or 12? I don't remember for sure) years from the date of the first purchase.

 

Hey guys, I signed up just to thank all of the contributers to this thread and forum. I stumbled into here looking for some answers and I found a ton of helpful info. Thank you!

For some background on me, last October I purchased a 2006 SR5 DC with about 144k. I paid 10900 and consider it a good price seeing as it came with a color matched topper, two sets of tires (decent summer tires and brand new Duratracs for winter!) and a few nice options (LSD, upgraded audio system, tow package, sill guards, and random other things...).

Anyhow, after I purchased it I blew a brake line. Several, actually. More blew during subsequent bleeding processes. While under the truck (btw, you can comfortably kneel under the dang thing when the spare is removed!) I noticed some frame rust that I swear wasn't there when I bought it. Nothing terrible, but it sure isn't pristine.

That led me here. And this post led me to some good information. For instance, I ended up finding the service records for my truck. When led to me learning why my entire rear axle looks new. Because it was replaced, in its entirety (axles, housing, diff, etc) about 2 months before I bought it. So was most of the front end about a year earlier. All due to rust (not abuse), according to dealership notes.

I also learned that the frame was coated in 2014. Pics included.

Anyhow, stay healthy guys and gals.

 

That's the first time I've ever heard of Toyota replacing non-frame components for rust. I didn't think they would do that.

 

@FirstGenVol Toyota didn't cover it. Previous owner paid for it. Sorry, I should have been clearer!

 

No you're fine. It says "warranty pay" so I just assumed warranty covered it. The previous owner paid a LOT for that work...wow.

 

@FirstGenVol That warranty pay was just for the frame undercoating. I'll see if I can get some pics of the work he paid for...

 

Eh, for some reason the pics are uploading blurry. Probably because my screenshot is about a mile long heh.

 

Isaami were you successful in getting your frame replaced? If so, what dealership in MN will oblige this recall? I have an 01’ that has no service records under Toyota.com/owner... possible candidate?