I received a letter from
I received a letter from Toyota in 2014 that said, for a limited time, Tacomas in certisn US states could be taken to a dealer for inspecfion and application of anti corrosion paint to the frame. If the frame were too badly damaged, then Toyota would replace the frame.
I did not get to see the inspection, but I believe it involves visualky looking for holes and perhaps applying pressure with a center punch to see if the metal deforms or breaks through.
I know my frame was pretty ratty because when I did a brake job, I had to tap the new calipers into place and big half dollar size pieces of frame were falling off. Tapping, not pounding. I could also see a big crack on the driver side about even with the front edge of the door, about where the brake line fitting is bolted on. I've never seen a frame crack in that location, and it concerned me quite a bit. The sheet metal on the truck looks almost show room new and the engine purrs like a kitten.
I never had any, "treatment," applied. I am presuming treatment must be something like POR-15 paint. The only thing I can think of is that owners who don't now live in one of the road salt states, but have previously had the treatment must be grandfathered into the extended warranty. It is always worth a call to cutomer care to try to get more information or support for your situation.
In my case, the dealer agreed the frame met whatever Toyota's criteria are to need replacement. It took about five months for the dealer to receive the new frame and other parts. The dealer told me I could continue to use the truck until the parts arrived. I was concerned enough that I kept driving the truck to as little as possible.
The original frame had been coated with something thst looked more like Vaseline with lamp black in it than real paint. Not too surprisingly, the stuff washed off or wore off within a few years. It was rather impossible to completely address the problem, as a complete disassembly and hot tsnking the frsme followed by paint would have been needed. It would be easier to get another truck.
The new frame is painted with what looks like a pretty high quality tough black finish. I don't know what it is, but it looks like it will probably be on the frame to stay. The repair included new rear springs thst are also painted. The original springs were junk. The rear springs broke on both sides, and I had them replaced with new springs fabricated by a local spring shop. Not long after, I found Toyota had published a TSB for rear spring issues.
I feel pretty good about the truck now. Everything is in pretty good condition, and I think it still has quite few years of service life left now. I kind of expected the dealer to try to tack on extras to the job. I hate that, but I doubt you can find a dealer that won't try it. Stand your ground and tell them to just do the recall work and that's it. If they break something not covered in the recall, they should take it up with Toyota. Toyota should pay for it, or else the dealer shouldn't have been messing with it and the dealer should be responsible for it. At least I have a list of potential repairs now that I can do when I want.
The frame recall, at least in my case, was definitely worth doing.