We are aware of the login problems affecting the forums, and appreciate your patience as we work on a fix.
Did you recently purchase a new Tesla, Rivian or Lucid vehicle directly from the manufacturer and willing to share how your experience compared to previous vehicle purchases made through a traditional dealer? A reporter would like to speak with you; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 2/19 for details.
Toyota Tacoma (2004 and earlier)
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
I just experienced the same problem you had with your 1997 tacoma;went for inspection,got called in;frame totally rusted; needless to say I was shocked !; am in the process of waiting to hear from the higher ups and wondered if you had any luck; the dealer told me this never happens and two very reputable and experienced auto body guys said the same thing; anyway, would appreciate to know how you made out with the higher ups!
Thanks
Gladstone
thanks
We are doing some reorganization of topics here, in an effort to make things a little more focused and easier to follow. For those of you who regularly read this discussion, we invite you to check out the new focused discussions here at the Toyota Tacoma Group. We would like you to use these discussions first, based on your particular question or comment. This discussion will continue to be where owners can hang out and make general comments about their Tacos, but if you have specific component questions, we'd like you to use some of the others (e.g. Body Accessories for things like grille guards, side steps, tonneaus).
Thanks!
kcram - Pickups Host
I have a rubber band type filter wrench and it won't begin to untighten the filter. What's up?
I found a vice-grip type pliers that pipe fitters use.
It has curved jaws that grip round objects without slippage.
Worked first try! Not too tight, and try to clamp it on where you can get some torque on it with your arm.
You can find these pliers in a foreign knock off brand.
I didn't want to spend a lot before I knew it would work.
Remember to put a garbage bag up around the filter after you get the seal popped, it is a real mess when the filter comes off!
Good luck!
Blob
Around 30,000 miles, I noticed abnormal wear on the outer part of the tires. A tire dealer told me (for a $20 alignment check) it needed to be shimmied up so wear wouldn't occur on the outside of the tires (even though their alignment system said it was in range of good alignment). Decided to take it to a Toyota dealer. Took it to a Toyota dealer and had it aligned for $90 - even though the print out said it was only off 0.02 on the front (which I suspect it was within factory alignment and didn't need aligned but they didn't offer an alignment check - was told once it's entered into the computer you get an aligment (end of story) but that's another post I suppose.
Now, at the next oil change (asked for rotation also) the tires are abnormally wearing on the inside of the tires. The oil change company asked if I had bad suspension or something and said at 35psi my tires shouldn't be wearing like this on the sides since that's more pressure than Toyota recommends for the tires (something like 26 and 28 psi).
What puzzles me is that I've been running them at 35psi for a while and suspect they should be wearing on the middle of the tires if anywhere.
I'm at 37,000 miles and will buy new tires soon, but I wonder if this truck has a problem and will just chew up the edges of the new tires I have installed.
p.s. How many miles is this BFG tire rated for, anyone know?
If dealer knew answer, I probably wouldn't be asking here.
--
Marcus
http://www.TacomaWorld.com/
Have you had any luck with the Toyota Higher Ups? If so what procedure (phone call(s), written letter(s),..) was used?
Thanks
OT
apollo_109@yahoo.com
Question 1:
It looks like a one inch diameter shaft opening, and it looks like I will need at least 2 1/2 inches of shaft length to screw on the nut.
Is this what most of you have bought, 1" x 2 1/2" ?
Question 2:
What did the original tow package include?
thx,
Gringo1
stone45
and I encourage everyone with rusted frame issues to do so in order to gain enough attention to warrant a safety investigation. Maybe we can get justice through the back door since Toyota seems uninterested in doing anything about it themselves. I am going on other Toyota Owner web sites to make the same request.
The problem with Toyota's back then was the simple fact that Japan has no natural iron/steel resources and has to import steel to manufacture their products. The explanation back then was that Japanese auto makers basically [chose to] take recycled steel (from crushed autos and such) from the U.S. and other countries to obtain the necessary metal. The problem with using recycled (crushed autos and such) is that the process if far from perfect and a percentage of rust remains in the metal (steel) that is melted down and reformed into "new" frames, parts, etc...
It's plausible that Toyota products still suffer from this as even the products "manufactured" outside of Japan are really only assembled in other countries from parts sent over from Japan (which again, has no natural iron/steel).
I revisited this forum because of a problem with tire wear, but these rust posts reminded me of when I bought my 2004 taco. A few weeks after I purchased it I showed the Toyota service manager what I thought was excessive rust on the springs under the truck that supports the reer wheels and was told "that is normal." I know such springs rust easily, but they should have not been showing such rust so early on from purchase. IMHO the parts were rusted when the truck was assembled.
I WANT BETTER MILEAGE!!
Please help with u'r input. so far I herd of synthetic oil & better air filter. Now what else can I do.
It gets 20 MPG
TEMiller
I also made a report to the NHTSA on their website. Hopefully if enough people report this, toyota will take action.
Jazzbeau!
Switched to Castrol Syntec, 100% synthetic oil, and that knocked the sound out a lot.
In 06, I switched to Amsoil 100% synthetic oil, and that COMPLETELY silenced the cold start grumbles. Amsoil invented synthetic oil. Changing from Syntec to Amsoil, was as noticable as changing from dino-juice oil to Syntec.
If you are using regular oil, and you switch to Syntec, you will likely notice a difference right away. Amsoil is pricey, but as long as you haven't let your engine get sludged out, you can easily run it 10,000 miles per change, so long as you are using an Amsoil oil filter. Yes, it, and the filter, are that good. A good many longtime Amsoil users, just change the filter after 10,000 miles, and change the oil when it's approaching 20,000.
Please, before anyone decides to flame me, check the facts. Been workin on motors for 30+ years, and know the benefits of clean oil, in making a mill run for 200,000 mles. Clean oil, and regular maintenance, and 60 second (ideally 2 mins) warm-ups will garner 200k from damn near any motor.
When I did my first Amsoil change, I didn't expect it to be noticable, since I was already running 100% synthetic. I was wrong. With 150k+ on it, this motor started up and ran quiter than it did when I bought the vehicle at 58k. The first 0ºF morning I started it up, there was ABSOLUTELY NO TICKS OR CHATTER. No, I am not a distributor. (Not yet anyway.)
FYI, keep in mind, that a documented running of any oil over 7,500 miles may void your warranty. I tried synthetic shortly after I turned over 100k.
I could tell by the way it performed, that Amsoil was the best I'd ever used, but your post is the best testimonial to Amsoil I've read.
I'm curious, where do you buy your Amsoil stuff..... from the company?
Here is a statement out of the literature for a 95-1/2 Tacoma:
"IT'S ALL IN THE ENGINEERING behind the metal. Tacoma's tough anti-corrosive steel frame resists rusting"
I need to look at my 95-1/2 Tacoma to see how bad the frame looks. I live in WI, so we use alot of salt here on the roads. I did have the truck rust-proofed when I first bought it, but I don't know if they really coated the frame or not.
Mrbill
What they put in writing for me;
"No warranty applicable at this time, inspected vehicle, severe rust on frame, will notify Toyota DSM as per Jeff N. Service Director.VEHICLE IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE!"
Great!
There is 89,700 miles on this truck. Original exhaust, brake cables, etc. and they have outlasted the frame. Go figure.
I'm still waiting for a District Sales Manager to call.
When I have any info in regards to satisfaction, I'll post back.
Traded it back for exactly whaT i PAID FOR !!!!
AND GOT A HONDA !!!! MY OTHER CAR IS A 2007 F-350 SUPER DUTY 6.0 DIESLE SO DEAL OR NO DEAL ???? NO DEAL!!!!
Go to http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm and look it up. There very close, if not rite on the $. I got rid of mine thought I miss it was a great little truck, the gas milage is just no good for me I travel 147 mile round trip each day. I rather drive a vette my 87 rag top gets 24 MPG on the Hiway !
1) change your shock absorbers, OEM shock is always under rated( std bilstein shock) with Tocoma pre-runner V-6 TRD. I can feel the car is wobbling and bouncing when it was brand new ( by the way dealer changed one shock for me during warranty period). After I changed all the shocks, the gas mileage improved from 17.5 gpm to 19.5 gpm. Still not as good as the print on the sticker (print 19 to 23 gpm), but, It improve 8.9%.
2) I also purchase MAF cleaner (CRC brand) clean the MAF sensor to smooth out the rough idling.
As for the shaking, brakes, almost always brakes. With that many miles on a truck, it could be simply the pads, but more likely your rotors need to be turned. There have been a couple of reports of tie rods and steering racks going off in (1999-2001) Tacos, which are not cheap to replace and tend to take rotors, pads and occasionally calipers with them. You need to get it looked at in case you are not just dealing with warped rotors IMHO.