My son has/had me looking at used GM Silverados and Sierras until I learned of GM frame rust/rot...

[BiscuitsandGravy]

Holly molly. It almost makes you want to puke. And it appears GM only designed their undercoating to last one year. Unbelievable.

Yowza!

 

[firecadet613]

Holly molly. It almost makes you want to puke. And it appears GM only designed their undercoating to last one year. Unbelievable.

Yowza!

Take a look at the new Ram. Loved my 2019 and it was problem free...

Both my '16 F150 and my brothers '19 F150 were great trucks, but both had issues with the frozen door locks...

 

[churchmouse]

Ford had an issue with this as well.
A respected Ingo member traded out of his really good-looking ford when the dealer showed him the front frame was beyond repair and beyond dangerous. Seems it was a bit more common than most folks knew.
He bought a new Toyota.

 

[bwframe]

I'm a Ford guy. One of the things that must be looked at on F150's of various model years is frame condition.

Supposedly, a fair amount of trucks out there that appear to be in great condition, until you crawl underneath with a hammer.

 

[Brandon]

My f250 will be a pile of rush with an engine in the middle before it hits 100k. Its an 01.

Rather have it than chevy.

 

[indyjohn]

Early 2000s Toyotas had the same problem to the point they had a class action suit filed against the company.

Chevy may have long term issues (my current whip turned 182,000 last week btw), but it's still not enough the cause me to consider a Ford. Nothing is enough to cause me to do that.

 

[Mongo59]

I have an '01 Ram 3500 that has had the brake hard lines rust off of it several times, first starting at 76,000. I have replaced them all several times, some are on their 4th replacement.

Now the frame is going. The perches the front springs sit on are looking like burnt potato chips, what the is left of them.

When I bought it in late 2000 I thought it would be the last truck I would own, now I hope I will make it much farther than that...

 

[BehindBlueI's]

If you're going to drive in the salty muck of winter, undercoat with one of the lanoline based products yearly, or other quality spray on. It'll make a ton of difference and it's not expensive.

IF you want to see some real horror stories, look up some frames with the "lifetime spray on" undercoatings that just trap water instead of displacing it. 2-3 year old frames completely rotted out. Nasty stuff.

 

[shibumiseeker]

One 99 Taco was bought back because of frame rust. One 01 Taco had the frame replaced (warranty) because of rust. I have an 05 Silverado that is slowly turning into a pile of rust in the field because the brake lines rusted away, but bits were falling off it and I was done throwing money at it after a transmission rebuild at 135k and various parts falling off due to rust. I now have an 01 Ford that has serious bed rail rust but otherwise is doing ok. I can’t not have a truck but I can’t afford to be throwing money at problems that should not exist.

 

[ws6guy]

I bought my 13 Silverado in 2015 and a significant portion of the wax undercoating was flaking off. I scraped off the loose undercoating, applied rust inhibitor and some spray paint. Then I did the oil undercoating for a few years but haven't done that for awhile. I crawled under the truck a couple weeks ago and man there is a lot more under coating gone and a lot of surface rust. It's not enough rust for me to worry about since I'll likely only keep the truck another year or two anyway. But I have no idea how someone thought it was a good idea to go with a wax undercoating. I think on the newer trucks they when back to paint.

 

[gregkl]

Ford had an issue with this as well.
A respected Ingo member traded out of his really good-looking ford when the dealer showed him the front frame was beyond repair and beyond dangerous. Seems it was a bit more common than most folks knew.
He bought a new Toyota.

And now he annually get's under his Toyota and treats the frame.

 

[gregkl]

I passed on a GM truck when I drove an hour to see it as the owner listed it as rust free. When I questioned him on the extensive amount of frame rust and why he said it was rust free, he just said," that is normal GM frame rust." Sheesh. I got in my car and left.

Neighbors/friends/family used to give me grief because every year I crawl under the car, scrub it clean and repaint it. I have never had the frame or underside of one of my vehicles rust. And I don't use undercoating.

I just hate rust that much that I'm willing to do that. The other side of that is that it is the rust that prevents me from buying an old squarebody or 60's era car to work on.

 

[Brandon]

Early 2000s Toyotas had the same problem to the point they had a class action suit filed against the company.

Chevy may have long term issues (my current whip turned 182,000 last week btw), but it's still not enough the cause me to consider a Ford. Nothing is enough to cause me to do that.

We had a 2020 chevy 700 miles on it, dealer replaced the engine.

My current 2020 chevy does not have functional interior dome lights. Straight from the factory. Transmission shifts like a beginner in a manual. Glad I dont pay for this crap.

 

[bobzilla]

Dads 03 has 230k miles and just starting to rust through the bed sides. Wife’s 06 Sierra has 130k and rockers are rusted and the bedside. Still tows great.

 

[Mongo59]

New diesels have the DEF system which is a nightmare. New $60K trucks that sit in the drive because of monthly DEF issues. For a lot of issues, buying new is not an answer just a new set of problems...

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I bought my 13 Silverado in 2015 and a significant portion of the wax undercoating was flaking off. I scraped off the loose undercoating, applied rust inhibitor and some spray paint. Then I did the oil undercoating for a few years but haven't done that for awhile. I crawled under the truck a couple weeks ago and man there is a lot more under coating gone and a lot of surface rust. It's not enough rust for me to worry about since I'll likely only keep the truck another year or two anyway. But I have no idea how someone thought it was a good idea to go with a wax undercoating. I think on the newer trucks they when back to paint.

I claim no expertise, but I've read the issue with the paint is it cracks as the frame flexes slightly then actually traps water/salt/what-have-you against the frame. That may or may not be BS, and I present it as such with no claim to its veracity.

 

[BE Mike]

I think that the drive through car washes that spray the undercarriage can help, if done once a week in the snowy regions. Keeping the truck garaged is a good thing too.

 

[stocknup]

I had a `96 Tacoma that the frame almost rusted in two , I bought a used `97 Tacoma before I found out the" buy back" program . Paid $5600 and 6 months later , Toyota gave me $9300 for it .
I now have a 2011 Tacoma ........seems like Toyota didn`t learn anything , I received a similar notice in the mail that mine needs inspected for frame rust and they are replacing entire sections of the frames if required .
I suspect all the manufactures have a common denominator .....(Chinese Steel ) ?

 

[stocknup]

I think that the drive through car washes that spray the undercarriage can help, if done once a week in the snowy regions. Keeping the truck garaged is a good thing too.

I bought my 2011 Tacoma new and has always been garaged . Frequent car washes with under spray .......
I also have every year got underneath and used about 3 cans of black rust oleum paint on all the frame areas I could reach .
I now know why rust showed up every year .

 

[BE Mike]

I bought my 2011 Tacoma new and has always been garaged . Frequent car washes with under spray .......
I also have every year got underneath and used about 3 cans of black rust oleum paint on all the frame areas I could reach .
I now know why rust showed up every year .

So you're saying that the Rustoleum paint actually hurt, rather than helped the situation?