100 series Rust -Actual Performance Failure (2 Viewers)

[LC neophyte]

I live in the Rust Belt (Indiana). I've had my '04 since new. Garage kept, dealer serviced, winter driven. No off road and only 115K . OEM Had '99 with 298K. 4th owner. Rust everywhere underneath. Ran like brand new, just eyesore under her garters.

Rust and corrosion live in the undercarriage of the '04, but at what point have other drivers experienced actual mechanical failure? I'm excluding the exhaust system which can be expected, and I don't consider rusted or corroded parts a mechanical failure, although a pain to work on. I would like to hear from folks who have actually experienced a mechanical failure from rusted mechanicals. What mileage? I would like to gauge the durability based on actual owners' experience.

When you live in a part of the country that has temperature swings of 120º over the year, the leaves are only on the trees for 6 months, and your L.C. has to slosh through rain, sleet, snow, and road brine, we deal with a much different metric than folks who have a climate more akin to Australia.

Is the Land Cruiser "worth its salt" in our harsh North American climes, or is it more suited for the Aussies and the Sheiks in Saudi Arabia?

Tell me your story when your Land Cruiser had failed performance specifically because of rust.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

Really vague question.

Those conditions like to eat metal, nothing is going to last forever, vehicles that see those conditions have a much shorter lifespan, no matter what you do. You could argue that since the LC is built with thicker sheet metal and generally built more heavy duty than other vehicles, all other things equal, that it is going to "last longer" considering that there is more metal to be eaten. A piece of 3" thick steel plate is going to last longer in those conditions than a 1/4" thick steel plate.

Things like torsion bar end links would likely fail a lot sooner, they are pretty high stress and once the material starts to be eaten... but those are not particularly tough to get to.

someone else can probably give you a better answer

 

[RND1]

Based on your title, I thought you were going to show us your actual performance failure due to rust! While undercarriage rust is a way of life in the salt belt, I have only heard of one 100 series where the rear cross member had rotted through (owner of Cruiser Solutions picked it up cheap when the customer didn't want to pay to have it repaired). I've seen lots of rusty tailgates and rear quarters in front of rear wheels where there's a nice factory made catch can for salt and debris. But all of that is cosmetic. The only actual performance failure is potentially the AHC sensor's don't seem to last as long up here in the salt belt, but not sure if rust or salt is the problem.

Mine has it's share of surface rust underneath, but I have it sprayed annually with Krown in an attempt to keep it from getting worse.

 

[Spike555]

I have lived in MI my whole life and have never seen any mechanical failure on any vehicle ever due to rust.
I have seen oil leaks because of rusted oil pans, body mounts rusted away, brake lines leaking, hole in the floor board, leaking windshields...but never a mechanincal failure.

 

[tacoduck]

if you hang out in the classifieds, you will see them. Both trucks that were sold for parts came from ohio. Both had big time frame failure. Rust is the only thing that will kill a UJZ 100. I actually think frame failure on these trucks due to rust is shockingly rare, especially compared to tacomas of the same vintage.

 

[Kabanstva]

My brother works as a service adviser at a Lexus dealership and they constantly have to replace "rear AC lines" on the LX470s. I believe he said it's an expensive repair that they charge thousands for. Aside from that I have not heard of anything else "rotting out" or rendering the truck unsafe to drive or inoperable. Like you said, it makes it alot more of a pain to work on, but I have not heard of any frames breaking.

They did have a GX470 (04-05 model) with low miles (under 70k) that sat outside for the last two years and the new buyer of the vehicle brought it in for service.... he said they put it on their 2-post shop lift to inspect what areas may need work and the frame broke on it because of how bad the rot was. Customer had it towed away (assuming to a junk yard, not sure what happened with it). Crazy stuff. I have heard these stories about Tacomas with their crappy Dana frames but never on a fully boxed Japanese frame.

 

[slowpok3]

2002 LX470. Second owner, bought it 5 years ago, the truck has been in VA and MD its entire life. 130K. I've never done any undercarriage treatment at all.

Rust Casualties thus far:
Rear AC line went in May - $1100 at an independent mechanic.
AHC line dissolved in June - after replacing a sensor last year, I said no more and it's getting an OME setup now. Buddy is doing the work, he's suggested replacing the transmission crossmember.

I regret buying an East Coast truck. Once I get it back, I've got to decide whether I ditch it or start trying to clean up the frame rust.

 

[flintknapper]

I have lived in MI my whole life and have never seen any mechanical failure on any vehicle ever due to rust.
I have seen oil leaks because of rusted oil pans, body mounts rusted away, brake lines leaking, hole in the floor board, leaking windshields...but never a mechanincal failure.

No parking brakes? (cables, levers, etc..)

 

[Spike555]

No parking brakes? (cables, levers, etc..)

Parking brakes seize from lack of use, so technically that is a failure I guess.
I take his meaning of failure as you are using it and at that moment it fails due to rust causing a safety issue.

But I do not know of any one who uses their parking brake, we have to use ours at work because there is a warning beeper and lights that flash on the dash if you do not use it. But those parking brakes are a large drum on the output shaft of the transmission.

But no, never had a mechanincal failure doe to rust.

 

[Fish929]

Last week I was driving home from the movies with my kids. ‘99 LX with 185k, spent most of its life in the DC area. In the parking lot of the movies someone backed out in front of me so slammed the brakes at maybe 6mph. No big deal. A half mile later driving home put my foot on the brake, sank to the floor, nothing. Now panic mode. Cars in front of us at the stop light, 40mph, heading downhill, no way to stop. Down shifted to 2nd, then 1st, then whipped it into a side street which luckily was slightly uphill. Coasted to a stop and slammed it in park. Rusted brake line had blown. Fluid everywhere. Puddling on the ground front and rear, smoke coming off the engine from the splattered fluid. With my kids in the car, not a fun experience. Just plain rusted through and failed. Could’ve been killed.

 

[unfast]

.

 

[flintknapper]

Last week I was driving home from the movies with my kids. ‘99 LX with 185k, spent most of its life in the DC area. In the parking lot of the movies someone backed out in front of me so slammed the brakes at maybe 6mph. No big deal. A half mile later driving home put my foot on the brake, sank to the floor, nothing. Now panic mode. Cars in front of us at the stop light, 40mph, heading downhill, no way to stop. Down shifted to 2nd, then 1st, then whipped it into a side street which luckily was slightly uphill. Coasted to a stop and slammed it in park. Rusted brake line had blown. Fluid everywhere. Puddling on the ground front and rear, smoke coming off the engine from the splattered fluid. With my kids in the car, not a fun experience. Just plain rusted through and failed. Could’ve been killed.

^^^^^

I'd say that qualifies as a 'failure' and I suspect you would have been happy to have had a well operating Parking/Emergency brake to help slow you down...though @Spike555 might disagree.

 

[LC neophyte]

It seems that the brake lines and the rear A/C lines are vulnerable in temperate or Rust Belt areas. From my experience, I would say around the 15 year mark these lines start to go. I wonder if anyone just replaces pre-emptively, like we buy new tires before we get a blowout. But, might be expensive undertaking.

BTW, did you use or think of using the parking brake when you had failure?

 

[flintknapper]

It seems that the brake lines and the rear A/C lines are vulnerable in temperate or Rust Belt areas. From my experience, I would say around the 15 year mark these lines start to go. I wonder if anyone just replaces pre-emptively, like we buy new tires before we get a blowout. But, might be expensive undertaking.

BTW, did you use or think of using the parking brake when you had failure?

^^^^^

It's a good idea to keep them in good working order. While not intended to be an 'emergency' brake....a properly working/adjusted parking brake system could make the difference in being able to stop (eventually) or not.

The brake system on the 100 series is susceptible to 100% failure in a couple of different ways (not just related to brake line failure).

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Here are common failure pointsI have noticed in mid west trucks
1) brakes lines
2) AHC lines
3) rear AC line
4) parking brakes cables
5) rear cross memver
6) front swaybar link mount on passenger side
7) gas tank shield
8) exhaust
9) rust around windshield causing water leaks. At least one lower mileage truck was totalled due to the water leak
10) rear tailgate/hatch
11) AHC globes
12) under belly plate

That's just all without including less common failures.

 

[hickuptruck]

Here are common failure pointsI have noticed in mid west trucks
1) brakes lines
2) AHC lines
3) rear AC line
4) parking brakes cables
5) rear cross memver
6) front swaybar link mount on passenger side
7) gas tank shield
8) exhaust
9) rust around windshield causing water leaks. At least one lower mileage truck was totalled due to the water leak
10) rear tailgate/hatch
11) AHC globes
12) under belly plate

That's just all without including less common failures.

Yeah just about nailed them all. The front sway bar casually coming off if one of them, also attributed to the AC drains onto the rusty bracket. Usually on a rusty rig, most of the rust you'll see is in the back third of the undercarriage.

 

[Fish929]

Yea I used the emergency brake to slow us down, as well. Anyone know what all is involved to replace all the brake lines? I bought this as a beater to haul stuff around, just wasn’t expecting a full brake failure. Has anyone replaced the brake lines? Ballpark cost? Thanks guys!

 

[KFunk740]

I recently replaced all the hard lines, after I had one bust. Got all pre-bent from the dealership, for like $260 total, and a full miserable day in the garage. See a thread I recently posted about my experience.

What to expect when you blow a rear brake line, and other rusty experiences.

I knew one of the rusty hard lines was going to go sometime, and even had a new one on the shelf (big one from front to rear), and just hadn't gotten around to it due to work/family. I'm in Ohio and the LC spent time in Chicago, she's rusty. All of the hardlines were a bit rusty, and I'd hoped...

forum.ih8mud.com

I've also had the main fuel line rust through near the gas tank.

 

[KFunk740]

You can also use Nickel Copper tubing to replace all the brake lines for cheap. NiCopp is cheap and very flexible and easy to flare, and much more rust resistant. However, it does take some work to measure, bend, flare it, etc. Also, there's those weird big coils in the engine bay which I wouldn't be sure how to bend exactly, or if they're even necessary. I saw it as easier to just get all the OEM lines and slide them in there.