Frame rust on a 97

[Curse]

Hey, so typically I lurk in the 79-95 gen section, but my friend just got back from Iraq and his mom bought him a 97 taco.

I live in Idaho so I wasn't expecting much rust... however, I look underneath the truck today and the rear driveshaft is covered in rust, and so is practically all of the frame and front end (suspension mounts, etc). The t-case crossmember is also covered in rust. The T-case and transmission themselves are rust free though.

I'm hoping this is just surface rust... but what could have caused this, and is it likely to cause problems? I can get some pics if needed.

 

[Curse]

That bad eh? 20 views and no replies >.<

 

[FLYINGLOW]

Pics please! Just cause you're in Idaho doesn't mean its from there originally, may have seen heavily sanded and salted roads, might have seen alot of dirt roads to chip off the paint. How clean is the frame inside and in all the little spots that hold dirt? If there is lots there then it should all be cleaned out really good and it would expain the rust. I'm not sure what to undercoat it with to stop the rust. I haven't tried it but a guy I know uses chain oil (for a chain saw), graphite and thins it down with solvent. He uses the good oil, not enviromentally friendly stuff. The good stuff contains phosphates to stop rust. He is from the east coast so he knows rust! Some sort of mixture of Ed's Red might work similarly.

The tranny and tcase are aluminium, al oxide doesn't show up as ugly as iron oxide.

 

[Jetboy]

first thing I'd look at is the bottom of the seats. If the wires under the seats are rusted it's probably been either in a very wet climate or under water. Lots of east coast vehicles that you have to be careful of. I looked a 4runner a couple months ago. been in Utah all it's life says the dealer.... well maybe in the lake? you could see the paint around the bottoms of all the doors begining to boil and every metal part inside had rust indicating it's been in water, probably salt water, somewhere. The underside from any midwest vehicle would look like that also.
The 4runner still ran great BTW, it would have been a great rig to start a build on, but not for anywhere near retail.

Best bet would be running a carfax and see where it has been registered.