Body problems of the 1996 Toyota 4Runner

My 1996 Toyota 4runner suffers from excessive rust that caused me to be have a horrible loss of vehicle control due to the frame excessively cracking. The cracking was due to what an independent research company stating that the right-rear frame rail cracked and separated from the frame due to excessive rusting. The independent research company pointed to numerous known reporting's on the internet as a common occurrence of this vehicle. I made a personal call to Toyota customer care and was told that they logged my complaint but that they would not cover any claims herein to help in fixing the issue. My vehicle only had approximately 137,000 miles at the time of the incidence. The occurrence happened when I was traveling on an interstate at approximately 65 miles per hour. I crossed an area that had standing water (not deep by any means mind you) and the rear end completely shifted out to the right of me and caused me to spin. This water went across all three lanes and no one else experienced anything like I did. The vehicle completely spun around and I ended up in the emergency lane facing head on at oncoming traffic. I was fortunate that no one was injured or hit in the incident. However, the vehicle was not safe to drive due to the separation from the frame after this. I am uploading the results of the independent assessment stating their findings and showing pictures of what has happened.

While cornering in city driving I heard a clunking noise and investigated when I arrived home. The frame has corrosion at the right rear trailing arm bracket. The bracket was rusted away from the frame at the top but still attached at the bottom. The bracket and frame were welded with addtional metal. I checked the rest of the frame and noticed there is also a hole in the crossmember below the drivers seat and other larger rusted holes along the frame. This is a major safety concern. I will have to take it to a frame shop as Toyota says there is no recall on the 4runner only the tacoma and tundra. I know many other 3rd generation 4runner owners who have the same problem. The vehicle body has no rust other than a small surface area at the drivers door rocker panel and near the windshield. The vehicle is very well maintained.

Traveling nb approaching green light and a car ran red light in intersection. The car on sb swerved on miss them, hit them anyway and hit me head on. Both on their air bags went off and mine did not. I am still in physical therapy for partial rotator cuff tear, sprained neck, back, shoulder, elbow and I still cannot use right arm from elbow down. I have not worked since the accident. I want to know why my air bags did not go off.

Tl- the contact owns a 1996 Toyota 4runner. The contact stated that while driving at 40 mph, the vehicle began to wobble uncontrollably. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the vehicles frame on the drivers side had completely rusted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 224,000. Wh.

I was driving down the highway with my son in the car when I heard a loud noise coming from the passenger side of the truck and immediately followed with a loss of control. Luckily it was in the afternoon and rush hour had yet to hit so the nearest cars/trucks were able to avoid me. I limped to the side of the highway and looked under the truck only to see that the frame rail on the passenger side had completely snapped in half. Upon further inspection it had clearly rusted from the inside out. I have kept the truck in excellent shape, regular maintenance, etc and even checked for rust since I knew this was an issue. However since it rusted from the inside out, I had never even noticed. Got it towed to the dealer who would proceed to inform me that the only fix for it was a new frame. Perfect 4runner, low miles, with excellent care taken to make sure it would last 300k, and now its worth less than a rotten banana. Talk about a punch to the face. Im just thankful my family and I were not hurt in this mess. Ive read about the constant rust issues with these trucks and I pray that it doesnt hurt an entire family somewhere in the future other than their wallet.

The contact owns a 1996 Toyota 4runner. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, an abnormal noise was present from the driver side rear wheel area. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who advised that the metal bar that held the rear axle was rusted and became detached from the frame. The contact was informed that the defect was not repairable. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 186,000.

The contact owns a 1996 Toyota 4runner. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer who confirmed corrosion of the frame on the rear passenger side of the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 250,864 and the current mileage was 250. 884.

I had a mechanic replacing rotors on brakes and when I went to pick it up today, he told me the entire underside of my vehicle was rusting away. He advised me to avoid hitting any holes or bumps in the road since the frame supporting the gas tank is very damaged from rust. He stated that he would not trust driving it very far distances since things were going to start falling off underneath.

The frame on my 96 4 runner limited is rusting from the inside out approximately 1 foot long on the drivers side by the gas tank where the rear body mount and trailing arm meet the frame. Both inside and outside frame rails are rotted through. My 4 runner body is in perfect condition with no rust. The rest of the frame is in good condition with only minimal surface rust. Without periodic inspection it would never be known that a problem existed because the rest of the vehiclee is near perfect condition.

Excessive frame corrosion. Vehicle unsafe to drive.

My 4 runner has an extremely rotted frame that renders the vehicle unsafe to drive. The rest of the vehicle is in excellent condition. Toyota says their sorry but this problem doesn't warrant a repair or recall. Just a little investigating indicates that their are many unhappy 4 runner owners with the same exact problem. I know that their tacoma truck was recalled for frame rot problems and mechanics have told me that both frames are very similar.