Suspension Noise problems of the 2000 Toyota Tacoma

After receiving a recall notice for a rusted frame in 2008 our 2000 Tacoma was inspected and said to be ok. Recently the vehicle was making noise in the rear end, so we brought the vehicle to a mechanic, who informed us there was significant rust to the frame and the back suspension mount was completely detached, leaving the truck unable to be driven. The inital noise was noticed while the vehicle was driving straight on a highway.

The contact owns a 2000 Toyota Tacoma. While driving 15 mph, an abnormal dragging noise was heard coming from the rear of the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the lower ball joint failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact mentioned NHTSA campaign number: 05v225000 (suspension). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 177,000.

Last summer, 2009, noticed that my brakes, which were only a year old, seemed to not be operating efficiently. Upon inspection of the vehicle I discovered gear oil had been coming out of the rear axle, spraying all over the passenger side brakes and tire. I had to replace the rear axel seal and ruined brake shoes. Bought the vehicle Toyota certified used in December of 2003. Recently in 2010 I noticed that my frame appeared as though it had a lot of dirt on it, so I tried to spray it off with a high powered washer, it turned out to b rust not dirt. I recently moved to California and I am still settling in, when I hear a loud banging sound coming from somewhere under my truck. I wondered if it had anything to do with the rust so I typed in rust and Toyota on google and discovered a customer warranty program issued by Toyota on 1995-2000 model Tacomas for rust perforation. I was never notified and my car is still registered in one of the applicable states, pennsylvania. I contacted customer service and took the car to be inspected, the dealer said my car passed rust perforation test but could not locate noise. I was shocked as the noise is unmistakable. After leaving the dealer I took the car to a friend who knows a little more about vehicles then me, we crawled under the truck and he was able to point out a broken leaf spring that appeared to be rusted and grinding heavily into my passenger side shock. The dealer let me drive off their lot with my truck like that and the leaf spring is attached to the frame which they claimed to have inspected! not only this but the tech also checked off suspension as green! this is extremely dangerous, what if the broken leaf spring had swung in the other direction and jabbed into my tire? Toyota is not offering to fix the problem under the warranty despite the fact this broken leaf spring issue is well documented across the nation.