Rusted Frame

I had my 96 Rodeo in for some collision work. While they had it up on the lift, they found a section of the frame up front, passenger side that was rusted through. I had them do a repair to this section, where they grinded out the bad stuff and welded in soem solid metal. I was told that there is alot of rust on other sections of the frame as well.

Is this a common problem with the Rodeo frame rusting? Do you have any recommendations? How effective are the frame repairs? Could this frame rust be the ultimate demise of my beloved Rodeo?

Thanks,

Gary

I had the exact same problem. Had the Rodeo on a lift for exhaust repairs and discovered that the framwas rusted straight through in that location. An inspection of the car yielded no further areas of concern. I brought it back the next morning and had it welded up. They removed all rust and cleaned the surfaces and boxed in the frame up to the closest crossmember and coated the entire undercarriage - Total cost: $70. (Exhaust repairs were another $40.)

660Ryder,

You got a good price on that frame work. Was that done at a dealer or private shop? My frame repair cost $300!

Gary

It was done at a welding company, "Plainville General Welding" in CT. My brother owns a construction business and patronizes the establishment frequently. I mentioned to the owner that I was so-and-so's brother; he said he would take care of me. I am not sure what it would cost to get it done otherwise, but I know that I got a heck of a deal.

There was a guy on here not long ago who gave up his Rodeo due to extensive frame rust/rot. He said the rest of the truck was in good shape. I don't have that problem since I moved from Moodus to SW FL!

I too have just very recently noticed some slight frame rusting occuring. This has been a harsh winter here in Colorado too.

If you live where they use salt on the roads in winter the frame will eventually rot out till its complety gone. They rust from the inside. Its not so much an isuzu thing (lots of other vehicles with the same thing) as a salt thing.

Since they dont use salt here in colorado we dont have so much rust problem. Though dirt etc can build up inside and trap the water causing it to rust eventually.

Its drving me nuts not being able to wash mine for the last 2 months with snow every week. Can wash it but then just have to drive in the snow and melt as soon as you're done. My wheels are really looking bad where the clear has come off and the mag chloride is attacking it.

I've still been spray washing mine at least once a week; I don't care if it gets nasty again within a few minutes, at least it gets the build up off.

It's ruining the lugs on my new wheels, very slowly.

I think my slight, slight traces of rust on the suspension components has come from having the truck literally submerged in water quite a bit during it's lifetime with taking the boat in/out of the water, driving through riverbeds, canyonlands/streams when we lived in the desert and all the trips east and north during winter hasn't helped.

We calculated the other day, this Rodeo has been to 30 different states in the 10yrs we've owned it. Held up pretty darn good I must say.

There was a guy on here not long ago who gave up his Rodeo due to extensive frame rust/rot. He said the rest of the truck was in good shape. !

Ah, that would be me.
Yes, it still hurts. I especially miss the Rodeo this time of year, since it would effortlessly get me up an unplowed dirt road hill whenever I needed.

I was quoted over $1000 to repair all the undercarriage rust damage to the point of getting 2-3 more years of service out of it. Extensive welding and fabrication was needed. It's not just the frame, it's the electrical sensors, wiring, fan clutch, fasteners, heck - anything that isn't in the passenger cabin that gets exposed to the salt you would eventually have to replace too. When all those things start to go, it nickel and dimes you and causes headaches and reliability issues.
Is it common in these cars? Since last fall I have looked at three Rodeo's as possible purchases, but all of them were showing signs of frame rust. I can tell you - once it becomes visible it deteriorates fast.
I'd buy one from down south/out west in a minute though.
Tom

Not nearly as common as it is in a Toyota. By the time my late Toy had barely 100k/5yrs on it's life, it was already 80% rusted out on the frame. Lasted another 15yrs though.

My '04 Tacoma already has slight signs of rust, and as far as I know this is a Colorado truck from the start.

My 99 Rodeo LS has only 86,000 mi and yesterday the driver's side differential, trailing arm/rod connector bracket pulled right out of the frame while driving. Luckily at only going about 35mph when I lost control of the vehicle temporarily, but if I would have been on an expressway traveling at 65-70mph I surely would have been killed or killed someone else as a result of total loss of control.

This happens with little warning as in my case I noticed a handling problem
a few days before this where seams or irregularities in the road would cause some darting to the left or right. It felt like tie rod ends were loose or a steering/pittman arm.

When this trailing arm separates from the frame the entire differential could twist either forward or back at enough of an angle as to steer the vehicle into oncoming traffic or into the ditch or trees etc. and possibly separate from the vehicle itself if enough force were applied through braking or acceleration

This is an extremely dangerous problem and all Rodeo/Passport owners should definitely be aware of and have their frame inspected.
I can tell you that losing control of your vehicle in this manner is one hell of a hair raising experience.

My 99 Rodeo is in excellent condition and runs great and I figure it's got another 100K left on it so I'm going to rebuild the frame rails on both sides, reinforce the suspension pick up point brackets on both rear trailing arms and anything else that looks questionable. I have welding equipment and a shop at my home and I believe I can accomplish this myself.

:uhoh: Watch out for this problem as this one is extremely dangerous.

Jim Barber

I'm glad you were able to regain control while driving. Well that sounds just like what could have happened to mine. It was in the same location that the rust was the worst. Two + years have gone by and I still miss that Rodeo. It was by far the best 4 wheel drive vehicle I owned. It suited my application just fine.
Jim B., you are fortunate that you have the skills and shop to repair that frame rust.
Keep it on the road. Thumbs up!

(p.s. - I know of three people who were able to get a substantial $$$ check from Toyota to replace their Tacoma trucks due to frame rust. 150% of retail value. One truck was 10 years old. )

Tom

i am having the exact problems with the frame rusting on my 01 passport. The rear of the frame, after the rear axle is getting really bad. I was working on it today and found i can push through the frame with my finger it is rusted so bad. The frame in front of the axle is rusted but at least it is not rusted through at any point. I also saw the bracket that holds up my gas tank is rusted completely off. At least there are other bolts still holding it on so it is not going anywhere. This makes me sick to think of this frame problem. I was hoping to get at least 3-4 more years out of it. I dont know if i can get anyone to try to weld something up or not. I will start checking around. or may end up parting out a really nice passport!

That's a darn shame! I have not had that prob with my '01 Passport, but it's spent it's life in relatively salt-free climes.

Although, were you aware that this frame rust problem is so prevalent, and so many complaints have been filed (at least 38 from '01 Passport owners) with NHTSA that an "engineering analysis" has been launched to investigate? Go here to search for the open investigation:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/defects/results.cfm

I'd be real surprised if anything comes of it (this is the gubment we're talking about here!), but who knows? Here's the current open ODI:

NHTSA Action Number: N/A
NHTSA Recall Campaign Number: EA09018</SPAN> N/A Make: ISUZU Model: RODEO Manufacturer : HONDA (AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO.) Year : 2001Component :
SUSPENSION:REAR
Date Investigation Opened : December 7, 2009
Date Investigation Closed : Open
Summary:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/images/spacer.gif DURING PRELIMINARY EVALUATION PE09-030, ISUZU MOTORS AMERICA, INC (ISUZU) NOTED TWO PRIMARY DIFFERENCES ONCE THE REAR SUSPENSION LOWER LINK SEPARATION OCCURS BETWEEN THE ALLEGED DEFECT (SEPARATION OF THE LOWER LINK FROM THE FRAME) OF THIS INVESTIGATION AND A SAFETY DEFECT INVOLVING LOWER LINK SEPARATION FROM THE REAR AXLE ADDRESSED BY ISUZU IN SAFETY RECALL 00V-058. IN THE CASE OF THE DEFECT CONDITION IDENTIFIED IN RECALL 00V-058, ISUZU STATED THAT THE ATTACHMENT BOLT COULD DETACH FULLY, CAUSING SEPARATION OF THE LOWER LINK FROM THE REAR AXLE POSSIBLY CREATING A LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL. ISUZU ALSO STATED THAT THIS CONDITION OCCURS EARLY IN THE SERVICE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE. IN THIS INVESTIGATION ISUZU NOTED LOWER LINK SEPARATION FROM THE FRAME IS A PROGRESSIVE CORROSION ISSUE WITH PRIOR WARNING TO CONSUMERS. ISUZU ALSO STATED THAT IN THE EVENT OF A LOWER LINK SEPARATION FROM THE FRAME, THE VEHICLE IS STILL CONTROLLABLE AND CAN BE SAFELY STOPPED. THE OFFICE OF DEFECT INVESTIGATION (ODI) ANALYZED COMPLAINT DATA PROVIDED BY ISUZU AND AMERICA HONDA MOTOR COMPANY, INC (HONDA), AS WELL AS VEHICLE OWNER QUESTIONNAIRES SUBMITTED TO ODI FROM CONSUMERS. IN TOTAL, THERE WERE 60 UNIQUE REPORTS OF LOWER LINK SEPARATIONS FROM THE FRAME INCLUDING 1 ALLEGED CRASH AND 7 LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL INCIDENTS THAT MAY BE RELATED TO THE ALLEGED DEFECT. MOST OF THESE COMPLAINTS INDICATED THAT THERE WAS NO WARNING PRIOR TO THE LINK SEPARATION. PRELIMINARY EVALUATION PE09-030 HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS TO FURTHER ASSESS THE SCOPE, FREQUENCY AND RISK TO MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY OF THE ALLEGED DEFECT IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.

There is a facebook page dedicated to the problem . . http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=187031801231

Had the same problem, one day I was driving back from about 50 miles away and it started to steer weird about 3 miles from home. Looked in the mirror and saw the tire acting up, so I pulled over and looked at it with both shock and amazement... Made it somewhere safe and had it towed, my dad cut the rust out and welded in some new pieces to reattach to. Now i monitor the Passanger side every oil change to make sure it isn't getting rusted out like the other side..

When it comes down to it though, the car companys are making products that break. They want to sell you a new car 10 years down the road, they don't want it to last forever. How much would it cost to do simple things, like make the exhaust out of stainless instead of regular steel. But then we would never have to replace the thing. Powder coat the frame so it has a nice shell not some crappy undercoating. Especially with how much we pay for cars nowadays things should be a little better

Hey Everyone,

It made the news!

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/investigative/23464177/detail.html

Everyone owning the afflicted cars should file a complaint.

I hope I didn't break any rules by posting that link.

I couldn't agree more! Wouldn't it be great if they made cars to last longer than they do by using more stainless steel or by powder coating the frames. Short of that, the best thing I've found for preserving or restoring automobile frames is the frame kit from Master Series. You can protect your entire frame for about $65. Check it out at www.nomorerust.com (http://www.nomorerust.com)