Hi Yota Community,
I've been visiting this site for almost a year now and have finally found the urge to jump in. I am a recently converted Chevy man that traded up to a 92 4Runner. As I admire all your beautiful rigs, I'm noticing that everyone has shiny bumpers and rims whereas mine look like this. The bumpers got exponentially worse in the last year and the rims have always looked like worms were eating them. Could someone explain to me what is going on. And how about posting pictures some of your rusty bumpers. They can't all be shiny.

 

the bumpers are rusting and the chrome is lifting off the steel underneath. nothing to do about that other than restore or replace them. looks like a good excuse for some tubular bumpers.
the wheels are clear coated and the coating is flaking off. nothing to do other than strip the clear coat, polish and re-clear coat them or don't coat them and keep on polishing them every once and a while. or replace them with aftermarket rims.
it's sort of a normal thing for bumpers and wheels to deteriorate in either case.

 

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I can't afford either of those upgrades in the near future. Is there anything I can do to slow the progress or is it true that "rust never sleeps"

 

you could try a rust inhibitor on the bumper.
as for the wheels, it's no big thing. losing the clear coat only dulls the shine. it won't hurt the wheels.

 

Welcome to the yota family

Well, your SR5 wheels are aluminum. They are corroding, which is pretty normal. Mine were pretty bad so I just bought a set of 100 dollar steelies.
I would either strip everything off and polish them (almost free).
Or just leave them alone and save for different wheels.

The rear bumper rust is very normal. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesnt spread onto the body.

Toyota's like to rust, the engine will usually keep going even though the body has rusted off.

Just keep an eye on all rust areas, hit them with rust paint to slow it down. I usually go around my truck once every few months and touch up all the rusty areas with rust paint.

 

Thanks for the advice and welcome
I think I'll leave the wheels for now. I foresee black steelies in my future!
It's a shame about the bumpers. I use to drive a 85 K5 Blazer and it had original bumpers on it that still shined like new. Oh well, that's the trade off horrible mileage vs rusty bumpers. I foresee custom bumper with spare tire mount in my future.
I'll have to do a search on how to do minor rust repairs and touch ups. I don't want the body turning to swiss cheese. If anyone can help narrow my search, this newbie would greatly appreciate it.

 

Well how minor are you talking about? On little patches you can simply sand down the rust with some 220 gritt (or similar) and then apply rust paint to slow the rust down.

OR you can go get some POR15, this stuff only comes in black but if you follow the instructions to a T, it can stop rust right in its tracks.

 

just to let you know ..
http://toyotafiberglass.com sells rear replacement chrome bumper ends (steel) @$90.00 each .

 

Thanks again for the advice and links.
Here's what I mean by minor rust. Is it better to address it now or leave it alone? I'm not familiar with POR15, I've been using Tremclad, how do they compare?

 

Well, por15 is MUCH stronger then tremclad. Its a little difficult to apply and costs about 50 bucks a quart.

I would tape off that rusty area, sand it down to rust and give it a few shots of red tremclad That should slow it down till you are ready to do some real body work.

 

Jay351, you are a Toyota guru!
Whether its fuel filler necks, rusty panels, or grill swaps you've got all the answers. Its this depth of knowledge base that keeps me coming back for answers. Thanks Yotatech!