I'm probably going to get fluid film too but my concern is I regularly drive through underbody car washes and I don't think it's going to last long. I'm thinking about spraying it on places which show a little bit of rust and won't be under direct spray jets on a car wash though.

 

unfortunately I am in the same boat there's a good bit of surface rust on my under carriage. It has been a Northern Ohio vehicle so I'm sure its seen more than its fair share of snow.

I've scraped off the majority of what I could and am beginning to replace what's really rusty. As soon as the weather gets better I'm going to start removing and re-spraying parts. Its not something I want to see or that I've seen on any of my other vehicles.

 

What year is your GX? I've been reading over at Tacoma forums and they have some juicy pictures out there for sure... though Tacoma had known rust issues because Dana screwed up but there are reports that newer vehicles (2005+) have the same issue as well so who knows.

In the winter I run the truck weekly (weather permitting) through the undercarriage car wash and when spring comes I'll crawl underside and see what I've got after two Canadian winters. I do plan to spray all surface rust I find with rust converter + paint.

It's interesting how at Tacoma forums they say that Toyota started using plustic plugs on part of the frame in the rear wheels wells because road slush/salt was kicked inside the frame and it was rusting from inside out... I became curious enough and went to take a look at the GX and, indeed, the plastic frame plugs are used on the GX too!

 

It's surface rust, it's a truck, it's normal, who cares.

This happens on Mustangs all the time (since they essentially use a solid truck axel) and it's not a problem that has any real-world consequences.

But whatever lightens your wallet and helps you sleep at night....................................

 

I agree for the most part. My perspective is how hard it is to point a $12 spray can at something? I consider this to be having fun as part of the ownership.

 

Just take it to a rustproofing place... It cost me 120$ to do an RX, and a full size truck is more work, but even easier to spray than something unibody.

 

Do they still drill holes in the panels?

 

Depends where you go... I've had all three Lexus' in my family drilled, the plugs are tiny [3/8"] and they look like the factory plugs that some cars have nowadays, like a friends brand new STI, they drilled it and looks stock and not "out of place"...

Krown drills - unless you ask them not to, which ends up being an underbody spray, door hinges & under hood - no drilling, so nothing inside the doors or rocker panels. And it's quite a but cheaper for not drilling.

There's also RustCheck which is a drill-less system. I'd suggest looking this up on www.redflagdeals.com [since you're from Ontario] for best possible deal, there's always group buys too....

If you're in Toronto, there's tons of these places, even in little 'ole Ottawa, I had tens of choices easily.

 

try Fluid Film. Amazing stuff and sprays right on. its basically a high tech vaseline/grease that seals out everything. If i get another gx, i will Film the whole bottom again right away, especially the rear axle.

 

Hi guys, first post. Looking at a 2014 GX460 this week and decided to join the forum and poke around.

Isn't that normal surface rust? Happens on all cars on all exposed nongalvanized steel and iron bits. It's like the same surface rust that shows up on brake discs when the car sits outside for more than a week without driving it. It's a few microns thick, it would take decades of that to create a noticeable decrease in the thickness of the metal component. Just my 2 cents.

 

I had nothing better to do on the weekend and decided to crawl under the vehicle to see what's going on underneath. I live in Ontario which is a salt capital of the world and truck was already through two winters without me doing anything to the underbody except weekly car washes (includes undercarriage wash).

Parts where I've noticed rust got bigger:

1. Rear shock mounts (I think these looked the worst, I attribute it to the fact that they are relatively low hanging and get constantly bombarded by debris taking protective coating away).

So I've hit it with a rust encapsulating spray paint:



we'll see how well it's going to hold up


2. Rear differential cover was actually not too bad though did how signs of "bombardment" by the elements. Since I was crawling underneath anyways I hit the cover with the same stuff:



3. This part did show considerable rust build up/growth so I hit it as well:



Other small or hard to reach areas -- probably fluid film would be the best.

 

Wait until the rust on your 60K+ Lexus starts dripping rust on your driveway and garage. You neighbors can laugh at your for buying a new car with rusted parts. Go have a look under a Ford and see all the rusted parts they install. Don't worry, people are programmed to thinks it's OK to buy new cars with rusted parts. If you think it wrong to spend your hard earned cash on a car with rusted parts, well you are WRONG! and an Enemy of the New Society. The new Lexus slogan is, The Relentless Pursuit of semi-perfection and a few rusted parts.

 

Yes I think the factory frame paint is a complete garbage and a joke and is not suitable for anybody living in a "rust belt". I would gladly pay 1000$ more for a car with a properly painted frame but, of course, that 1000$ provides no value for anybody living in the south or places like Africa/Middle east where majority of these frames go to (as Prado).

 

quadro.
that doesnt look that bad. how long have you had your gx?
my rust started after just a few months. As soon as i get my new gx, i am applying fluid film all over underneath.

 

My GX is 1.5 years old and went through two Ontario winters so I also think it's not too bad but I decided to be a little bit on a proactive side and spray some low hanging fruits (keep in mind the pictures is after I sprayed the things). But I was mostly dying to crawl under the truck to learn more about it. Do you know where your fuel pump control module is located? :-)

My issue with fluid film is most of it will get washed away the first time I go to undercarriage car wash (which I do every week) so I decided to apply something more permanent. And I still need to check what's going on up front though rear is what usually receives the most beating.