Then there’s the bottom of his frame rail, which looked okay (see left image) but actually wasn’t, as Jamie found when administering a few light taps (he later cut the holes in the bottom of the frame to fit patch panels). As any good engineer would do, I then created a matrix of midsize SUVs that would be able to tow our desired camper and gave them weighted scores for different attributes. The top three vehicles were the Dodge Durango, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Toyota 4Runner, all of them with V8 engines. It then came down to the 2 factors I care about the most: Price and reliability. After some searching on the usual car sites, it was obvious that an 03-09 V8 4Runner was going to cost a lot less than the much newer WD/WK sisters. And with the “million mile” 2UZ-FE engine in the 4Runner along with a vastly less complicated electrical system, it was a no-brainer that the older Toyota would be more reliable than the newer Chryslers. So while I started hunting for the perfect 4Runner, my wife began searching for a camper. The summer of 2020 saw record RV sales nationwide as people saw camping to be a COVID-safe vacation plan. We couldn’t find a new or used trailer we wanted within at least 500 miles and it seemed people were at the mercy of dealers and putting down deposits to order new trailers to be built. We pretty much decided to go this route and my wife asked in a Facebook group dedicated to Michigan camping for recommendations of dealers in the Ann Arbor area that would be good to do business with. She got many recommendations for dealers, but one person commented and said that they were thinking about selling their camper rather than putting it in storage for the winter. It just so happened to be the exact model we were looking for and this person lived 20 miles from us. The camper was one year old, in perfect condition and they floated us a price that we knew was fantastic. We sealed the deal a few days later. However, I hadn’t even looked at a single 4Runner yet. Oof. So with all rear seats removed, the rear suspension airbags inflated to max pressure and an electric brake controller freshly installed, I headed 20 miles west to pick up the camper with the MPV odometer showing 304k miles on its all-original drivetrain. Should you tow a ~4,600 lbs trailer with a minivan that has a 3,000 lb maximum tow rating? No. Can it be done safely in a pinch for a short drive late in the evening with light traffic? Yes. Safety third, right? With the camper purchased and safely parked in the driveway a day before Thanksgiving, my urgency to buy a new tow vehicle was actually pretty low since we had no plans for winter camping. I figured I’d just keep an eye out and wait for the right 4Runner to show itself. At the time the only one I saw nearby worth possibly considering was a private seller who had traded it for some other vehicle and “hadn’t driven it all that much” and said “it seemed to run great.” Not an ideal candidate. I then realized that I had somehow forgotten about the OG of cheap used car listings, Craigslist. With low expectations I put in a search and saw this as the one local result:
268k was definitely more miles than desired but I figured for that price on a known-durable machine that was 45 minutes from home, it was definitely worth a look. Once I got there and took a drive, I knew it was the one. Plus the small used car dealer provided the Carfax report and it showed a long history of timely services that were primarily done at the Toyota dealership. The timing belt was fresh, the radiator was new, it had brand new wheels and Michelin tires, all fluids were clean and it drove like a dream. The interior showed a little wear but overall was in good shape with no funny odors. The only thing left was to get a look at the frame since I knew Toyotas of this vintage were known to have rust issues. With a small hammer in hand that I brought along I clunked on the frame in multiple areas and everything seemed quite solid. Sure, there was some visible surface rust here and there and I could tell there was fresh black spray paint on a lot of the visible areas but nothing that seemed to be hiding any defects and the same thing I’d do to make it look better to a potential buyer. $4,900 seemed more than fair so I took it home for that price. With it being early December and my small garage filled with kitchen renovation items, I didn’t have the opportunity to inspect it much more. A few weeks later we drove it to Chicago for Christmas and it did great, handling some snow along the way like a boss. I proudly showed it to my father-in-law and told him I’d much rather have something like a 4Runner that’s way more sensible to drive every day compared to his huge pickup truck. Since I could park in their garage while visiting, I ordered some “Woolwax” rustproofing spray to give the frame a coating and protect it from future corrosion. All was going well until I got underneath the rear of the vehicle. This is the bottom of the frame rail just behind the rear axle. This is not the sort of thing I want to see on a vehicle that’s going to haul my family and 5,000 lbs of camper to summer vacations. I understand a chassis swap is an incredibly in-depth job, having done one on a 3rd gen 4Runner… but have you considered it? I mean, if you’re all-in on keeping that 4th gen and are worried (as I would be) about the rust you can’t yet see & its impact on structural integrity… as left-field as it might sound, a frame swap is probably the safest choice. That or finding a rust-free 4th gen V8 4×4 w/a blown drivetrain (difficult) and swapping your drivetrain/interior/etc into it (which I’ve also done, with another 3rd gen). Anyway, I applaud the work you’ve already done but am concerned for the work which no doubt lies ahead in your battle against rust. I’m not sure what about my comment was fear mongering? I thinks it’s more than fair to ask “show your work” in good faith, not as a “gotcha!” but because you think it would be enlightening. My area of expertise is powertrain cooling but spent a lot of time in powertrain durability Seriously when I see pictures like I think the car is totalled. Just so crazy to rust like that . Much respect for the guy willing to put so much work into this.
