1996 toyota t100 with approx 77000 miles, rarely driven, garage kept and well cared for, cannot pass safety inspection due to unusual amount of rust on frame, control arms, underbody components, rear bumper. Am concerned if vehicle is in an accident, it will disintegrate and cause bodily injury or death to driver and passenger, or if structure fails while vehicle is in motion it can cause harm to other drivers/passengers. Toyota left this model out of the recall but these are the exact same issues reported with tacoma and tundra of same model year range. Truck would run forever if not for excessive rust. You can do better toyota, so do better.
Toyota T100 ball joint problems
11 of the 320 owner complaints about the Toyota T100 describe ball joint or control arm failure, most of them for the 1997 model year.
- owner complaints
- 11
- worst model year
- 1997
- typical mileage
- 92,663
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
- 19977
- 19963
- 19951
Often reported together
What owners say
Severly bad frame rot holes! By the control arms and was told that the frame can snap at any given moment I cant tow anything with the truck anymore for the fact that the back half the frame is also rotted away to wear if I put a trailer on it the frame will probably snap no were on the frame is solid its a shame the truck runs and drives fantastic but I will no longer drive it for the fact of having a rotted out frame and will snap soon
I was returning from a short trip and the driver's side control arm broke while traveling down the road at approx. 35 MPH. The frame, body and steering components are all riddled with rust. I have replaced numerous parts that had failed due to rust, including a fuel pump whose design trapped moisture and road salt on top of the fuel tank until fuel was leaking on the roadway. The rear bumper rusted off. Toyota trucks of similar type and year have been recalled because of similar problems, but not the 1996 t100. Toyota forums are filled with the same issue with this vehicle. I have owned this vehicle since it was brand new.toyota will not back this product.
Tl* the contact owns a 1997 toyota t100. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH the front lower control arm broke in half. The vehicle was driven to the dealer who stated it was rusty and corroded and the vehicle was inoperable. They will not repair the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 173,818.
Vehicle fuel lines had rusted and leaked gasoline necessitating replacement approx 1 year ago. Currently, as of 06/18/2012, there is "excessive rust for miles and age of car" (on entire frame and suspension components per mechanic exam). The lower control arms have holes caused by rust that could affect control of vehicle. This is similar to recall of same vintage toyota tacoma pickup trucks.
Mechanically this truck is very sound, but the frame and many parts are rusting excessively. When I first bought the truck I had it undercoated. This didn't last long and I've had to replace the control arms, the load sensing proportioning valve and was recently told that I am at risk of not being inspected in july due to the rust on the frame. The vehicle only has 153,000 miles on it and it should still run strong, but the frame may make it impossible to get my value out of the vehicle. I feel like I wasted my money on a toyota product that used to have a good reputation.
I own a 1996 toyota t100 4wd truck. The truck has 130k miles and runs excellent and has very little body rust. However, it will not pass inspection because of extensive frame corrosion and extreme corrosion to the lower control arms and cab mounts in the form of rust. There are numerous holes in the frame and lower control arms and the rust chips fall off in large chunks.
While backing out of the driveway consumer heard a loud noise, and then loss steering control. Consumer inspected the vehicle, and found that the tie rod broke. Vehicle was towed to the dealer, and they confirmed that tie rod broke. Consumer had the parts available for analysis.*ak the consumer was told by the dealer that the steering rod broke. The consumer stated that the cast iron rod broke just above the brake.
While driving 25 MPH, the vehicle started veering to the left, the vehicle then hit an embankment and turned over. The tie rod was severed through. The manufacturer stated that the tie rod broke when the vehicle tipped over.
The central steering linkage that connects the tie rods was defective. This defect resulted in a total loss of steering. Fortunately the steering linkage rod failed as I turned into the driveway. I saved the rod for further analysis if you wish to retrieve the rod. The auto shop that repaired the vehicle had not seen this defect, and it appeared that the rod was manufactured about 80% separated. Despite this, it required almost 6 years for the rod to fracture. The 80% that was not solid was never completely formed. Minutes before the failure , I was returning from the hospital, and the speed limit was 55 MPH. Had this failure occurred on the road I would have had a catastrophic steering failure and resulted in an accident and possibly much worse. I am concerned that other similar vehicles could have this defect and lead to accidents, and or fatalities.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Toyota T100 ball joint
Which Toyota T100 years have ball joint or control arm failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1997 (7 complaints), 1996 (3 complaints) and 1995 (1 complaints).
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