2003 Toyota Tundra brakes problems

Filed Sep 17, 2025 · Brakes, Steering · IL

I need to have rear shock replaced. They found that the bracket holder rusted thru . Shock was fine . The Rear frame corrosion and separation, spare tire frame corrosion is really bad. I have had this truck since 2004 . I absolutely love my truck. I am deeply saddened that all the care I took still didn’t prevent all this damage .

Filed Jun 16, 2025 · Brakes · TX

Well I finally paid off my 2003 Toyota Tundra and I wanted to really just get a really good tune up when I say really go I mean oil change spark plugs plug wires brakes tires everything , So as they go to check my tires and brake They said that the brakes on the front didn't even go to my truck the rotors everything and that is a really big issue so now I can't get my front brakes repaired because they don't understand why those parts are on my vehicle when they shouldnt be and I need to know what to do?

Filed Aug 16, 2024 · Brakes, Suspension · KS

The frame has failed by rusting through and continues to the brake line. It is available for inspection. The truck is no longer safe to drive due to the rust and brake issues. The truck frame could have failed in traffic causing harm to myself and other drivers. The problem has been confirmed by Yingling’s in Topeka, KS, Lewis Toyota in Topeka and Crown Toyota in Lawrence, KS. They have all done inspections of the truck frame. The problem first appeared when it was taken to Yinglings in 2018 to replace the muffler.

Filed Sep 26, 2022 · Brakes · WI

I just bought a 2003 toyota tundra 4wd v8 in Feb 2022 totally unaware of any recalls or frame rust or anything even closely related! After 6 months of owing this vehicle I had the wheel bearings replaced n mechanic told me my frame has so much damage due to rust n corrosion that it is eating through parts of my frame, he mentioned that toyota did recalls etc on this n I immediately called Toyota and told them along with doing research on this matter, I was told everything expired etc n nothing can be done! Well previous owner had took it in 2012 to have rust proofing done underneath n entire frame, that was just 10 years ago! Well toyota ways recall was done, apparently the remedy didnt work or my frame wouldn't look this bad 10 years later !so I believe that is a defective remedy and since I bought the vehicle knowing nothing, and do to the safety issues related too this as serious injury and or death can occur, I believe that they should replace my frame as they admitted to using inferior metal to build these and therefore leading too all these issues! Using inferior metal should make the part (frame) a defective part as well! Bottom line is iam driving a vehicle that can cause me n my family along with everyone on the road serious injury or death! They tried to fix the problem with rust proofing n by doing that in 2012 there is no way my frame should be in this.condition , therefore I should be entitled to a new remedy related to recall since the remedy the used was insufficient n defective regardless I'd it expired or anything! I also have alot of pictures of frame n the amount of rust n corrosion! Can you please let know a way too send these pictures to you from my phone! Thank you

Filed Oct 17, 2021 · Brakes, Steering · NM · crash

I was turning down a residential street and when I was getting up to speed. About 30 miles per hour. My truck jumped up a couple times like I hit a pit hole. I got out to inspect and see what I hit but the street was freshly paved 2 years before it was smooth as butter. I look at the truck and find out my passenger tire had fallen off. Upon further inspection I see my ball joints failed and try tire came off. It snapped the cv axle in half ripped and the brake line and abs module off and broke the frame bracket for the rack and pinon. As a result my insurance totaled my vehicle out.

Filed May 6, 2020 · Brakes, Steering · 108,000 miles · OH

The whole chassis frame for my truck is significantly and dangerously rusted and it is breaking apart which is a safety issue for me, my family, and other drivers. This also has lead to my breaks lines failing due to rust which almost caused an accident due to me not been able to stop on a red light. There is significant rust damage to the chassis frame and in some parts of the chassis frame that were welded from factory have broken off. In other sections of the chassis frame pieces have started to fall off and there are holes through the chassis frame where there should not be holes. Parts that should be solid steel have holes through it. The rust is so bad on the chassis frame that it has rusted out the fuel lines as well just like it did the brake lines. Sections where the engine mounts go in the chassis are also heavily damage due to rust. The rust is so bad I have step through parts of the bed of the truck when standing on it. There are also holes on the bed of the truck where you can see through the ground due to the rust damage.

Filed Jul 15, 2019 · Acceleration, Airbags · 168,168 miles · MA · crash

I was in motion and driving on a residential street, while operating vehicle at the time of accident. After the collision, the airbag did not deploy. The takata airbag was replaced by the auto manufacturer (toyota dealership) prior to my above mentioned accident. The auto accident occurred for unknown reasons, possibly brake failure or unexpected acceleration of the car engine.

Filed Oct 27, 2018 · Body, Brakes · RI

Frame corrosion was not properly addressed during 2012 recall. As a result the frame has corroded in multiple areas and the brakes just failed due to brake line corrosion. Toyota is refusing any additional claims for damages. However they should have done more to address the frame corrosion during the 2012 recall.

Filed Apr 4, 2017 · Brakes · 79,140 miles · NY

This is the second time within the last several weeks where I've had brake-line failure(also reported my first one here). My vehicle was just recently repaired under warranty at the dealership I bought it from for a catastrophic brake-line failure which nearly resulted in a major accident. After the repair to the exploded lines my dealer stated he inspected the remaining lines under the truck & said they all looked good & there shouldn't be anymore problems with the lines failing. That didn't happen however as I just had another line spring a sudden leak without any warning while driving to work. My vehicle is now off its warranty(only been 1500 miles since repair-79,000 miles on it now) so I cannot send it back to them. It wasn't a sudden, complete loss of brakes this time but a gradual softening of the brake pedal when trying to stop until all of the fluid was gone then I had next to nothing upon arrival to work. Anyhow, I did make it to work & then put more fluid in it to get it home when I got off shift. Upon searching for the leak I was surprised to notice that the lines had broken where there was no rusting involved, it turns out there's a mounting bracket which once had a grommet in it that either fell out or rotted away causing the bracket to cut through the lines under it from metal-to-metal contact. The lines involved looked as though they'd been cut with a knife at the location. The dealer never would've noticed this as it took me almost 30 minutes to find it myself. I did contact toyota however they choose to do nothing about this however since I've had two sudden brake failures within 4,500 miles I feel I should let someone know before someone else gets the same problem and kills themselves or others when their brakes decide to fail without warning! Thank-you!

Filed Jan 29, 2017 · Brakes · 75,000 miles · NY

I was recently approaching a red-light about a mile from work when I unexpectedly & suddenly was unable to stop the truck. I nearly collided with traffic in my lane & had to veer into the opposing lanes to avoid a collision. Turns out my brake-lines failed due to excessive rust which I've recently come to learn is a problem on these particular trucks. I've never had this happen before even with vehicles with well over 200k miles on them let alone well-less than 80,000; even from the same manufacturer. My dealer had to retrieve the truck from my job(130-mile round trip) & he even stated he hasn't seen brake lines fail like this one did & speculated it was due to them sitting near the frame where road-salt & "[xxx]" collects which causes them to pre-maturely rot out, potentially(obviously) causing them to burst. It was repaired under its warranty but the near-miss I encountered with it never, in my opinion, should've happened particularly without warning or with the present mileage of the vehicle. The brake warning indicator on the dash did work but only after all fluid shot out of it & braking was suddenly not enough to stop in time. I've contacted the manufacturer(toyota) about this & was run around to no avail. I feel this could be a disaster waiting to happen as there's no doubt still many of these vehicles still on the roads. I have no pictures to upload but my dealer can verify the repairs done after this happened. *tr information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).