2008 Toyota Tacoma Suspension Problems

The brakes on my 2008 Toyota Tacoma were failing so I took it to a mechanic, who said that the brake lines had failed and needed to be replaced. However, he said that it wasn't worth putting any money into the truck, as the leaf springs were corroded along with the frame, which could crack apart at any time. As we only purchased the truck one year ago, he advised us to take it to the dealership where we purchased it, and informed us of the recalls on both of these issues. I spoke with the mechanic at the dealership because when we purchased the vehicle, they did the inspection and said that everything was fine. When I asked the mechanic about this, he said that he didn't have anything to do with sales and we needed to speak to the owner (who is out on medical leave). The mechanic said that when the dealership purchased the vehicle at auction, the frame must have been undercoated and so they missed it. When I mentioned the recall, he told me to call Toyota. I have checked the VIN and it is not showing an open recall for this vehicle. However, it is experiencing the exact same safety issues as the recalls for leaf spring corrosion and frame rust and cracking. I have only had this truck for a little over one year and do not know what to do. It is too dangerous to drive as it could cause a serious accident. Neither the dealership nor Toyota want to take responsibility and offer a solution.

NHTSA ID

11705095

Incident

Dec 8, 2025

Toyota has had a long history of excessive frame rust. This truck has excessive frame rust. There was a recall to fix this frame rust and my truck has not been fixed. Toyota will not fix the current recall for the spring replacement because of the frame rust. My life and my children’s lives are in danger due to the possible leaf suspension failure that may puncture the gas tank.

NHTSA ID

11672410

Incident

Jun 23, 2025

Hope to be able to get this solved. My 2008 Toyota Tacoma had a recall with the previous owner but they didn't take it in. On the rear section of the frame on the inside beside the gas tank and on the driver side there is a lot of rust there the frame has expanded and is starting to go all away through also same place back beside the muffler on the passenger side. Also there are a few spots on the front part of the frame under the fire wall area on both sides. I had a recall on the truck and took it in and had it fixed which Toyota replaced the leaf springs on both sides and hardware. Says there was a recall when the previous owner had the truck. Will they validate that still? I've owned the truck almost a year now. But it's getting worse. Within a year I'm gonna have to park it because it liable to possible break in half. Toyota should of let me known when they had it on the lift replacing the rear leaf springs. Not my fault the previous owner didn't take the truck in to have them look at it.

NHTSA ID

11649372

Incident

Aug 1, 2024

In March of 2008, I purchased a new 2008 Toyota Tacoma (VIN: [XXX] ) from Orleans Toyota in Massachusetts. In July 2010 I re-located to New Hampshire and registered the vehicle in that state in July 2010 where I have resided since. The odometer reading at that time was 21,220 Miles. In September of 2014, I received a safety recall notice from Toyota regarding a potential frame corrosion problem. I scheduled an appointment with the local Toyota dealership in East Swanzy NH on September 12, 2014 to address this issue. The odometer reading at the time was 82,068 miles. There were two remediation options, as set by Toyota: A.Inspect frame, clean, and apply CRC if no perforations were found B.Inspect frame and if perforations found, replace the frame. Both of these options were intended to mitigate any and all risk of future corrosion of the frame that was a result of a known vehicle design flaw. Toyota chose to apply the CRC. I therefore assumed that the frame was intact at that point in time and the issue had been resolved. Between September 2014 and December 2019, I drove the vehicle 62 miles a day on [XXX] in NH commuting between Hillsboro and Keene for all 12 months of the year. This represents a total mileage of 87,939 (36,054 of which can be considered winter driving during the months of November thru March). The Toyota dealership inspected and passed the vehicle in 2023 without mention of any issue regarding the frame. On [XXX] of this year, the Toyota dealership rejected the state inspection due to severe frame corrosion (to the point that the technician felt it was a risk putting the truck on a lift). It should be noted that this vehicle has only been driven 3,000 since it passed inspection in 2023, none of which were during Winter months. In addition, there are no visible signs of rust or corrosion on the exterior of the vehicle. The above points to the fact that the CRC application in 2014 was ineffective in mitigating the safety issue. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOI

NHTSA ID

11623139

Incident

Oct 24, 2024

Tried to avoid a deer and the frame of truck felt unstable and felt like it was folding. I looked at the frame there are rust holes through out the whole frame. How could they design this and not back it up.

NHTSA ID

11619843

Incident

Oct 3, 2024

brought my tacoma truck in for trade in at toyota dealership,after they inspected vehicle,they told me frame on truck is rusted so bad that it has to be replaced.i have been driving this truck pulling my boat and hauling heavy loads.i had no ideal that frame was so rotted and is a saftey hazard on the road.now i have truck nobody wants and will cost to much to repair.truck is only 2008 with 111000 miles on it! how can this be?as far as i know there where no recalls on the frame sent to me.don't know what to do.wont be buying toyota any more.

NHTSA ID

11554779

Incident

Nov 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that the subframe of the vehicle was significantly corroded. The contact stated that the passenger's side of the vehicle was warped, which made the vehicle unsafe to drive. An unknown dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle had passed inspection when an unknown recall repair was previously performed on the vehicle in 2016. The failure mileage was approximately 243,000.

NHTSA ID

11549849

Incident

Sep 22, 2023

Mileage

243,000 mi

08trd Tacoma Frame rust bad I bought it in 2011 certified used vehicle. I 2015 had frame inspection They undercoat It has 66000 miles on it Tues this week asked mechanic change oil He said the frame is rusted bad Contacted Toyota that as soon as I got home, I had the email copy I sent to you. She gave me a little glimmer of hope she has a one. Oh I do bring it to the Smithtown dealership which is right down the block and left and I did the next one and I did and it’s documented, the rust is so bad he gonna pass inspection in December I take care of my vehicles yesterday got call Toyota declined to help I’m in shock past time They oct 2020 I’m so disappointed plz help truck is like new since bought 2011 to now I put 40000 Avg 4000 year im local

NHTSA ID

11540886

Incident

Aug 23, 2023

I brought my 2008 Toyota Tacoma in and they did an undercoating recall. Since then I've had to replace a broken leaf spring and brake line, and a few weeks ago, brought it in to a Toyota dealership to have a wheel bearing/ axlereplaced that had rusted. On the paper documentation nothing was mentioned regarding the frame deterioration. Recently brought it in for an exhaust replacement and was shown how dangerous the frame was, and that it was too far gone to weld anything to, as "there's nothing to weld to" (and no shop would assume liability for such a fix)by the muffler shop technician. I called the Toyota dealership and was told to bring it somewhere to have a plate welded . Told him that wasn't an option.

NHTSA ID

11527698

Incident

Jun 14, 2023

March 9th I went to take my 2008 Toyota Tacoma in for an inspection, failed due to 3 rustholes in frame and frame is warped,there is only 90838 miles on this vehicle Cost of repair is very $$$$

NHTSA ID

11511419

Incident

Mar 9, 2023

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that while receiving an oil change, the independent mechanic diagnosed the vehicle with 50% frame loss. The contact referred the failure to TSB: VH6 (Subframe Corrosion). The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by a dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 147,500.

NHTSA ID

11505181

Incident

Jan 15, 2023

Mileage

147,500 mi

We were experiencing a loud rattling noise under the passenger side steer tire and when we hit bumps, it was hard to control the steering and bouncing. When inspected by our mechanic, we found that the frame had rusted through and broke near the passenger side wheel and will no longer pass inspection due to safety. The entire frame has extensive rust issues, even though under costed at time of purchase and two other times during our ownership and was last inspected by Toyota in April 2018 and told all was ok, even though there was an open extension on replacing rusted frames for the 2008 Toyota Tacomas.

NHTSA ID

11496209

Incident

Sep 12, 2022

Toyota Tacoma has excessive rust throughout the frame and suspension.

NHTSA ID

11489052

Incident

Feb 24, 2016

My stepdaughter purchased a 2008 Toyota Tacoma a few months ago. During the time of having the vehicle serviced her mechanic pointed out all the rust throughout the frame of the vehicle. I have contacted Toyota Corporate; they refuse for me to open a ticket and to get this safety issue resolved. Not only is the rust on the frame, but it's also evolving the suspension. There is also evidence that this vehicle is from Vermont which would have caused more of a rust issue besides the manufacture forgetting to coat the frame.

NHTSA ID

11487313

Incident

Sep 23, 2022

The issued with my truck is the rust in the frame underneath, I purchased the truck in August of 2020. I didn't noticed any issued until I went to get the safety inspection done in June 2021 and it failed. The mechanic showed me the problem so I went to a body shop to get some metal added to the frame and got it reinspect it and it passed. After doing some research on these trucks saw that there was a recalled for almost 10 years from Toyota but it ended in March 2021. Now, this year when my inspection was due the same problem occur; it failed again. It seems like this problem will continue every year, I would like to know if there's anyway this recall can be reopen after talking to some mechanics they seem to still run in to these Tacoma Trucks showing up with this rusted frame problem. I hope it never happens but there's always the possibility of hitting a nasty pothole on the highway and who knows what might happen. I considered this a huge safety issue. I bought the truck as is from a small used car dealer, which of course did not tell me about this problem. I have spent almost $1,500 to get it to just pass inspection and this problem will never go away.

NHTSA ID

11483458

Incident

Jun 25, 2021

My frame has rusted in two

NHTSA ID

11483161

Incident

Sep 6, 2022

Frame has rusted to the point of actually having a hole that I can put my finger through. The truck has only 79000 miles on it and is in excellent shape otherwise. I bought it new from the dealer in 2008. I think this is a potentially dangerous condition but could be repaired via an Toyota recall. My father was a Toyota G.M. and Toyota's are all my family have owned for 30 some years. I hope Toyota will honor the re-call. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ID

11482401

Incident

Aug 1, 2022

On my last vehicle inspection, the mechanic told me that he will fail me next time due to a rotting frame. This is a serious safety hazard. Through my research, this is a common problem with this year truck (2008) and other years. To my knowledge, I was never contacted by Toyota as far as any recall. This truck still looks new and I am very dissapointed with what I read about this so called "Recall" has expired or about to expire in 2023. I would like very much to have this repaired. I don't know how to go about it.

NHTSA ID

11450486

Incident

Nov 15, 2021

FOYOTA TACOMA 2008 TRUCK, FRAME RUST HAS BROKEN INTO.

NHTSA ID

11415204

Incident

May 3, 2021

FRONT AXLE SHAFT VARATION.

NHTSA ID

11362178

Incident

Feb 1, 2018

REAR UNIVERSAL GOING BROKE DUE TO RUST WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE, FRONT DRIVER SIDE TIRE COMPONENT BROKE DUE TO RUST WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE. *TR

NHTSA ID

11330805

Incident

Jun 25, 2020

Mileage

200,000 mi

REAR LEAF SPRING BROKE IN HALF AND WAS RUBBING AGAINST TIRE ALMOST CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. CUSTOMER PAID FOR REPAIRS WHICH WAS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY AND BEFORE THE SAFETY RECALL WAS ISSUED. CUSTOMER MAILED TO TOYOTA A COPY OF THE REPAIR ORDER, PROOF OF PAYMENT, AND PROOF OF OWNERSHIP AS REQUESTED. TOYOTA HAS REFUSED TO PAY FOR REPAIRS.

NHTSA ID

11175906

Incident

Mar 27, 2012

Mileage

77,900 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA RECALL NUMBER:14V604000 (SUSPENSION). THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER INDEPENDENCE TOYOTA (730 AIRPORT RD, HAZLETON, PA 18202) AND THEY STATED THAT THE LEAF SPRINGS ON THE REAR SUSPENSION WERE NOT DAMAGED. THE CONTACT TOOK HIS VEHICLE IN FOR REGULAR MAINTENANCE AT ANOTHER UNKNOWN DEALER AND THE LEAFS WERE DISCOVERED TO BE FRACTURED. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE BACK TO THE DEALER INDEPENDENCE TOYOTA AND THIS TIME THEY CONFIRMED THAT THE LEAFS WERE FRACTURED AND REPAIRED THE VEHICEL UNDER THE RECALL. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 139,000.

NHTSA ID

11143834

Incident

May 16, 2018

Mileage

139,000 mi

SQUEAKY REAR SPRINGS

NHTSA ID

11138874

Incident

Apr 1, 2008

I HAVEN'T BEEN CONTACTED FROM THE DEALERSHIP I BOUGHT THIS TRUCK FROM ABOUT ANY RECALLS... I NEED TO GET THE 3 RECALLS DONE ON MY TRUCK ASAP

NHTSA ID

11121943

Incident

Aug 22, 2018