Cracked frame by where the motor mounts attach

My 2017 Tacoma with 62,000 miles, I am the original owner, developed a clutch fan noise. My mechanic identified it and noted that a broken motor mount could be what caused it.

Got the truck lifted and the motor mounts inspected.....they discovered that the frame had actually cracked in two places where the motor mounts attach.
They sent me to a welder, who said he can't weld those cracks.

I'm not sure what to do about this. Obviously it needs to be fixed, but I don't know what the fix is.

And I have babied this truck. I'm the only driver. I drive on dirt roads, to get places I want to go, but I'm not a '4-wheeler'. ie. I don't 4-wheel for fun. I've never hit anything hard while off road.

Looking for advice on how to fix it, and if this might be a common 3rd Gen Tacoma issue??? My mechanic said Toyota will blow me off and not help in anyway.

 

Pics?
Location?
Rust?
never heard of this on such a new vehicle

 

Nice. I want to hear Corporate talk their way out of this one.

 

here's a pic of one of the cracks. its right by the motor mount.

 

No rust, I live in California.

 

Yikers

 

Shocker. Toyota has always been known for their quality frames.

 

I would perhaps try to get toyota involved deeper.. maybe the place you purchased the truck from? if not go sell the truck to carmax and start fresh.

 

except the ones that rust on you

 

If I recall it’s actually a semi common issue on the 3rd gen and 2nd gen

 

I have my popcorn out for this one

 

I’ve read about this in the ‘04 - ‘05 model years, but not in 3rd gen’s.

DMZfab (whom I know nothing about, so not an endorsement) makes a reinforcement gusset kit for the 2nd Gen. I don’t see anyone making one for the 3rd Gen.

 

It’s been a while since I’ve had my 3rd gen but I remember reading it cracks on the frame right behind the radiator a bunch of guys checked theirs after it was posted and most of them had the cracks

 

could have been overtorqued from the factory? idk, this is a weird one. should be covered under warranty though. there's no reason it should crack there. probably a defective frame that made it passed quality control.

 

theres a time and a place for those jokes, even i know

 

yea, i see it now

 

This is an easy fix. Find a decent fab guy (not the first guy who didn't want the work) or do it yourself. Clean up, grind out, reinforce, and weld up the failed area. Install new motor mounts. Final step go back to enjoying truck.

The biggest hurdle is probably making space to do the work. Pulling a modern engine sucks but it ain't the end of the world and I'd probably do my best to first find a work-around.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cracked-frame-weld-at-motor-mount-bracket-help.529341/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/frame-failure-at-motor-mount-swap-complete.367890/
https://www.*********************.com/index.php?threads/05-06-tacoma-broken-motor-mount-info.444/

 

wow that's crazy

 

Those are all examples from ‘05 Tacomas.

I think I read Toyota reinforced that area in more recent builds.

Of course we are now talking about a 3rd Gen with a completely different motor, so who knows if that reinforcement design carried over.

I did a Google search and didn’t find any third Gen examples with this issue.