What is this rusty looking thing?

[swidd]

Hi,

I just finished taking out and putting back in all my seats, and noticed that on several of the seat bolts that go down into the floor/bottom of the car, the bolts came out with dirty looking rust on them.

Does this indicate that the bottom of the car is rusted? Its only 33 months old..

[JumpmanYaris]

Any pics?

[swidd]

No pictures, I put the bolts back in after spraying with anti rust.

[matharris]

It is just surface rust. I work in a car factory and there are certain bolts that the manufacturer want to "rust" and "seize" up so that they don't come loose and fall out. This doesn't mean that the under of the car is rusting, these bolts are designed to do that.

[DARK AGE 53]

Originally Posted by matharris

I work in a car factory and there are certain bolts that the manufacturer want to "rust" and "seize" up so that they don't come loose and fall out.

Never heard of that, which auto maker do you work for?

[127.0.0.1]

Originally Posted by matharris

It is just surface rust. I work in a car factory and there are certain bolts that the manufacturer want to "rust" and "seize" up so that they don't come loose and fall out. This doesn't mean that the under of the car is rusting, these bolts are designed to do that.

LOL.

In all my vehicles, the bolts the manufacturer doesn't want to come out
have a threadlocker compound on them, or other retainer.

rust -cannot- be part of the equation because there is a good number of cars driven in dry climates which will never
see surface rust.

so you are going to count on rust ?

fail.

[127.0.0.1]

seats bolts usually stick out the bottom of the car and are exposed to the elements

it is just normal crud. if you are concerned, pop them, lather with grease, replace

[cali yaris]

+11111111

[RedRide]

Bolts that fasten seats to the floor boards are often secured with a threaded, steel insert that does go straight through the floor board.

In other words it's possible that when inserted, the ends of the bolts will indeed be exposd to the elements.
As we all know, it does not take too long for any iron or steel to rust.

This is normally not a problem as seats are one thing that is rarely removed except by some realitively few that install custom seats.

[blh4645]

I work for Toyota in Georgetown KY, building Camry's, Avalon's and Venza's. I can tell you that seat bolts on Toyota's do not go through the floor pan. The bolts that we use are coated with a rust colored substance that works similar to Loc-tight. The bolts are shot with a control tool to a specific torque. They are considered a safety regulated item. I can also tell you that coating these bolts with grease is NOT advisable! Grease on the treads will cause the bolts to stretch and not hold the proper torque.

[IllusionX]

Originally Posted by blh4645

I work for Toyota in Georgetown KY, building Camry's, Avalon's and Venza's. I can tell you that seat bolts on Toyota's do not go through the floor pan. The bolts that we use are coated with a rust colored substance that works similar to Loc-tight. The bolts are shot with a control tool to a specific torque. They are considered a safety regulated item. I can also tell you that coating these bolts with grease is NOT advisable! Grease on the treads will cause the bolts to stretch and not hold the proper torque.

you have yet to explain the rust on the tip of the bolt though.

last time i pulled the rear seat + the metal frame that bolts to the floor, they were rusted.

[swidd]

Originally Posted by IllusionX

last time i pulled the rear seat + the metal frame that bolts to the floor, they were rusted.

Yep, there were only some of the bolts that were rusted. I thought they were only the ones near the wheel wells, didn't quite keep track of it, but indeed, the ones on the bottom rear seat frame had rusted tips.

[Gideon]

The rear seats bolt into a nut which is welded to the bottom of the body. If you look underneath the car they're clearly visible.

Here's a picture courtesy of owner fmicle.

You can see there's holes at the ends of each nut, so that's why you're seeing rust.

[127.0.0.1]

Originally Posted by IllusionX

you have yet to explain the rust on the tip of the bolt though.

last time i pulled the rear seat + the metal frame that bolts to the floor, they were rusted.

he can only speak for what models he builds

not all toyota's are the same

my 4runner seat bolts holes all poke through the bottom, but that
bottom is very high and only rarely do they get wet or crud on them.

after 11 years they have very little rust, but yes they go right through
to open air under the vehicle

[shinlee]

yeah, I've taken out all my seats in my car, and almost every bolt leaves a nice big hole that I can look at the asphalt through....

they go through the floorboard....