Just curious if we had any Nucor people here. Im with Gulf States in Starkville, MS...we do pre-engineered metal buildings.

 

I don't work there, but we buy some of our steel from them.

 

I don't know much about it but isn't Nucor the company that supplied the steel with the substandard coating on it that caused the frames of Toyota trucks to rust prematurely?

Not trying to bash, just asking.

 

They may have supplied the steel, I have no clue, but Toyota would provide the finished product, therefore they are the responsible party. Toyota might have coated it with something that didnt adhere with the steel or something along those lines. Either way, the rusting is Toyota's problem if the steel supplier supplied product to spec.

 

True. I would think Toyota blasted the steel or dipped it into some kind of chemicals before they painted it or what ever they put on it.

 

I highly doubt it was a problem with the steel. If it was a quality problem at one of our plants, a metallurgist would have gotten proof of a bad batch and that order would have never made it out the door, it would go straight to the scrap pile.
There is too much risk invovled if we send out a bad order, especially if its someone like Toyota.

I dont even know if it was our steel or not.

 

From what I remember the problem stemmed from the paint specified by Toyota. They chose a sub-par process and got exactly what they specified. They did however save some money on the parts.

 

Like I said, I don't know much about it but I did hear from one source (forgot where) that the coating did not meet Toyota specs. Even if true, I guess Toyota accepted it and used it...

 

Steel is hard to mess up. It is the most commonly used alloy and engineer will see. It also has the best studied and published physical and chemical properties. I HIGHLY doubt a steel mill screwed up the alloy for many years as was the case with the Toyota frames. I say this as a person with a degree in Mechanical Engineering on the wall. I know that every part I design or sign off has an approved finish applied. Toyota bet on the long shot and came up short. The frames rusted which shows a problem with the protection applied not the alloy. The steel mill controls the alloy not the paint.

 

Are you are saying NUCOR doesn't ever apply anti-corrosion protection to their products?

 

No, I don't work for either so I can not confirm where the protection was applied. However, the problem lasted for many years. This shows the process was flawed it was not a bad batch of product. Toyota dictated the process, they get the blame.

 

Nucor does apply corrosion resistant coatings to their steel -sometimes-

Mostly in the metal buildings group, like us. All of our buildings get shipped out with a coat of red or grey primer. Its designed to be just that, a primer to inhibit rust for a few weeks until the building is erected. If the owner wants a finished coat of paint, then they will have to paint it once the building is up and enclosed.
We dont promise a finish coat on anything and I doubt our mills do either, especially not a coating used on a finished good that Toyota makes.

 

With regard to the metal buildings group: Nucor provides red/grey primer on girts, purlins, frames, joists (Vulcraft), etc. Galvanizing is available upon request ($$$). The sheeting is painted, and is available with a warranty.

 

I own some NUCOR stock...employee, no...owner, yes..