TORRANCE, CA – Toyota is recalling approximately 150,000 Tacoma pickup trucks sold or currently registered in 20 states with cold climates and D.C. in order to inspect, and potentially replace, the spare tire carrier assembly.

Toyota said the spare tire is stored underneath the rear bed and is suspended by a spare tire carrier on a metal lift plate. During manufacturing, the tire carrier lift plate may not have been sufficiently coated with phosphate, and prolonged exposure to road salt can corrode the plate, causing the spare tire to detach from the vehicle.

In addition to the District of Columbia, the 20 cold climate states are: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Toyota said it will notify vehicle owners via a letter starting in Dec. 2012. Any authorized Toyota dealer will perform the recall at no charge to the vehicle owner.

Detailed information is available to customers at www.toyota.com/recall and the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.