Hole in frame! (1 Viewer)

[pel]

Hi everyone. Just seen this whilst wire brushing!. I am hoping welding will sort! Need advice please folks Also, what is this part of chassis called? Thanks.

 

[Kabanstva]

Rear crossmember. Seems like a very common spot to rust through completely. Seen plenty of these posts showing that exact spot with a hole in it. See if they can cut out that section and weld in some new sheet metal. Then paint it and spray the s*** out of it with fluid film on the inside and outside

 

[Kabanstva]

Looking at it some more…. That frame looks pretty far gone, your welder might not even be able to weld on to the frame if it’s rusted all the way through. You can’t weld onto rust and your frame looks pretty toast.

 

[e9999]

don't make the poor guy panic just yet. That frame does not look toast to me from here. I see some flaking but that looks like a coating, not the steel itself. But some more clean up will reveal all, of course. And if it's just the cross-member, that is fixable (relatively cheaply compared to serious frame issues).

 

[thibaut]

Rear cross member is the weakest point for rust. I think it retains water or something.
Clean the chassis well and get a welder to replace the rotten metal.
By the looks of it, you may want to also replace you rear springs.

 

[Kabanstva]

Ask yourself how much that truck is worth to you and go from there. If you don’t have state inspections you can just leave it as is and get many more years out of it without touching a thing. Buy a can of fluid film at Home Depot and spray that area really good and forget about it.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

FWIW, you can still buy a new crossmember from Toyota for USD $500 (part #: 5120760010).

Buy a can of fluid film at Home Depot

Might be tough to find a Home Depot in England.

 

[e9999]

geez, the springs now...? cuz the paint is flaking off....?

anyway. Yes, the cross-member is rusted through. Yes, it should be easily fixable / replaced. No, the rest does not look bad to me. Yes, it all should be inspected carefully. Yes, think in terms of MoT inspection and what they will insist on.

 

[TRD48176]

Just remove the body, cut out the cancer and weld in some patches. Can all be done at home.

 

[e9999]

can't imagine what it must cost to feed a 100 / 105 in Europe nowadays, even if Diesel...

 

[TRD48176]

FWIW, the work I did on my frame, sorry, it is a 4th Gen. 4Runner frame and not a 100 series. Regardless, the work is the same. The largest expense was $1200 to have the frame acid dipped and e-coated. Otherwise, a couple of bottles of argon, 3 rolls of mug wire, sheet steel and square tube. Besides the $1200, the other items cost about $300. All the work was done in my garage, no lift, just 2 floor jacks and 4 tall Jack stands to remove the body. I’m fact, I recently swapped an engine from one Tacoma to another and again, we removed the body from the frame. So much easier than pulling the engine out of the engine bay. Once the body is off, everything is easy to access, clean and repair.

 

[e9999]

^ sure, but I don't think most people would say this is the kind of work that an average DIYer would attempt. It's not a quick and easy job to remove completely the body. And probably not a welding job the average DIY welder should attempt either. I can tell from your welds that you are very good at those, but that's not the majority of us here, I imagine.

So, OP, I would think your course of action might be to inspect the frame rails, make sure those are good. If so, then see how you can fix the cross-member. This might range from patches to a full replacement. You'll need to hire a welder (person) for that, I assume. I could see just fabricating a cross-member from scratch with steel tubing and the like but that may not fly with MoT. I would ask around what the cost of a pro job might be, then figure the best way to proceed.

If the frame rails are bad as well, then it's going to be significantly more difficult/more expensive. If really bad as in rust-through in various places, then it may get closer to "not worth it for the average owner". So, don't panic yet, may be easily fixable, but probably a good idea to address it before too long cuz it's not gonna get better on its own, unfortunately.

 

[thibaut]

geez, the springs now...? cuz the paint is flaking off....?

anyway. Yes, the cross-member is rusted through. Yes, it should be easily fixable / replaced. No, the rest does not look bad to me. Yes, it all should be inspected carefully. Yes, think in terms of MoT inspection and what they will insist on.

If you still have AHC, the rear springs sag over time with age. Given the way these looks, I am pretty sure they aren’t holding enough the body making the AHC absorb too much weight. This will make it run over pressure and age prematurely the sphere.
New springs aren’t expensive but if you want to be cheap at least add a few spacers.

You may want to inspect pressure with a scanner and adjust torsion bars and sensors.

 

[pel]

^ sure, but I don't think most people would say this is the kind of work that an average DIYer would attempt. It's not a quick and easy job to remove completely the body. And probably not a welding job the average DIY welder should attempt either. I can tell from your welds that you are very good at those, but that's not the majority of us here, I imagine.

So, OP, I would think your course of action might be to inspect the frame rails, make sure those are good. If so, then see how you can fix the cross-member. This might range from patches to a full replacement. You'll need to hire a welder (person) for that, I assume. I could see just fabricating a cross-member from scratch with steel tubing and the like but that may not fly with MoT. I would ask around what the cost of a pro job might be, then figure the best way to proceed.

If the frame rails are bad as well, then it's going to be significantly more difficult/more expensive. If really bad as in rust-through in various places, then it may get closer to "not worth it for the average owner". So, don't panic yet, may be easily fixable, but probably a good idea to address it before too long cuz it's not gonna get better on its own, unfortunately.

Good point mate. The rails are good, still got paint on it. Just that member. As for the suspension that is just the black coating flaking off.

Ask yourself how much that truck is worth to you and go from there. If you don’t have state inspections you can just leave it as is and get many more years out of it without touching a thing. Buy a can of fluid film at Home Depot and spray that area really good and forget about it.

This is a good quite clean low mileage one owner truck apart from surface rust in bits and that blasted hole! See pics. I do have to get busy and sort the undercarriage tho.

 

[pel]

^ sure, but I don't think most people would say this is the kind of work that an average DIYer would attempt. It's not a quick and easy job to remove completely the body. And probably not a welding job the average DIY welder should attempt either. I can tell from your welds that you are very good at those, but that's not the majority of us here, I imagine.

So, OP, I would think your course of action might be to inspect the frame rails, make sure those are good. If so, then see how you can fix the cross-member. This might range from patches to a full replacement. You'll need to hire a welder (person) for that, I assume. I could see just fabricating a cross-member from scratch with steel tubing and the like but that may not fly with MoT. I would ask around what the cost of a pro job might be, then figure the best way to proceed.

If the frame rails are bad as well, then it's going to be significantly more difficult/more expensive. If really bad as in rust-through in various places, then it may get closer to "not worth it for the average owner". So, don't panic yet, may be easily fixable, but probably a good idea to address it before too long cuz it's not gonna get better on its own, unfortunately.

The frame rails are solid. Bit of pitting tho. See pic

Rear crossmember. Seems like a very common spot to rust through completely. Seen plenty of these posts showing that exact spot with a hole in it. See if they can cut out that section and weld in some new sheet metal. Then paint it and spray the s*** out of it with fluid film on the inside and outside

Thanks. The rails are pitted but solid.

Looking at it some more…. That frame looks pretty far gone, your welder might not even be able to weld on to the frame if it’s rusted all the way through. You can’t weld onto rust and your frame looks pretty toast.

The frame is solid still got original paint but pitted.

 

[pel]

Looking at it some more…. That frame looks pretty far gone, your welder might not even be able to weld on to the frame if it’s rusted all the way through. You can’t weld onto rust and your frame looks pretty toast.

What you are looking at on the frame and doings is flaking coating.

 

[pel]

don't make the poor guy panic just yet. That frame does not look toast to me from here. I see some flaking but that looks like a coating, not the steel itself. But some more clean up will reveal all, of course. And if it's just the cross-member, that is fixable (relatively cheaply compared to serious frame issues).

Correct. The frame is definitely solid.

 

[pel]

If you still have AHC, the rear springs sag over time with age. Given the way these looks, I am pretty sure they aren’t holding enough the body making the AHC absorb too much weight. This will make it run over pressure and age prematurely the sphere.
New springs aren’t expensive but if you want to be cheap at least add a few spacers.

You may want to inspect pressure with a scanner and adjust torsion bars and sensors.

The AHC Works perfectly but I don’t use it much. I am surprised about your comment on the springs tho. Here is a side profile of the car. Still I will book the car with local 4x4 specialist to have a look at the springs.

 

[pel]

Looking at it some more…. That frame looks pretty far gone, your welder might not even be able to weld on to the frame if it’s rusted all the way through. You can’t weld onto rust and your frame looks pretty toast.

The rails are solid. Tho.

 

[pel]

Rear cross member is the weakest point for rust. I think it retains water or something.
Clean the chassis well and get a welder to replace the rotten metal.
By the looks of it, you may want to also replace you rear springs.

Thanks. I will replace the rear springs and have my local 4x4 specialist look the whole thing over.