FRAME UNDERBODY RUST

[BOGOTA]

Gentlemen, my 2002 has hit a milestone of 300K, I have owned it for 20 years. I have a ton of money and maintenance into the rig, just replaced the master brake cylinder.

Only using the truck in NY winters with dedicated Blizzak Tires past 8 years.
Took some pictures of the underbody and not sure where to go from here. Looks bad, some of it flakes off to the touch.
The concerning area is by the drivers door directly under where you would place jack, frame area.

Anyone know if a frame can be repaired?

Is a frame replaceable? Say find a frame at a junkyard in Florida, what's cost of that and then swap?
Curious?
It runs excellent, just not sure where to go with this now.
The SO would say just sell it or junk it and buy new....

 

[BOGOTA]

Couple more pics

 

[bryson]

The frame can certainly be replaced (in your case it would likely be much cheaper to replace than repair), but the body looks to have a good amount of rust too... Maybe it's time for you to find a clean stock truck and just transfer your parts over?

But, it's time to do something before that poor thing comes apart on the road!

 

[ToyotaBrah]

Financially better off selling and replacing with a clean example.

If the sentimental value is high enough, frame swap and repairing body rust would do the trick. Easier said then done of course

 

[baltistyle]

I’m sure you love the truck, but as somebody who has dealt with rust that was in much better condition than what you’ve shown, I got rid of the vehicle and got a very clean rust free example. The money, time and reality that rust never goes away made my choice easy. Religiously using fluid film slowed the rust on that vehicle dramatically and it still lives with a friend and fluid film on the rust free truck has kept it completely rust free in Maryland where we do get a fair amount of salt and brine (which is super sticky) applied to the roads.

10k in repairs, or ten k on a whole new truck to you….on which every point of maintenance will be easier and less expensive to deal with.

 

[whitec13]

I just moved on from my 100 after tackling this problem for years. I chopped frame chunks and had custom chunks made to weld back (I still have a few if anyone needs), chopped out rockers, coated with what I could, replaced this, replaced that, and really did get my money’s worth out of ol’ Blue. But in the end, it just prolongs the inevitable. I miss her. A lot. But I do really love my Tundra, but now I’ve orphaned my torch. I don’t require it to be by my side for every, single, job (and still snap a few). The 100 market has softened big time, finding a clean one no longer requires a $20k+ budget.
I’ll leave you with this; my end point. I pulled into my driveway. Came in and was looking out our kitchen window and noticed something in the road. I went out to inspect it. It was a body mount laying in the road. My body mount rather. My wife came to the garage and asked what it was. I told her, she was baffled. I said it hadn’t been engaged in a minute, so not really missing much I guess. Her response kind of changed the perspective quick. “What if that came off at 60 and went through someone’s windshield?” I had my Tundra within the month.
Your body mount is getting there. Unfortunately, it’s time. Give her a good drive, wash her well, hug her and kiss her, tell her of the good times, and sell her as a parts truck. I got what I wanted out of mine, and you are in a similar boat.

 

[FrankieJoe14]

Don't know how much time you have, but a frame replacement on these trucks has to be DAYS and DAYS of labor, not counting all the stuff you're going to want to replace when you are in there. I cant picture how it would make sense when theres a decent amount of trucks out there if you search for a little.

On your next one, you should be undercoating. Even though my LC has been through 9 winters in NJ, the frame is pristine. Although even with all my preventative maintenance. I still have some body rust over my rear wheels i need to attend to.

20 year old Toyota things....

Thread 'All my NE guys know what time it is... Undercoating'

Nov 13, 2023

Finally got the proper setup to do my own undercoating. I was paying a buddy $300 to do it yearly but I figured if I'm going to spend the money every year I might as well double down and get done with a project a long time coming - getting my barn setup with shop air. So about 2k later - an Ingersoll Rand 80 gallon, tools and electric, plus a 5 gal bucket of Woolwax and I am ready for many winters to come.

Woolwax is much nicer to use than fluid film - it goes on thicker and seems to have less overspray.

You don't need a big compressor to do this. The gun I bought only needed 5CFM.

I...

• FrankieJoe14
• compressor ne rust prevention undercoating vehicle maintenance
• Replies: 11
• Forum: 100-Series Cruisers

• 

 

[excessive]

unfortunately that one is a goner. make sure you use fluid film liberally on your next frame to avoid this from happening

 

[BOGOTA]

Thank you for all the feedback. I hate to give up on it, has a ton of new maintenance items and upgrades.
The interior and exterior body are like new.
Going to have to really do the math on this....

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

I can hear it crackling from Texas! Yikes! Go to cars.com put in <$11k. See what pops up in Texas. Start with DFW. Large car market. Compare that to what you are planning to do with a “swap”. Fly in, drive back.

 

[bryson]

Thank you for all the feedback. I hate to give up on it, has a ton of new maintenance items and upgrades.
The interior and exterior body are like new.
Going to have to really do the math on this....

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The body might look nice at first glance, but in the first pictures you posted, you can see that the entire bottom of the quarter panel is gone - your rear AC unit (which is located on the INSIDE of the body) was plainly visible from underneath the truck. Definitely not a rust-free body.

 

[whitec13]

I get what you mean about the sting of recent maintenance. I did the steering rack replacement on my 100, arguably one of the most challenging DIY jobs on the 100 Series, right at 1 year before I gave in and sold it. I actually replaced the entire steering system; pump, reservoir, lines, and rack, all about 1 year old when I gave in.

 

[excessive]

just keep on driving it , until you can't anymore. but don't invest any more into it.
Start your search for a rust-free one, and you may end up finding a southern rig with no rust and a roached interior, and maybe make your ultimate truck by combining the two