I took a look under my 1999 recently and the rust is now...not good. What're my options?

[MtnMantologist]

First time posting multiple pictures in here so hopefully it works. The two photos of the worst of the rust is the rear crossmember piece of the frame. It definitely looks bad but I don't know how to assess how bad it really is. These days I'm only driving 3-4,000 miles per year mostly around town near my house so it's not getting thrashed on trails but I'd still like to keep it running as long as possible.

I've asked around and heard everything from "I've seen worse, drive it another 10 years" to "get quotes for cutting out and replacing that piece of metal". I don't have a garage and I have three young kids at home so time is scarce for me to watch youtube videos and spend hours scraping away under there.

Curious where I should begin! This is a 1999 with 228,000 miles (exactly, today actually)

 

[kevgentile]

After over 25 years in the business I'm in the camp of "I've seen worse", a lot worse. Most of what you have there is actually very solid.

I had a neighbor at the shop with a one owner Sequoia that is a bit rusty. She had me look at it after their go to shop recommended urgently scrapping it do to it being a hazard and a speed bump could cause it to come apart. I told her I've worked on and seen a lot worse. It's not fun to work on rusty chassis' but doesn't mean it's going to all of the sudden catastrophically fail. As long as the pick-up points and main frame are solid then I recommend it's safe to continue.

You could very easily keep this going for many more years. If anything, I might cut and patch the rear k-member. if in the mood and have a little time then wire brush the chassis and spray it down. Even a really good pressure washer will knock down most of the scale.

 

[kevgentile]

Also, There are shops now focusing attention to these Toyota chassis'. The same person I referred to in the above comment had an appointment scheduled with a local shop that has done quite a few Toyota chassis repairs. We also had one of our regular clients take his FJ Cruise to a shop that did his whole frame for about $4k. His was worse than yours and now it looks minty.

 

[MtnMantologist]

After over 25 years in the business I'm in the camp of "I've seen worse", a lot worse. Most of what you have there is actually very solid.

I had a neighbor at the shop with a one owner Sequoia that is a bit rusty. She had me look at it after their go to shop recommended urgently scrapping it do to it being a hazard and a speed bump could cause it to come apart. I told her I've worked on and seen a lot worse. It's not fun to work on rusty chassis' but doesn't mean it's going to all of the sudden catastrophically fail. As long as the pick-up points and main frame are solid then I recommend it's safe to continue.

You could very easily keep this going for many more years. If anything, I might cut and patch the rear k-member. if in the mood and have a little time then wire brush the chassis and spray it down. Even a really good pressure washer will knock down most of the scale.

You give me hope!

Do you have any sense of what it would cost to cut and patch the rear k-member? I'm in Arlington so possibly in your neck of the woods if you have any shop recommendations also.

I may not do anything with it in the short term since I'm just driving low mileage around here but our plan is to eventually move back to Colorado where I'd take this off-road and I'd love to get a ballpark for replacing the really bad rust spots before then. I don't know that I could justify $4K on a new frame for this vehicle but $1,000-1,500 to fix the worst spots might make sense to keep it moving down the road!

 

[kevgentile]

You give me hope!

Do you have any sense of what it would cost to cut and patch the rear k-member? I'm in Arlington so possibly in your neck of the woods if you have any shop recommendations also.

I may not do anything with it in the short term since I'm just driving low mileage around here but our plan is to eventually move back to Colorado where I'd take this off-road and I'd love to get a ballpark for replacing the really bad rust spots before then. I don't know that I could justify $4K on a new frame for this vehicle but $1,000-1,500 to fix the worst spots might make sense to keep it moving down the road!

I've done my fair share of frame work but right now I'm in the New Orleans area and not anticipating a return to the DC area anytime soon.

I don't recall the shop that our customer went to for his repairs, I believe it was in Front Royal. He didn't get a new frame, just had the rust cut out and new sections welded in. His was much worse than yours is now. The Woman with the Sequoia went thru Butler Automotive, I think. Good thing about the DC area is that there are a lot of options for fab shops so you'll likely find someone to knock this out at a fair price. Just need to find someone that deals with rust and isn't intimidated by it and will recommend to scrap it for no reason.

You should drop the spare and get a better look at the rear member. If the other 3 sides are relatively solid you can get by with just cutting out the cancer, cleaning up the area around it, and giving everything a good coat of a sealer of your choice.

 

[kevgentile]

Check with Front Royal corrosion control.....https://frontroyalcorrosioncontrol.com/

If I can't do it myself the only Fabricator I've used and personally know is Mitch Piper, Piper motorsport out in Leesburg.
Not sure if it's something he'd want to do these days but it might be worth a phone call.

 

[Mike NXP]

Not bad, but for sure that cross member is rotted out. Sort of common in the sense that mud builds up in there and if you don't flush it all out it tends to rot there. At least that's why I think it happens and I've seen a handful of others post that issue.

The other pics of frame rust is just marginal, not worth throwing money at but not worth losing sleep over. Fuel tank skid plate can be replaced but hardware is probably all rotted out too. I suspect nothing dangerous is at play but maybe have a local shop to a safety check for peace of mind.

Based on your driving habits I bet it would be OK as is for a while longer but if you do plan to move out west and wheel it hard it should be looked at closer. I thought you were crazy when you quoted $4k for the frame but go figure, it shows it around 3800 but not available. I doubt you could get a frame anymore but who knows. The labor would be major and a lot more problems would be uncovered.


I don't think you would ' patch ' that cross member but I know there are forums on here where people have repaired and maybe even replaced it

Although it shows not available =[ Be sure to double check your vin if looking for parts

 

[excessive]

depends on your budget really. the cheapest option would be to get about 10 cans of fluidfilm/ surfacesheild and spray down the entire frame. that will at least stop the rust in its tracks. if you want to remediate, you are going to have to do some serious spending if you are paying someone else to do it

 

[MtnMantologist]

Not bad, but for sure that cross member is rotted out. Sort of common in the sense that mud builds up in there and if you don't flush it all out it tends to rot there. At least that's why I think it happens and I've seen a handful of others post that issue.

The other pics of frame rust is just marginal, not worth throwing money at but not worth losing sleep over. Fuel tank skid plate can be replaced but hardware is probably all rotted out too. I suspect nothing dangerous is at play but maybe have a local shop to a safety check for peace of mind.

Based on your driving habits I bet it would be OK as is for a while longer but if you do plan to move out west and wheel it hard it should be looked at closer. I thought you were crazy when you quoted $4k for the frame but go figure, it shows it around 3800 but not available. I doubt you could get a frame anymore but who knows. The labor would be major and a lot more problems would be uncovered.


I don't think you would ' patch ' that cross member but I know there are forums on here where people have repaired and maybe even replaced it

Although it shows not available =[ Be sure to double check your vin if looking for parts

View attachment 3620503
View attachment 3620504

I found the part available at some other websites but for quite a bit more than your link shows ($633 vs $365)

I need to take a better look at the front crossmember but I wonder what it would cost to have a local fabricator cut out the old piece and weld in this new one.

 

[Mike NXP]

I found the part available at some other websites but for quite a bit more than your link shows ($633 vs $365)
View attachment 3620546

I need to take a better look at the front crossmember but I wonder what it would cost to have a local fabricator cut out the old piece and weld in this new one.

Oh yeah, my bad I was looking on Partsouq.com which is overseas.

I don't have any experience with a rusted cross member, or welding . I bet it would be a bit of a job with the fuel tank and everything nearby. If you can even weld on the frame, IDK?

 

[Kabanstva]

That’s just surface rust around here

 

[Kabanstva]

On a more serious note, reading your post. I’d sell it and find something newer with little to no rust. If you have kids, family, and a busy schedule a project 100 series with rust issues just doesn’t fit the bill IMO. All the money you’ll spend fixing that rust is basically washed down the drain. You’ll never see a penny of it back in resale. 100s are still fairly new with plenty of rust free examples around the country. Buy a cleaner 100 and spend that money towards maintenance or mods, not frame repair IMO.

 

[MtnMantologist]

That’s just surface rust around here

Classic Bears fan - bury your head in the sand and hope things improve

You're probably right re: buying a newer one without rust but this one has some sentimental value for me. Enough that I'll definitely get some quotes on replacing the worst rust spots before giving up and getting something new. Honestly, if I'm replacing this with a new vehicle anyway it may be a tough sell to buy another 20 year old V8 Toyota that gets 10mpg while living in the suburbs - this one made more sense when I bought it haha

 

[Kabanstva]

Classic Bears fan - bury your head in the sand and hope things improve

You're probably right re: buying a newer one without rust but this one has some sentimental value for me. Enough that I'll definitely get some quotes on replacing the worst rust spots before giving up and getting something new. Honestly, if I'm replacing this with a new vehicle anyway it may be a tough sell to buy another 20 year old V8 Toyota that gets 10mpg while living in the suburbs - this one made more sense when I bought it haha

I don’t watch sports lol. And I grew up in the Middle East, I never understood football lol.

 

[kevgentile]

Like I said before, it's an easy patch job. I'd charge around 4-5 hours and that's a good cushion for me. Materials are cheap too. If you find a decent shop that does fab work it would run less than a grand. Based off of the few photos there is nothing else that even remotely concerns me. Show me some pics of anything worse and I might re-direct.

Our shop deals with this stuff all the time. We are a German specialty shop and deal with a lot of vintage MB and P-cars, especially 911's. With the values going thru the roof now everyone wants one or wants to buy one, and not all of them are very pretty.

Doesn't make sense to sell it and get nothing for it because of a little rust. Then only buy another for a lot more and have to "baseline it" as they say, and drop another $5k into that one.

 

[MtnMantologist]

Like I said before, it's an easy patch job. I'd charge around 4-5 hours and that's a good cushion for me. Materials are cheap too. If you find a decent shop that does fab work it would run less than a grand. Based off of the few photos there is nothing else that even remotely concerns me. Show me some pics of anything worse and I might re-direct.

Our shop deals with this stuff all the time. We are a German specialty shop and deal with a lot of vintage MB and P-cars, especially 911's. With the values going thru the roof now everyone wants one or wants to buy one, and not all of them are very pretty.

Doesn't make sense to sell it and get nothing for it because of a little rust. Then only buy another for a lot more and have to "baseline it" as they say, and drop another $5k into that one.

I'm 100% on board with your suggestion here.

It looks like I can buy the rear crossmember for ~$600, is there an argument for replacing the whole thing vs cutting out and patching? Either in terms of lower labor cost or more overall strength? (As you can tell I'm way out of my depth here with rust remediation)

I need to crawl back under there to see whether I can find any worse spots. I didn't give the front end as good of a look.

 

[AARONTLC]

Oil leaks are underrated.

 

[kevgentile]

I'm 100% on board with your suggestion here.

It looks like I can buy the rear crossmember for ~$600, is there an argument for replacing the whole thing vs cutting out and patching? Either in terms of lower labor cost or more overall strength? (As you can tell I'm way out of my depth here with rust remediation)

I need to crawl back under there to see whether I can find any worse spots. I didn't give the front end as good of a look.

The labor to replace the entire section is many time more the cost than a patch, and yes a patch is plenty strong enough. Other then that one section, which is common to rust out, the rest is clean metal.

Your only hurdle with all of this is finding the shop to do it. This is a common problem with a lot of work these days. There is a new breed of "technicians" that are very different.

 

[delz05]

I have done a nuimber of these frame repairs, along with most of the other "usual toyota suspects". That particular crossmember is the most common rot spot on the 100's. Next would be the frame section behind each front wheel, the rear bumper reinforcement and the transmission crossmember. Have replaced a few spare tire crossmembers as well.

The image of your rotted crossmember indicates severe degradation of the metal. I would be curious to see how the spring perch above it looks as well. The other areas you have shown seem to be surface rust, easily cleaned and treated, but time consuming if done correctly.

Option 1: Remove the crossmember and replace with new. I would recommend this over a patch job if you can source the crossmember. Looking at parts plus 4 to 8 hours of labor, depends on the condition of the frame behind the attaching point on the driver side. That usually needs patch repair as well. Seal up the new welds, then a hard exterior coating (Rusfree or Hard-On) with a Woolwax inner coat to complete the repair. Total estimate would be 2000.00 to 2500.00, depending on "if needed" frame repair details.

Option 2: Cut out rotted area, fabricate new crossmember section, repair frame as needed, weld all, seal, paint and coat. This is the more time consuming repair, due to the fabrication of the needed crossmember repair. This would run about 8 to 12 hours and would give you an equally sturdy repair. This estimate would be in the 2800 to 3000 range, again depending of the frame condition.

The last LC/LX that I worked on, needing this repair came from RI. It was a cut, fab, weld and coat repair (along with a full frame descaling, grind, seal, prime and apply internal and external coating). Only about 12 inches of the crossmember had to be replaced, along with a 14x4 inch section of frame. That particular repair was 2800.00 Yours looks very similar. The reason the customer chose the patch job was being unable to aquire the crossmember in a timely manner, needing the truck for a Winter ski extravaganza.

Hope this is helpful!

 

[marshcat]

I have done a nuimber of these frame repairs, along with most of the other "usual toyota suspects". That particular crossmember is the most common rot spot on the 100's. Next would be the frame section behind each front wheel, the rear bumper reinforcement and the transmission crossmember. Have replaced a few spare tire crossmembers as well.

The image of your rotted crossmember indicates severe degradation of the metal. I would be curious to see how the spring perch above it looks as well. The other areas you have shown seem to be surface rust, easily cleaned and treated, but time consuming if done correctly.

Option 1: Remove the crossmember and replace with new. I would recommend this over a patch job if you can source the crossmember. Looking at parts plus 4 to 8 hours of labor, depends on the condition of the frame behind the attaching point on the driver side. That usually needs patch repair as well. Seal up the new welds, then a hard exterior coating (Rusfree or Hard-On) with a Woolwax inner coat to complete the repair. Total estimate would be 2000.00 to 2500.00, depending on "if needed" frame repair details.

Option 2: Cut out rotted area, fabricate new crossmember section, repair frame as needed, weld all, seal, paint and coat. This is the more time consuming repair, due to the fabrication of the needed crossmember repair. This would run about 8 to 12 hours and would give you an equally sturdy repair. This estimate would be in the 2800 to 3000 range, again depending of the frame condition.

The last LC/LX that I worked on, needing this repair came from RI. It was a cut, fab, weld and coat repair (along with a full frame descaling, grind, seal, prime and apply internal and external coating). Only about 12 inches of the crossmember had to be replaced, along with a 14x4 inch section of frame. That particular repair was 2800.00 Yours looks very similar. The reason the customer chose the patch job was being unable to aquire the crossmember in a timely manner, needing the truck for a Winter ski extravaganza.

Hope this is helpful!

Do you operate a shop in the Boston area? I'm in Somerville.