On the hunt and looking for advice on a frame (1 Viewer)

[akrafty1]

Good evening folks. I am on the hung for a 100 series and am looking for some advice on some rust on a frame. It looks mostly surface, but a lot of the bolts have rust as well so that gives me pause. It looks like the steering rack may have a wet boot in one of the photos and in another there is a connector by the globe that is disconnected. The price seems good at around 10k for 280,000 miles and the service history is not too bad on the Lexus site. This has supposedly been a southern car.

I just missed a LC a day or 2 ago as the day prior to me going to purchase it the PO got hit going to fill it up at the gas station... Looking for a LC/470 on a budget has been a pretty fun process and I can't thank you all enough for all the information that I have found on this site regarding, not only what to look for, but how to fix the issues that I am sure to run into.

 

[delz05]

Surface oxidation... easy-peasy cleanup... Drop the spare tire and check the carrier and the crossmember just above it to be sure they are structually sund.

 

[akrafty1]

Thanks for the reply. I agree that it looks mostly like surface rust. I will check the support under the spare and make sure it looks ok.

In the 3rd picture you can see a connector that is unplugged. Is that related to the AHC system?

 

[Malleus]

I wouldn't pay $10k for a LX470 in NC with that mileage and that rust, unless the interior and engine compartment were pristine.

If that's truly a southern truck, it's been outside at the beach alot. Look at the cargo tie down hooks in the rear floor.

 

[baltistyle]

agree with the above.

What year is the truck and do you have any interior pictures?

 

[Rednexus]

A lot of those bolts are going to break when you work on the rig. You probably can't even get a wrench on the AHC bolts. When they do break, you'll be stuck with having to drill out and re-tap the hole into the frame. I'm not sure I totally agree that it's surface rust only, as the radiator core support looks a bit compromised, as well as the body mount bracket. The welds on the bottom of the frame also look pretty rough. It's probably worth it to put a inspection camera inside the frame and see if it might be rusting from the inside out.

I'd probably pass on it for ease of wrenching unless it's a smoking deal. It appears the PO never washed the underside of the rig and the rust isn't going to get any better. If it is a smoking deal and you do get it, I'd thoroughly pressure was the frame and coat it inside and out with Fluid Film/Woolwax. That approach has preserved the frame on my GX470, which was somewhat less rusty than that LX, but not exactly mint either. And be ready to deal with breaking fasteners (I've broken a number myself).

 

[rexington14]

Agreed for the NC / VA area you can certainly do better. If you are in the Raleigh area especially I'd keep looking. These are not terribly uncommon and do pop up here every so often.

 

[delz05]

The plug looks to be in the area where the running board lights hook into the harness. AHC is further back, if I remember correctly.
Don't be afraid of a little surface rust on bolts. Heat or PB Blaster will loosen those up without issue. It's a 20+ year old truck that has been driven and used as intended... expect imperfections and issues. Garage queens with perfect interiors, exteriors, floor pans, frames, nuts, bolts, parts and such... sell for over 50K, 24k-Mile 2007 Toyota Land Cruiser UZJ100 - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-toyota-land-cruiser-33/ and 21k-Mile 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser UZJ100 - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-toyota-land-cruiser-54/ and even they have "a little surface rust" that some one will complain about!

 

[Rednexus]

The plug looks to be in the area where the running board lights hook into the harness. AHC is further back, if I remember correctly.
Don't be afraid of a little surface rust on bolts. Heat or PB Blaster will loosen those up without issue. It's a 20+ year old truck that has been driven and used as intended... expect imperfections and issues. Garage queens with perfect interiors, exteriors, floor pans, frames, nuts, bolts, parts and such... sell for over 50K, 24k-Mile 2007 Toyota Land Cruiser UZJ100 - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-toyota-land-cruiser-33/ and 21k-Mile 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser UZJ100 - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-toyota-land-cruiser-54/ and even they have "a little surface rust" that some one will complain about!

The rust on the AHC bolts is not surface rust. The bolt heads themselves are more or less gone. Those aren't coming out with some PB Blaster. They'd need to have the heads ground off, have the bolt drilled out, and then re-tapped. The flare nuts on the AHC lines are the same - no ways those are coming out.

This is coming from someone who has broken a number of rusty bolts on my rig. At this point I've turned just about every bolt underneath the rig via a full suspension replacement, exhaust replacement, etc and Woolwaxed/Fluid Filmed it, so I'm more or less past breaking things now.

On the plus side, rust on my rig led me to buy a welder in an act of desperation (getting an exhaust stud out of the head by welding a nut on the cut-off stub of fit) and got me back in to fabrication. It was also helpful when I broke one of the captive trailer hitch nuts inside the rear of the frame, as I cut a hole in the end of the frame, extracted the broken nut, made a new captive nut, and welded the frame back together.

But, it isn't easy or fun to deal with rust like that, and it requires a hefty tool budget and better-than-average DIY skills. A lot of folks in the sunbelt have no idea how to deal with rust at all (unlike folks in your neck of the woods who deal with it all the time).

 

[Kabanstva]

Easiest way to stop seeing this rust is to go on a nice muddy trail. Utah, Wyoming, etc. that stuff never washes off. You’ll quickly forget you ever had rust.

 

[77pantera]

Around here that would be considered rust free.
I wouldn't be afraid of it but you can definitely do better.
What year is it? $10k for 280k seems a little steep depending on year.

 

[Kabanstva]

You guys see the front tow hook/ recovery point is completely bent in. How does something like that happen?

 

[Rednexus]

You guys see the front tow hook/ recovery point is completely bent in. How does something like that happen?

Since it doesn't appear to have been impacted (i.e., hitting something), I'm betting it was used to either pull the LX out of something or pull another vehicle out, and side-loaded. Those "recovery points" are really tie down points when these rigs are loaded on the ship to their end-market voyage. They aren't designed for recovery and definitely aren't designed for side loading.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

...I just missed a LC a day or 2 ago as the day prior to me going to purchase it the PO got hit going to fill it up at the gas station...

IMO that's not a deal at the price, mileage and rust. What's your budget? I'd wait for something better.

 

[akrafty1]

agree with the above.

What year is the truck and do you have any interior pictures?

It is a 2000 and I do. The inside is in great condition which is why I was entertaining looking at this one. Ideally I would rather fix the interior than deal with rust.

 

[akrafty1]

A lot of those bolts are going to break when you work on the rig. You probably can't even get a wrench on the AHC bolts. When they do break, you'll be stuck with having to drill out and re-tap the hole into the frame. I'm not sure I totally agree that it's surface rust only, as the radiator core support looks a bit compromised, as well as the body mount bracket. The welds on the bottom of the frame also look pretty rough. It's probably worth it to put a inspection camera inside the frame and see if it might be rusting from the inside out.

I'd probably pass on it for ease of wrenching unless it's a smoking deal. It appears the PO never washed the underside of the rig and the rust isn't going to get any better. If it is a smoking deal and you do get it, I'd thoroughly pressure was the frame and coat it inside and out with Fluid Film/Woolwax. That approach has preserved the frame on my GX470, which was somewhat less rusty than that LX, but not exactly mint either. And be ready to deal with breaking fasteners (I've broken a number myself).

Thanks for that insight. I don't mind the odd stubborn bolt but I really don't want every repair to be a fight.

Agreed for the NC / VA area you can certainly do better. If you are in the Raleigh area especially I'd keep looking. These are not terribly uncommon and do pop up here every so often.

I am in the Raleigh area and I will keep my eyes open. Everything seems to be in Charlotte or VA. One of my neighbors has two and won't share. The nerve of some people... LOL!

You guys see the front tow hook/ recovery point is completely bent in. How does something like that happen?

I did notice that and was wondering if that was bent. I also noticed the nice recovery point added to the other side so I think this truck has seen some action.

IMO that's not a deal at the price, mileage and rust. What's your budget? I'd wait for something better.

My budget is a really good question. The prices seem to be all over the place for Las and 470s. Even folks selling Sequoias seem to be asking LC money these days. I had initially intended to stay under 10k looking for something with good bones and a decent service record. As I said before I don't mind fixing up the interior or other items that can be fixed as long as the main components, frame, engine, transfer case are sound. I would love to stay in the years of 00-03 as things seem to command higher prices after those years but I really am having a hard time determining what a fair price is for one of these.

I just have to stay patient but damn that's hard.

 

[Rednexus]

Unless you are set on a 100 you may want to consider a GX470. When I was looking in 2020 they were half the cost of a 100/LX in comparable condition/age/mileage. I got a GX for that reason and it's been a great rig for 4.5 years now. Parts are cheap and easier to find since so many are shared with the 4Runner.

 

[REDrum]

FWIW, I'm from New England, on my 4th UZJ100, and wouldn't walk away from that truck based on the surface rust in the photos. Living the lands of road salt, up to 5 months of the year, that frame looks almost Purdy!! I've had all my LC frames sand blasted, patched where needed, and hit rust proofing. My current favorite is Noxudol (not cheap). With 80 and 100 series trucks they are now decades old so you will need to throw annual love at the frame, underbody parts and everything else. If the truck is in the color you like, has decent maintnance history, is running, and fits within your budget go for it. The only thing about the truck you posted that would cause me to walk away is that it's an LX and not an LC. GLWP

 

[77pantera]

With that surface rust, a 2000 with 280k for $10k is a bit high in my book.
If you stretch your budget a bit more, you can get a 03+ with ~200k instead.
If your trying to keep it under 10k, I think you can find a 98-02 in better shape with lower miles.
Don't be afraid to travel. I put 3500 miles on mine before it got home.

 

[akrafty1]

With that surface rust, a 2000 with 280k for $10k is a bit high in my book.
If you stretch your budget a bit more, you can get a 03+ with ~200k instead.
If your trying to keep it under 10k, I think you can find a 98-02 in better shape with lower miles.
Don't be afraid to travel. I put 3500 miles on mine before it got home.

That sounds like solid advice.

The LC I was headed to pick up was an 03 with 220,000 and no rust for $8400. The seats were a mess and, of course, the sunroof didn't work but the body and frame were solid. The owner was headed to the gas station to fill it up so it would have a full tank and someone pulled out in front of him and hit the drivers front corner. So close.