Purchase advice

[mousecruizer]

Hey yall I'm looking to buy this fj60. This is the condition of the frame, could anyone chime in onto whether this is a deal breaker? It's just towards the back that it's like this and the front is surface rust if anything. Not sure if that swelling on the frame is a red flag or not. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Lead Head]

I mean, what does "deal breaker" mean to you? Anything can be repaired with time and money.

That frame can be be repaired, but the that inner c-channel on both sides will need to be ripped out and replaced, and the rear cross member repaired. There are companies that sell kits to repair it.

The body also needs a tremendous amount of work.

 

[mousecruizer]

I mean, what does "deal breaker" mean to you? Anything can be repaired with time and money.

That frame can be be repaired, but the that inner c-channel on both sides will need to be ripped out and replaced, and the rear cross member repaired. There are companies that sell kits to repair it.

The body also needs a tremendous amount of work.

I mean I guess for the price of the car right now this is as good as it'll get, but as far as deal breaker I meant like whether it's too much work to do, do you know roughly how much that would cost to repair? I'm new to this kind of stuff so I don't have a real good idea, do you have the links to the kits that you mentioned?

 

[3_puppies]

I would look/inspect both frame rails in and around the front rear leaf spring mounts

 

[Devils Paw 80]

I would look/inspect both frame rails in and around the front rear leaf spring mounts

X2, and check the crossmember the shocks attach to. Sometimes the spare tire can be hiding rusty problems.

What is the plan for this 60? If you want a cool old rusty beater and the price is right then there's no deal breaker I see.
To fix the rust shown, you would at least need this: https://cruisercorps.com/collection...4IlUGxxamq5M8ppyzh03Bv4x1_naxmRcu--yBCCYR-YiZ

And this: C-Channel Kit 60 Series - https://trail-tailor.com/store/p172/C-Channel_Kit.html

Plus the labor/skills to take care of it.

 

[mousecruizer]

X2, and check the crossmember the shocks attach to. Sometimes the spare tire can be hiding rusty problems.

What is the plan for this 60? If you want a cool old rusty beater and the price is right then there's no deal breaker I see.
To fix the rust shown, you would at least need this: https://cruisercorps.com/collection...4IlUGxxamq5M8ppyzh03Bv4x1_naxmRcu--yBCCYR-YiZ

And this: C-Channel Kit 60 Series - https://trail-tailor.com/store/p172/C-Channel_Kit.html

Plus the labor/skills to take care of it.

This is fantastic. Thank you so much! I don't mind putting money into repairing it this gave me a lot more confidence! I think I'll be able to figure out how to fix it

 

[BurntToast]

IMO your profile says DFW, pass on this rusty one and pick up a nicer one west in the desert

 

[Lead Head]

This is fantastic. Thank you so much! I don't mind putting money into repairing it this gave me a lot more confidence! I think I'll be able to figure out how to fix it

I want you to keep in mind that while it's very doable to repair this yourself - it's a lot of work. It will requiring some welding and fabrication skills. Paying a proper restoration shop to fix the frame rails and the body can easily hit the $10,000+ mark.

But it's a different story if you just want a guy with a welder to cut out the bad section of frame and weld in the new replacement channels.

 

[mousecruizer]

IMO your profile says DFW, pass on this rusty one and pick up a nicer one west in the desert

I've been looking for months, yet to come across one this cheap with this as the only real problem for this price. Hard to pass on this in my opinion, market place doesn't have many in DFW that aren't insanely overpriced

 

[mousecruizer]

I want you to keep in mind that while it's very doable to repair this yourself - it's a lot of work. It will requiring some welding and fabrication skills. Paying a proper restoration shop to fix the frame rails and the body can easily hit the $10,000+ mark.

But it's a different story if you just want a guy with a welder to cut out the bad section of frame and weld in the new replacement channels.

I'm not planning on rushing this, I'd like to learn all that stuff so I think this is a good point. I really do appreciate the heads up!

 

[majdomo]

Frame repair work on a 62. Was far worse than this but I'm not sure I'd go there again. YMMV.

 

[bhsdriller]

I've been looking for months, yet to come across one this cheap with this as the only real problem for this price. Hard to pass on this in my opinion, market place doesn't have many in DFW that aren't insanely overpriced

what's considered cheap for something like this, what are they asking.
Deals are out there just takes time and usually luck

 

[onemanarmy]

How valuable is your time? That will tell you if any rust is a 'deal breaker"

You seem to be looking mainly at todays price, not thr cost of future headaches

 

[CruiserTrash]

In my very personal opinion, I'd maybe shell out $1000-2000 for that truck. I'm the guy who's always going to promote foolhardy decisions to buy trucks that need LOTS of work, that's just the thing with this one - it needs LOTS of work. Go into it with open eyes. I personally don't care so much about the body, I'm a perfectionist with regard to mechanicals but don't mind if they look rough. I don't need a showroom-condition new paint job just because I saw some rust bubbles, but that frame needs attention badly for safety reasons. See the Trail Tailor c-channel insert linked above.

And like @3_puppies says, the spot that would be my personal dealbreaker is the forward attachment point of the rear leaf springs, on the inside face of the frame. Once the heavy rust starts there, the frame can develop holes right where huge load bearing forces from the rear leaf springs interact with the frame. Bad bad bad if there are holes starting there.