Rust vs Reward (1 Viewer)

Too much rust?


  • Total voters
    24

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I found my dream 100 series for what seemed to be a reasonable price (6.6K prob negotiable down to $5800) right near me (New Jersey)

Body looks great. Good color. Ran decently. But... BUT when the snow cleared and I got underneath I was horrified by the rust I saw.

please help, I’m no expert, so is this a run-don’t-walk situation or does the rust not matter / can be remediate at the above price.
View attachment 2581705

View attachment 2581706

View attachment 2581707

View attachment 2581708
I live in illinois and i'd run away from that. there are tons of less rusted 100s out there for that price. it's what you can't see.
 
Last edited:
Justify rusty trucks all you want. It's not just the structural stuff. It's not just the appearance of bubbles and holes in the body. Working on rusty trucks just plain sucks. Bolts strip. Bolts break. A 10 min. job turns into a *%#&ing project - extracting bolts, rethreading... Nope. Not worth it. You Rustbelt guys are not held captive. Get the &$*@ out of there and buy a S.E./S.W. truck. There are PLENTY. As mentioned, these aren't rare classics. The number of trucks that'll die in the N.E. because an enthusiast relocated one is statistically insignificant. Time for a road trip!
 
Justify rusty trucks all you want. It's not just the structural stuff. It's not just the appearance of bubbles and holes in the body. Working on rusty trucks just plain sucks. Bolts strip. Bolts break. A 10 min. job turns into a *%#&ing project - extracting bolts, rethreading... Nope. Not worth it. You Rustbelt guys are not held captive. Get the &$*@ out of there and buy a S.E./S.W. truck. There are PLENTY. As mentioned, these aren't rare classics. The number of trucks that'll die in the N.E. because an enthusiast relocated one is statistically insignificant. Time for a road trip!
spot on! road trip! :beer::steer:
 
Rust paranoia is justified with 100s because there's still a healthy market of them. Yes, they're getting longer in the tooth and finding really nice ones is tougher, but they are not so rare that yo want to live with that much rust. If there's that much delamination visible, I have to assume there's significant rust all over that vehicle in places you haven't even considered. I'm with the consensus, keep looking, there's better trucks out there.
 
The thing though this can be a problem hiding with cars from even stereotypical rust free locations.
i looked at a used 2nd gen tacoma a while back and it looked rad... until I popped the fuse panel and saw the crossmember under the dash... RUST and the seat track mechanism.... they brought a flood truck to Arizona.... i have raw steel that's been sitting in my backyard for 5 years that looked better than this thing.
 
i looked at a used 2nd gen tacoma a while back and it looked rad... until I popped the fuse panel and saw the crossmember under the dash... RUST and the seat track mechanism.... they brought a flood truck to Arizona.... i have raw steel that's been sitting in my backyard for 5 years that looked better than this thing.
Funny thing about Tacoma’s are they have already started a frame rust recall/remedy for 16/17s
 
i looked at a used 2nd gen tacoma a while back
1613098208439.gif
 
wow that price for that pile of s***
 
Frame doesn't look bad honestly. And I know a thing or two about rusty 100 series ;)

Look at the quarter panels behind the rear wheels (and under the rear bumper) and also the fender are right behind the front wheels.
Those are drain points for the sunroof and are typically first areas to rust. If those are solid then frame stuff is easy peasy.

Obviously a rust free, inexpensive, well maintained local truck for under $10k will be ideal, but unfortunately not very realistic :confused:
 
I vote option #3. Buy for around $3k and drive it into the ground. Treat the rust you can to slow it down and in 15-20 years buy a replacement.

Rusty Cruisers make great trail vehicles and daily drivers in the salt. If you are looking for an instagram model cruiser do not buy a rusty one.
 
I have a rusty midwest '99 LC. While my frame was relatively solid and considered that the main factor, all the other thin metal rusting parts have been the bigger issue for me. I've now replaced all the brake hard lines (one busted), the rear a/c line (busted multiple places), windshield frame leaked a lot, half-assed patched up my rockers, the fuel hard lines (busted twice), and now the gas tank that started leaking. I still love the thing, and hopefully thats the last of the crucial stuff, but thats been a whole lot of hassle and work to fix.
This LC you're looking at might be weird in that those are the only rusty spots, which might not be too hard to fix with a shadetree welder, but the rest of the stuff would worry me.

I'm facing brake hard line and hard fuel line replacement. How much of a pain in the ass was it? Did you replace fuel with new metal hard line or hose?
 
I vote option #3. Buy for around $3k and drive it into the ground. Treat the rust you can to slow it down and in 15-20 years buy a replacement.

Rusty Cruisers make great trail vehicles and daily drivers in the salt. If you are looking for an instagram model cruiser do not buy a rusty one.
I bought a rusty midwest 99 LC for 2500. It looked bad underneath at a glance but upon closer inspection frame was OK but plates, especially gas tank plate and brackets were really bad. I went through it with a grinder and rust removal wheel and used por15 on everything I could touch + fluid film in frame. The main reason I wanted it is it had 165K miles and was a well maintained plus I have lots of experience with the 4.7 working on my tundra. I've focused on mechanical maintance and its become a reliable daily for me. I've driven it 15k miles since last September so it was worth it. Definitely not a looker though. The biggest hassle are rusty bolts. Ive got to do my stabilizer bar bushings and the bolt don't even look like bolts anymore.
 
I'm facing brake hard line and hard fuel line replacement. How much of a pain in the ass was it? Did you replace fuel with new metal hard line or hose?

It's unpleasant. Changing all brake hardlines is do-able without removing much stuff. Accessing the junction over the rear diff is a pain.
I had temp patched some fuel hardlines with rubber and double hose-clamped, but would not recommend that. I replaced that with some hardline and compression fittings for something better. Three fuel lines go up and over the tank, which are near impossible to reach. When the tank gave out and started leaking and had to be dropped and replaced anyways, I went ahead and put in all new OEM fuel hardlines.
 
It's unpleasant. Changing all brake hardlines is do-able without removing much stuff. Accessing the junction over the rear diff is a pain.
I had temp patched some fuel hardlines with rubber and double hose-clamped, but would not recommend that. I replaced that with some hardline and compression fittings for something better. Three fuel lines go up and over the tank, which are near impossible to reach. When the tank gave out and started leaking and had to be dropped and replaced anyways, I went ahead and put in all new OEM fuel hardlines.
Do you by chance have the part numbers still to the OEM fuel hardlines? I think I have found them, but if you could confirm that would be awesome.
 
I vote option #3. Buy for around $3k and drive it into the ground. Treat the rust you can to slow it down and in 15-20 years buy a replacement.

Rusty Cruisers make great trail vehicles and daily drivers in the salt. If you are looking for an instagram model cruiser do not buy a rusty one.
@jroseen ^^this is what ive chosen to do. You're in NJ, im sure you can find some competitive pricing for rust repair
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom