Here is some pics of 80 chassis rail to 79-series chassis rail. 80 is the thin rail.
79 is way beefier.
Cheers
79 is way beefier.
Cheers
What did Toyota get right with the 80 series frame?
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I had an 04’ Taco, boxed in the back of the frame and beefied it up. Got rear ended in El Salvador by a sedan. Destroyed their car and only had scratches on my Taco bumper. I am aware that Tacos had some issues, even so far as recalls but I had zero issues on mine.
I been west coast my whole life so for me, that 80 frame I just posted a pic of is pretty wasted. I don’t like working on a rusty chassis like that. Since I will be doing welding on it, I want to replace it. Once there is scale, even sand blasting is not good enough for me.
Cheers
And then post 2016 they increased the size/width of the 70 series frame. The 70 series is the workhorse for sure.
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It’d be interesting to compare those to a Prado/Hilux and Tacoma frame. The frame on my 98 Taco was paper-thin compared to my LC.
I believe the rust issues on the Tacoma's ran from 98 - 02
New frame replacements in Upstate NY.
My dealer there was doing 20-30 **a month** during the 4 years I was up there. 1 Master mechanic with helper, 2 lifts were able to do a frame swap in less than 20 billable hours. They were being paid 48 warranty billable hours **per truck** (Tacoma/Tundra/Sequoia).
This is just one dealer. Does not include the buy-backs that Toyota offers as an option.
My dealer there was doing 20-30 **a month** during the 4 years I was up there. 1 Master mechanic with helper, 2 lifts were able to do a frame swap in less than 20 billable hours. They were being paid 48 warranty billable hours **per truck** (Tacoma/Tundra/Sequoia).
This is just one dealer. Does not include the buy-backs that Toyota offers as an option.
Incorrect.
That is impressive!!!!
South texas native here. These things rust?
A little. Typical Tacoma. Mexican-produced Dana frame.
TheLCProject
SILVER Star
I appreciate the side by side comparison done by @SNLC, but does anyone know if there is a yield/tensile strength (grade) difference in the steels between what @SNLC showed us on the 79/80 frames?
When determining the overall strength of a chassis rail, tube, or pipe, thickness is only one of the variables affecting the overall strength of the member. The yield strength (grade) must also be considered in order for someone to compare apples to apples as to what is "better" or stronger.
When determining the overall strength of a chassis rail, tube, or pipe, thickness is only one of the variables affecting the overall strength of the member. The yield strength (grade) must also be considered in order for someone to compare apples to apples as to what is "better" or stronger.
Frames are formed and welded. Nobody would design a mass produced product that is formed and welded from a steel that is difficult to form or weld. That leaves plain old mild steel. Something like A36 HRPO or cold rolled.
You could speculate they could use a HSLA steel like A514, but HSLA steels don't form so easily. They have more springback. You won't get nice square bends without real fancy tooling nobody's going to implement for a pickup frame.
In general, pick the cheapest possible material you could make a frame from. That's what the engineers had to do that designed it.
Good to know. Which years?
When you're driving an 80, I figure the other guy brings your crumple zone with him...
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The recall years. I do not remember the range. Most of that went down after I retired. In addition I was in New Mexico and it was not an issue there.
Around here that looks like a new car chassis that maybe went through 5 Chicago winters. Here’s a 2017 Highlander Hybrid with 66k that’s seen 4 Chicago winters.
How does the 70 series frame compare to 100/200?
I'm impressed by the 80 frame, or at least the one i ended up with. Mine was a NJ truck and the rear quarter body has rust and the rear section of frame looked bad from 20yrs of salt. I thought the rear subframe is a goner but surprised it was still solid behind all that surface rust (installed a 4x4labs so i cut the rear section). I even reused the frame i cut off as the frame for a jerry can holder project. As noted above, the 80 frame is not specially thick/heavy duty, it cut easily haha.
I know of at least one who needed frame rust fix on their 100. Tacos and 4R frame patching is a common thing here in the upper midwest. It's pretty scary seeing those rotten frames.
Maybe most 80 just leaks oil and helps preserve the frame
.
I know of at least one who needed frame rust fix on their 100. Tacos and 4R frame patching is a common thing here in the upper midwest. It's pretty scary seeing those rotten frames.
Maybe most 80 just leaks oil and helps preserve the frame
.
