My Tacoma is Literally Disintegrating How Do I Stop it?

Seriously? Crown Vics are heavy ass old boats, with good winter or studded tires on the rear wheels it will put most 4x4 trucks to shame in the snow.. I had a '74 Monte Carlo years ago, not the same car but very similar shape, weight and design of the Crown Vics used by police for years, that car bombed through snowdrifts better than any of my trucks have! Haha

 

I cut the bedsides off and went fiberglass on my 91, fixed all the rust I could find..



man I miss this truck..
oh yeah, I forgot to mention I was living in WNY at the time and the truck was a northern PA truck.. so it saw a lot of the truck killing salt and such...

 

I second fiberglass on the body panels. Grew up in Pittsburgh and our family kept cars a long time. Dads F150 had rust holes above the rear wells like you, patched them with fiberglass and never had a problem with it again. It looked ugly but it worked. The jeep I drove in high school had the floors rust through, pops fiberglassed them and it worked great till he got rid of it at almost 250k miles.

Won't help your frame situation but the frame doesn't look structurally impaired at this point.

 

He said the frame been replaced^

Is it just the bed that's rotting? Just get another bed and swap the freakin thing. Fix whatever you have to while the bed is off brake lines, fuel lines, ebrake cable.

 

This is the nicest body style Toyota ever made. My dad had one of these when I was younger. When buying my 95' I really wanted one of these, but on Long Island they are almost impossible to find.

 

Agreed I want a 94 5 lugged pick up

 

Yeah, just the bed. I could get a new bed, I'd have to find one first which may be a pain but that's replaceable. It's only being held on my four dangerously rotted bolts right now.

But the main concern I have is that other thing you mentioned. For example my E-Brake doesn't work. Like, at all. The lines are completely seized and a write off. Personally, I never, ever use my E-Brake. I just put the thing in park when I leave it sitting, never had an issue with any of my cars so the disuse of my e-brake and the crippling rot and rust have not been kind.

I can get away with an e-brake but god forbid something happens to my brake lines or fuel lines. Which is a scary consideration, my primary reason for wanting to ditch it before I end up in some accident or with a dead truck.

I've decided that just for now I can at least take a wire wheel and brush to the bed frame and see what I'm working with, how bad the holes are. I'll hit with some sort of rust retarding agent and than maybe see about reinforcing any significant holes with weld work.

Anyone recommend a good rust agent to spray on it? Something economical hopefully and easy to put on, like in a rattle can or something.

 

I've read good things about POR 15

 

These things are not too out of the ordinary for north east cars and if you get it fixed while the bed is off it will be really easy. Call up some junkyards and get a used bed.

You said you love the truck,don't sweat it. It could be a fun little project for ya

 

coming from wisconsin, just as bad as NY, i found calling junkyards for body parts pointless because everything was rusted. I had to travel significantly south to get anything in good shape. That is why the flat bed would be nice: you build it.

 

Your frame actually looks pretty good. If you were closer I would tell you to stop by so that I could give you a hand with the assessment. For a rust converter - they are all really the same thing. I used VHT rust converter on some parts. Just don't use a Rust Converter and then go over it with Chassis Saver (wont stick as good). I would actually stay away from POR15 since the application is a bit more involved than Chassis Saver.

Just remember -- there are rust converters (which neutralize the rust -- they do not turn it back into good steel), things like Chassis Saver that convert rust and protect (protect like paint) and treatments like Fluid Film which coats the chassis so that water and salt don't get to the metal. Don't expect that just one of these will make it better. If you have a nice clean factory chassis, Fluid Film alone will be sufficient; In your situation you need to first take care of the rust, then stop it from happening again.

 

I ordered some Chassis Saver and I figure on my next day off I'll take a wire brush to it and see what the real damage is and maybe consider removing the bed. It's just four bolts and discounting the wiring for the brakes right? Two people can lift it? I know that there are some holes but the chassis saver will at worst look better than the rust if I try to sell it and at best will keep it from getting significantly worse. I'd probably need to cut or drill the bolts out of the bed, replace them with stainless steel ones. But if I can even get the bolts back into something is a big IF right not, may be better to not fuck with the bed at all.

How do you get those fender flares off? I know I have a picture of them off in the OP but that's because I had it in my cousins shop and he had taken them off and sent that picture. I'll pop them back off and treat that before it gets even worse. Just get something between the plastic and frame and pop it off or is there any other trick to it?

I'll report back once I've taken the brush to it and see how bad the holes are.

 

Should be 6 bolts on the bed. Tail lights will just unplug. I would also remove the mudflaps and the brackets that hold them. Fender flares just unscrew. You may have to grind off some of the bolts depending on how seized they are.

Make sure you prep properly for the paint and do it when the temperature is above 50. Best if you have a garage this time of year.

Post pics and videos of your frame before you paint. Your frame is new so it should not be as bad as you say.

 

I was just logging on to add that. good catch.

And after.

 

If the bed is in that kind of shape,,how is the underside and harder to see area of the cab looking?. Good?, no rust that you can see?. If so it's worth a used bed or do the flat bed idea.

Unless I was doing a loving restoration of the entire vehicle using it's original parts, I don't think I would try to patch it. You will fix those spots on the bed and it will probably rust thru in a few years in another area.

Road salt,,the bain of the average joe, and the gold of body shop everywhere.

Some tough decisions you have.

 

If I were you: leave the state and buy a new 95-04. I moved to Ny 3 years ago from OR. I didn't know they salted here, never been out the way before the move. Salt is the biggest reason why I am trying to go back west. I stopped driving my Tacoma after 1.5 years here and got a 3000$ Heep to drive in the winter. Already cleaned, acid washed (phosphoric) and painted part of the frame with POR15. Need to do the front still. I know this isn't really easy for most people but it's the sad truth. Don't drive it in the winter or leave.

 

With the way things are going in Oregon, they may go back to salting/sanding/sandblasting all lanes, instead of the really good de-icer they will probably stop spreading. Don't be to eager to run this way, see how things play out.

 

What were they using in OR?

In Colorado they use a solution of Magnesium Chloride. BUT, having done several toxicity experiments with it, it isn't. It has a bunch of anti-corrosion additives. They are proprietary and even after several rounds of HPLC and ICP spectroscopy i can not figure out what they are adding (i have not exhausted all possibilities). MgCl2 was largely adopted to be better for the environment but that was based on studies with pure MgCl2, not the additives. The belief that MgCl2 is better for the environment might be changing and that might cause many states to go back to NaCl.

 

I believe that's what they use here in Montana as well, but I still avoid driving on the main roads where they use it if I can. I just take the side streets and neighborhood routes to get to work each day. The highway department only uses chloride on the main arteries in town they are responsible for. The city doesn't use crap, they wait until about 2 days before everything's done melting entirely and then put pea gravel down at all the big intersections and hills.

 

I have no clue what OR uses, but where I was it was a whole lot of NOTHING. I would rarely see some pink shit on the roads. Usually it's just plows and ground volcanic rock. I lived in Klamath falls for 4 years. I had 0 rust before I moved here, 1.5 winters here my frame starts turning orange in central NY. Granted its a 99 so not exactly a fresh coat of frame paint.