2003 Taco Frame Restoration Journey

Hey all, just wanted to post my journey. It's not over, but I'm more than half way there. These rusty frames can be really frustrating and sometimes depressing. But time, a little patience and hard work will go a long way. I started this as a new home owner, with almost no tools and a broken truck. It's still a work in progress but this is my story:

I bought a 2003, 4 x 4, 2.7 auto with 100k miles. It was a good price and looked clean. I was aware of the frame issues but trusted the dealer a bit too much. Freshly painted by the dealer with "no rot". Here it is:





With winter coming I decided to do a little bit of frame preventative maintenance starting with the back, taking off the bed to get a better look at the frame:



There was a bunch of minor flakey rust so I decided to wire wheel the back to get that stuff off. Slowly taking off the paint the dealership applied and I found this:



I continued and found this:









At this point I contacted the dealership and showed them all these pictures. They denied that they knew the damage was there and would not pay to get it fixed. I tried to see if it was possible to get a lawyer involved, but the cost of the truck was too low and the lawyer fees made it not worth pursuing. So I decided to tackle this on my own, with no experience in doing anything this significant.

I cleaned up the back and started re-painting the frame minus the rotten spots:



Cleaned up the bumper, rear diff and tank protector while I was at it:




Here are some beauty shots I took to keep my spirits up and show progress:




Meanwhile I was passing these on the highway, poking fun at myself, thinking I should have done a bit more research before buying my truck, haha. If I only bought one with new frame.......you live you learn.


Now for the expensive part. I wish I had friends that welded, or I could weld myself. I had to pay for my mistake here, this is the Safe-T-Cap welding, next time, I learn, I weld.







Finished:





Some of the other damage fixed:






And now my turn to paint and finish the back:





So finally the back is good. I may need a new cross beam eventually, but for now it will do. Next step. Fluid film the back and put the bed back on. I like to do it in steps, its not the most efficient way but it keeps me going. That's it for my progress so far. I have to re-paint the frame under the bed, and work on the front I discovered some more damage in the front near the cat, which was a bummer, but it's not nearly as bad as the back:





I'll keep on posting and moving forward with my build/fix. Some days of this fix were downers, there have been ups and downs, triumphs and failures. But making progress, learning and moving forward has been quite enjoyable.

 

Nice work great pics.

 

Look like pretty good work there.

As it's a 2003 and would still be under the extended warranty, I take it the PO did not follow through on the undercoating? That's the real shame here in addition to the questionable representation by the dealer that sold it to you. Also can't help but notice the pre 2001 15" wheels. Wonder what happened to the 16s.

 

Man! That sucks that dealer screwed you over like that. Good for you for taking the bed off and discovering the rust

Also you did a great job for not having any experience like this. I gotta tip my hat off to you sir

 

Good Luck

I remember my frame was full of ugly rusty flakes. That was depressing to see at first and it looked really bad, then I cleaned and wirebrushed the rust and it turned out my frame was good. Rock solid everywhere! Rusty but surface rust only. Now I greased the shit out of it, so it won't spread further. And I will keep greasing it.

These frames rot from the inside out, so don't forget to fluid film the inside of the frame too! Also, you can drill small drain holes in it, to allow any moisture trapped in a way out, so it won't rot again

 

Big drain holes I make mine 1/2" or 5/8"

 

Wow...that's awesome!! Great job on tackling such a HUGE project. You'll get to cherish that truck for a very long time now! And not only that....with a little research, you can tackle just about anything!!

That reminds me of my 96 I had..... sold it to a guy before the frame rot warranty/replacements came out. The guy who bought it from me - didn't 'pursue' (or know about) the warranty and contacted me via email several years later about the frame. The warranty had been cancelled at that point. He was asking me if I had any suggestions on how to fix it. I couldn't offer anything other than...exactly what you did.

I used to see that truck around town from time to time - its the only 96 in town with a TJM front bumper, customer rocksliders & custome rear bumper. I haven't seen it in a while....... Kinda sad.
RIP

 

Yea the PO got it inspected the month that the deadline for the undercoating was expiring. I'm not sure why they didn't inspect and coat at the same time, so the coating was never applied. I didn't know those 15s didn't come with the truck, it looks factory, I like them.

 

Thanks, I did do the Eastwood internal frame coating on the boxed sections in the back and under the cab. I'm going to fluid film the inside also. I'll make the drain holes a bit bigger too.

 

The Safe-T-Cap has two large holes, I need to drill out the one closer to the front. I'm going to make the existing drain holes a bit bigger along the frame. I might also keep that hole near the front by the cat for drainage, just clean it up and spray it with rust encapsulator.

 

Excellent job! Now you know exactly what was done & how well the work was done so no worries.

 

put grease between the safe-t-cap and the frame to prevent any eventual moisture buildup between the two surfaces. The heat from welding will cause the grease to liquefy and fill every little pore and crack in the metal, preventing it from rotting again in the same spots

 

Better yet.... Anti seize

 

Just make sure what you might want to use is non- flammable all you need is a grease fire on the truck !!

The fire watcher not paying attention

 

Way to take responsibility and fix your own issue man. I'm sure it wasn't easy but you should be proud of what you did. Looks great!

 

Did Toyota turn you down for a frame replacement even though it was inspected, although not undercoated?

They are factory rims, just an older style. I ran those same rims on my '01. I had bought the '01 before my '00 was turned in to Toyota for frame rust, so I swapped the worn out tires/16" steel rims of the '01 with the good tires/15" alloy rims on the '00. The '01 frame was replaced when I took it in for the undercoating in 2012. I sold that one to buy my '03, which I want to keep forever. So, I pay attention to all the frame threads. Rust lives here in the Northeast.

 

Yea, unfortunately Toyota turned me down because it wasn't undercoated.

 

elm1and2 - where did the truck live it's life before you got it? curious to see how many years it takes to rot the frame like that...

nice job by the way!

 

Thanks, I believe it was an upstate New York truck all its life. Yea I wonder how long it took to rot to the point where one of the previous owners had to fix the leaf spring hanger. Though, the truck did pass it's Toyota frame inspection on 10/2012.

 

weird!

I just got my '01 from AZ and the frame, and everything else, is completely rust free. I drove it back to VT where i live and the first thing i did was have the underside completely undercoated. so i hope that keeps the frame from rusting and keeps the truck usable.