Pictures of Rust on '03 Tacoma- Need diagnosis

Ok I snapped a couple pictures of the underside of my '03 Tacoma. Pretty rusty down there. Vehicle grew up and spent 7 years in Vermont. The truck goes in for the dealer inspection on Friday. Issue is I am taking vehicle to Toyota dealer in Denver who has seen very few of these frame rust issues.

On the bottom of the frame rail, there appears to be indentations every foot or so on both rails. I have taken pictures of 2 different indentations. I am wondering if anyone can tell me if these indentations are built into the design of the frame or if it could be a rust through. Seems as though I could see up inside the frame if I scraped away all the rust but I'm hesitant to do so before the inspection.

I appreciate the help!

Picture one is just a pic of overall condition of frame, but it has worse rust around forward suspension. Its dark, pics are hard to take. Pic 2 & 3 show different pics of these indentations.

Also, I have stuck my finger inside of several of the drain holes in the frame and there is all sorts of flakey mess inside there...

 

Not sure if this will help but one of my coworkers had a 2000 tacoma in which his frame rusted. Dealer looked at it and they paid him the value of the truck when it was sold brand new off the lot.

 

i hope its not as bad as the pictures look. but if it is, you may be getting a new frame friend

 

the 01-04's dont get that deal, they either get a protective coating if it passes. But If not they replace the frame completely. I would take it in and have then do a frame test, and see if it passes. But I dont think it will. that looks pretty bad man!

 

Well to be honest, I'd rather just have frame replaced. Rest of truck is in great condition. If it does have rot and they end up buying it back, I'd just go out and look for a new '01-'04 Tacoma in good shape.

If no rot, I am going to have a long day of wire wheeling, priming and painting the frame. Should be fun. I will let you all know the results of Friday's test.

If anyone else has any insight on wether or not those are frame indentations that would also be great.

 

My 03 has the same holes/indentions, no clue what they are though. My frame looked pretty similar to yours when I took it in. I passed and got the frame coating. When I got my truck back they told me that I was on the verge of failing, whatever that means. All of my suspension components are rusted, as well as the rear axle. I'll have trouble removing any bolts should I need to.

 

The indents are meant to be there. I would say they are there for fitment of the sections for welding the boxed frame rails.

 

didn't you just buy this? If it was this bad I would not have bought it. Seems it would have been a hell of alot easier to just keep shopping and find one with no rust

 

Meh.. I got a great deal on it. Everything else is in great shape. If the frame is bad, I get a new one. If not, I sand it and make it look pretty.

 

They will either replace the frame or give you a good bit of money for it.

 

Why? If the body is in good shape and the frame fails inspection, he will basically have a new truck when they get done with it. The fact that he got a good deal on it makes it that much sweeter.

 

I would just rather not have a frame replaced if I didn't have to. That is a MAJOR job to do a frame swap. Judging from the dealers I have been to I would not be too confident that they would get it just like a factory assembled truck. Probably wrong but I would just shop for another one with no rust and leave the headache and dealer dealings to someone else. Good luck with the truck though, sounds like you did get a good deal.

 

The frame is pretty important. Would you buy a house with a rotted foundation because the vinyl siding was new? Plus who the hell has the time or the ambition to sand the frame and paint it. Good luck though. Sounds like you have the time and the ambition!

Oh and I'm really not trying to piss in your corn flakes. I guess I should have not even posted. Good luck man!

 

In the Denver area, I Tacoma in decent shape with realtivly low miles can run from $13k to $15k. I picked up this baby for $9.5k. I know a rusty frame can be an issue, but I have an extra car and bought this truck mostly because anyone who owns a house knows how handy a truck can be.

Plus, I have enough free time where I can sand and paint the frame if I need to. I used to work on my cars in college all the time (I was broke and it was my only option) and I enjoy it.

We will see what happens

 

If the third picture is a actual hole THROUGH the frame, it will fail automatically by the rule book. But otherwise it looks fine, they rust from the inside. The outside won't look bad and it still can fail. Make sure they do the hammer test for strength when you take it in. I wouldn't waste time sanding and smearing shit all over on the outside, that's not the issue. If you do the inside frame rails, you're golden.

 

It would be more of an aesthetics fix if the truck passes. paint the rails and clear the rust off the rear diff will make it look alot better.

I read online @ Edmunds that Toyota could also fail the frame if it has an unusually large amount of surface rust and no perforations in the frame...

 

wow, it's amazing what that road salt does to vehicles. my 03 deep south owned prerunner doesn't even have any surface rust at all.

 

My neighbor had a 2002 Tacoma with extensive frame rust.... He had over 120K on the odometer when he received a letter from Toyota asking him to take in his truck for inspection. Inspection failed and Toyota offered him a check for $14K and an incentive if he bought a new Toyota. He ended up getting a new 2009 Tacoma and just a few weeks later he received another check for $6K. Amazing if you asked me! I have a 2003 Tacoma and no frame rust...

 

My frame replacement has not gone well. Trip number 3 back to the dealer tomorrow. Electrical issues now...

 

i have an 03 i have never checked for rust on the frame. it still looks good. would i get a new frame if the rust gets bad?