When to dump a truck?

it looks and feels like every other rubberized shit, and they sprayed it over the rust so its flaking off anyways

 

They sprayed mine with something that resembled black grease, it all came off the next time I pressure washed my frame. I pressure wash my frame every time I wash my truck. I think it was CRC brand maybe, it's been a while... and I don't have that truck anymore.

 

Here is my frame after a pressure washing with degreaser. I still had stock leafs back in 2016. It last for years.

 

I'd go have it checked for the frame recall. Thats far worse than my truck was that qualified for it.

Frame replacement cost is $12-15,000 according to the dealer that did mine (I'm sure a lot of that is inflated labor cost).

 

Rear axle.

 

Side bars, all cold steel parts get painted with this.

 

What year is it

 

Whomever told you that has no clue what they are talking about.

Your frame looks great OP, I wouldnt stress.

 

Your frame looks great. Hit that with some paint and it will look brand new. Might just be able to wash it with some soap and water and get some good color back. Move onto other mods and don't worry about it.

 

Well I think a broken A/C is not something to trash a vehicle over.
Roll down the windows. Its not like you have a blown engine.

Questions I would ask myself if I were in your shoes:
Its a 3rd vehicle... do I really need 3?
If not sell 2 and buy the full size you want.

If so does it still serve the 3rd car need?
If so just keep it and slowly save to fix the A/C or just live with it broken.

If I was in a good place where I could easily pay for another vehicle and it really doesn’t hurt my retirement savings goals or other financial obligations then I’d go ahead and just replace it. But because I wanted to, not because of the A/C. If that makes sense.
Sometimes you get to do things just because you want to, we don’t need to search for excuses

 

I work at a body shop and towing company. We have bought a couple older cab and chassis trucks and turned them into tow trucks. The best thing we have found to clean up the rust frames is to clean all the heavy scale off and then we spray the whole frame down with this rust converter:

Then let it sit for 24-48 hours and it turns all that red iron oxide (rust) into iron phosphate (hard, black and paintable) then we either paint over it with a few coats of black rust stop paint or some good POR-15 depending on what you want to spend. Keeps that rust at bay very well. Just paint a little more black on the frame every couple years and you’ll be good for a while.

 

I never understand why people don't realize how little interest is on vehicle loans, and consider keeping an older vehicle around and running as a "free" endeavor (not to mention lost time while your car is in the shop). Granted I do not have the mechanical knowledge or ability to do major maint myself, but I'd always rather budget a car payment and know my vehicle will get me to work every morning rather than a surprise expensive car repair bill.

 

OP, fix the AC and drive it for another 100K miles. Then trade it in. Unless you pull the body off the frame, properly strip and prep it, then paint with something high quality...your rust issue isn't going to get any better. You live in the rust belt and have a rusty frame. I vote live with it.

The rust cancer is starting to spread on my 2012. Right around the time I bought it (new) they started spraying the roads with mag chloride around here. Before that they just put sand and gravel on the roads. I'd prefer to just replace windshields regularly, but I don't get to choose.

 

The bottom line is your frame is fine. It needs to be cleaned, grinded or sanded, and encapsulated with a quality product. Do not use rustoleum or rubberized coatings; it traps moisture causing more rust. What ever your AC issues are, the worst case scenario is a compressor which can be found in a junk yard.

As far as financial reasons, keeping a Toyota on the road is almost always the best idea:

A 4wd Tacoma costs around $35,000, if you have perfect credit and qualify for Toyota’s 1.9% at 60 months, the truck will cost you $37,000. At face value alone, the $2,000 in interest could have been set aside to maintain an older truck over 5 years and you avoid the car payment.

A deeper look shows that a new truck doesn’t just cost $37,000, it costs $300,000 and here’s why: if you alternatively put the $600/month car payment in your retirement account for the duration of a normal loan term, 60 months, you’d have about $45,000. If you did nothing further after that 60 months and just let the money sit for 25 years it will grow to $308,000.

Avoiding a payment and becoming your own mechanic will allow you to put $300k in your old, retired self’s pocket. Anyone have a friend who gets a new truck every five years? Just three new vehicle purchases over a lifetime robs you of close to 1 million dollars. It’s ok to buy a new car, sometimes that’s a life necessity but it’s not cheap money as someone posted above. Trust me, I drool over a 2019 Tacoma TRD Off-road in Calvary Blue but my old 2007 with 194,000 miles starts up every day.

 

Keep it going.

 

Don’t let it rust any more than that. If you really love the truck, it’s not too hard to prevent it from getting worse. Looks like only surface rust at this time. Nice truck too


Now if it was a 3rd Gen, definitely get rid of it asap.