Frame delamination - rear leaf springs mount area. Worth selling or try to fix?

Suggest not to F around in court trying to push the mechanic who inspected the truck to repair. It isn't his burden, YOU purchased the truck. Ultimately, its your responsibility.

You can spend the $5600 to repair or trade to accept the $5000 loss. Its about a wash.

Frankly, if this were mine. I'd clean out any dirt, debris, rust, crap in the gaps. Spray with a rust converter primer, paint the area, then as a final step.....pump the gaps full of a silicone caulk. This path should halt any beginning rust and prevent water/dirt from settling in the gaps. After that it becomes a monitoring item.

 

CO does use salt... in the mountains as well.
https://www.codot.gov/travel/winter-driving/products.html

 

thank you for the advice on how to approach it. Let’s say it does get progressively worse. What would you suggest at that point?

Also, of course it’s my responsibility. However, the mechanic admitted some fault because of how enthusiastic they were able the truck. They even said “it has no rust, cleanest truck we’ve had come through, you should buy it”. That alone is why I bought it. Part of their integrity as a business is also at play here. Their business insurance would be the ones helping to remedy this, not the individual shop owner, so I really don’t feel out of line by asking for some help with the situation.

 

A question for you to consider about the inspection. Did the mechanic force you to purchase the truck?

If it progresses, then your options remain the same. Repair or Replace the truck.

 

Im not saying its normal but its not caused by rust, at least imo from what I can see in your 2 pictures. Your frame actually looks good rust-wise based on those pics.

This is a random pic from the Google showing what I would think of when I hear rust delamination. Even thats not as badly deformed as what you have. Think about it from a leverage perspective. Rust can exert a ton of pressure over a very small gap. But what you have must be damn near 1/2 inch, I just dont see how that could happen.

 

Could you dig some of the stuff out of these gaps and confirm that it's rust? It doesn't really even look like rust to me.

 

So I just spoke with autorust technicians out in Rhode Island. They claim that it can be repaired, but that it likely is rust. They say that’s where a lot of the Tacoma’s start rusting first. There’s some rust inside between the frame reinforcement plate and the main frame panel. I believe it is like a “wedge” it’s closer near the junction of the frame and wider as it fans out. I think that’s why it is pushing out like it is.

 

I coated it in fluid film so I think it’s just the grease on the area that makes it look darker

 

No they did not force me, however they strongly encouraged me to buy it. I purchased an inspection from them to get a thorough appraisal of the truck in its current state. I asked to see any problems at all with it so that I could make a decision. They enthusiastically told me I should buy it. I know I have the ultimate responsibility. They are offering to help make it right, so I will be exploring all my options on it. They claim to assess the vehicle for any safety, cosmetic or other issues and they did not do this. I’m just a layman, but I was able to find it just by looking.

 

I don't know how available the software is, but your vehicle has an vehicle event data recorder that stores info like impacts. I found this out when making an insurance claim and the insurance inspector plugged her laptop into my 08. She said- Oh...looks like you had an accident on the front right. I was surprised as the 'accident' she was referring to had happened 12 years earlier with a previous owner, but the 'event' was still stored in the systems memory. Just pointing this out in case you want to verify the rear-end theory as it might shine some light on that.

 

You have a very generous mechanic. I certainly would avoid court actions. Take him up on his offer. Have him detail what he will do. Then make your decision.

FWIW, I don't see this as a Safety or a Cosmetic issue. I'd have to stretch to think it is a Structural issue at this time.

People on TW encourage folks to purchase repair parts, to do mods, to add-ons, to trucks. If the buyer purchases and is not happy, then are the people on TW culpable to correct?

 

Yes - it's not ideal. I agree with you. Just trying to find a way to dig myself out from this mess.

 

It seems the verdict here is that I can repair this (at some cost). For the time being, POR15 and sanding should do it well from what I hear. I also talked with some mechanics who think it has about 10 years of life left, albeit they aren’t Tacoma experts. If it doesn’t work out, they have aftermarket weld-on plates from SafTCap that can go on. Sounds like it could work out in the end if I’m being optimistic. Is there anyone who thinks that I’m off-base in this assessment?

 

The shop that you had inspect it either didn't see the "issue", or didn't think it was a problem. You found it, and you think it is a problem. Someone in an earlier post suggested taking it to a body shop. You should take it to a reputable body/frame shop and get their opinion. Otherwise you may be getting all upset about nothing.

 

Yes, that could very well be true. I have seen so many horror stories here that it really got me scared. This is the most I've spent on a vehicle - the reason I got it was to be relatively trouble-free.

I spoke with the body shop that wrote the expensive quote ($5600). They said that they only do the frame-off and welding because they'd want it done perfectly the first time so that's their policy. They did say that in their opinion, the truck still has 10+ years of life left and that they'd have no moral issue with selling the truck as-is for the same price it was purchased for.

 

I would keep applying FF periodically in the rusted areas, especially in the summer when it’s hot. That stuff will migrate up into the rusting areas and stop the rust. I really don’t think it’s that bad based on what the other parts of the frame look like. I would just relax through the summer and reevaluate in about 6 mo.

 

Relatively recent change and the "salt with corrosion inhibitors" is not the same as the old rock salt that causes bad corrosion in other regions with far less snow. The amount of snow mountains get here it was not cost effective to use the old stuff. Here's a recent article on the new "salt"

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/state-dots-find-alternative-solutions-clearing-roads

I don't know how else you could explain the low rate of frame replacements and general rust issues in CO given we get some of the heaviest snow in the country. ~40 ft/yr near where I live (Wolf Creek).