Weld to Frame

Got a 1st gen Tacoma. At first glance the frame looked really good. Drove it a few days and realized it was bouncing enough that the struts probably needed replacement.

I look around in there and noticed the back of the frame looks like pic related.

Like I said the rest of the frame is clean.

Does it seem unsafe to just cut the rust off and weld a new metal on back there?

 

Hello Austin
Welcome to TacomaWorld
Hammer test entire frame, then order parts from Safe T Cap.
They rust from inside out.

 

If your truck has struts you have a very custom suspension

My question is how did you not take notice before??

Are you unsure if your skills are up to the task??

If the back is that bad I gotta wonder what the rest is like

Unless you have major vertical cracks that rust should not cause the truck to flex you have more problems unless your not used to a empty truck ride.

 

not strut. shock

I didn't notice before because the rest of the frame is clean right up to that very back piece. I wasn't laying on the ground inspecting as it was raining that day.

Besides, I only paid 4k for the truck. I just want to know if this one area right here is the death of the truck.

 

Some people would have parted the truck out by now or cut it up for scrap.

Only you can decide your course of action .

Good Luck!!

 

this may be a little dramatic. I will buy some new metal, cut out this back section, and weld it on. put new leafs on too.

Its not like the rust is up near the motor.

 

Yikes... Wonder if the previous owner launched boats into the saltwater frequently and dunked that part of the frame and springs... that all looks horrible, and you got some work to do. If the frame is salvageable, the leaf springs and hardware need to be replaced.

 

These trucks are Toys compared to the frame splices on very overloaded Trash haulers

if you have the skills you should have no problems

 

Check out my thread on here for frame repair. Mine looked a lot like this and I repaired it all. I need to update it as I am farther along but the rear of the frame is shown and how much repair I got into. I ended up using Safe T Caps and they worked great.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1996-tacoma-chassis-restoration-and-build.703955/

 

Is that your California native Impression??

 

It looks pretty bad but if it's contained in the back I'd assume you could cut and weld on new metal. Check the inside of the frame rails before you make a decision, I've heard water gets trapped there and rusts the frame from the inside out. If it is unsavable and you have the skills (or the skilled friends) to repair it I'd say go for it!

 

remove all the rust and go from there. this part of frame is c channel. if nothing is actually rusted through i wouldn't cut anything. i would box in the frame on the inside and maybe add some plate on the outside.

 

Welcome.

I would be replacing that frame. If I did repair I would try and find a used frame and do a complete rear section. (The left rail probably looks like the right I would bet). I do not know if Toyota makes a section procedure for it though, so it would be at own risk.

 

Actually the left rail is pretty clean. Just flaky paint from rust on the surface.

It's mainly this one spot that concerns me. Everything else I'll just sand and coat.

The VIN number also shows an unresolved recall for the spare tire bracket which you can see in the background. So I will probably just use that too.

 

When I replaced the rear section of my frame, I couldn't find the replacements for the leaf spring bushing/mounts. Both were bad. I ended up making some out of tread plate steel, and using a piece of scrap pipe from a spare tire carrier off a salvage yard Isuzu Rodeo spare tire carrier. Just happened to be the exact diameter for the bushings.

My welding isn't the prettiest, but that's a combination of MIG and Arc beads there.