Rusted Frame on Rare-ish Reg Cab 4wd

Okay so I made a rookie mistake! Found an 02 Reg Cab 4wd A/T being sold in VA that lived a life in PA (I’m from Brooklyn, we don’t really salt roads) so I assumed PA was south enough (wrong). The engine (118k), body, and interior are 90% mint. The previous owner did a seat swap (center console) and rear window swap (sliding door). I was probably overly excited that I missed the really well placed fiber glass patch jobs hidden under a thick coat of under coating. Long story short the frame is rusted and in need of some Safe-T-Caps on pretty much the whole back end. Looking at $2k in parts plus whatever time I can spend cutting, cleaning, welding. Question. Is it worth it? Or do I attempt a complete frame swap?

 

Post some pictures if possible. Will give us a better idea

 

What condition is rest of the under world....
the control arm bolts and the camber adj washers...drive line....
is everything going to be a rust battle...

If the frame is shot.....all those bushings everywhere are ate up too....

This is probably going to be a pretty big adventure.....
hope your a DIY......

You might want to dump as part truck and start a new...
your gonna spend alot of $ to restore....

So did what your up against and spent as much as what if had gone out and bought the right one to begin with....

 

Frame swap on a regular cab is not that hard. It took me about 3 days. Check out my build thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-green-truck-5lug-to-6lug-conversion.660999/

Also I have frame rails for sale if you have some fab skills and want to go that way.

 

These are initial photos which make it look a lot nicer than it really is. One of my upper read strut mounts is also cracked and needs to be cut off and a new one welded. Feel like Safe T Cap is kind of silly with the entire rear end needing work. But maybe I’m wrong (I hope)

 

safe t cap rear sleeves come with the front leaf spring hanger so if you want to fix you just cut all that out and clean it up, put sleeves on and weld. its not a huge issue and it will be strong. Wont look great but will work. How much did you pay for the truck? Looks they tried to bondo it. lol

 

How much did you pay for your clean frame?

 

$500 for the parts truck. Sold of everything ells for about a $5k profit

 

solid!

 

This is something only you can decide!

Getting a Good frame between the frame and Shipping and getting the frame delivered to where you need it unless you have a crane or fork lift can add even more.

To me it would be a toss up between sourcing a good frame or building a new back section and doing a splice.

the first move is get the Evil undercoating off and see what your really dealing with.

Best of luck no matter what you decide.

 

Salt hates metal. And moving things. And especially metal moving things from PA.

 

Alright, so I no stranger to restoration work and the challenges. I’m aware now that locating a full frame is more difficult than I need it to be, as well as any kind of fab work related to splicing an end section. SO my choice is the go down the Safe-T-Cap route and slowly install sections. If I am going to go this route, I know to cut out the rust, clean what I can, spray a rust catalyzer, weld section in place, apply undercoating outside and most like cavity wax internally for my annual rust prevention. Any other tips or tricks to tackle rust prevention (being in a low salt area)? Also if I’m doing this work on the BACK END, for those who actually have done this work. What parts should I focus on swapping out vs holding onto until I absolutely need to replace? So far I have rear shackles and maybe U Bolts. I don’t need to do the struts or control arms as they still have life in them

 

Frame replacement instructions

 

Every one is some what different so you need to work with what is in front of you.

While you have the bed off look real close at the top of the fuel tank the winter slop loves to lay on top there making those fuel lines so much fun.

Me I look at Brake and Fuel lines first then make sure the parking brake works.

Best of Luck!!

 

I did the Safe-T-caps.
In hind sight, I would have done a frame swap. The back side is not bad, you can take the bed off. But under that cab is a real pain in the inside.trhinfnto clean up the old rust and undercoat is a pain and trying to get clean metal for a good bond is it easy.

I ended up making my own metal pieces to fit around the front sides that they don't make.

That was several years ago and the frame is pretty strong now.

Today I'm taking the front end apart to rebuild and there is more rust damage under the hidden parts, coil bucket rusted and the list keeps going.

I would look for a rolled one with a clean frame and swap it . It saves you frustration later.

But that's just my perspective.

 

I agree on the frame replacement being ideal. If I could acquire a rolling frame Id be interested but I feel like that’s unicorn these days especially being in the rust belt

 

If it's just the rear, I made a new rear section for one of my trucks. If you have a plasma cutter and MIG welder, its not that difficult. If you don't have them, you can buy them for less than what you'll pay to have it done.

It's not perfect, but it does the job. 2 years later and no problems.

 

.

 

If you can do the work your self and it is a labor of love most of us can deal with it.

Paying the going labor rate it gets really expensive. Even more so now with the cost of steel

 

You are right about getting a reg cab 4x4 in A/T they made more manuals, theyre even rarer on the 2nd gens. You can get a camera and look imside the frame. Also try the frame kits by pieces. Theres a guy on here that has whole frames I forget his name. Also seen threads of people taking on the rust on these 1st gens and solved it. I have an fj cruiser ima shave down the rust then fluid film it.