Hi! I’m replacing my taco that has a rusted out frame, and am looking for suggestions

Hi there! My 2002 xtra cab rusted out. I was the third owner and by the time I got to me, it was too late.
I am looking to buy another one, and I have some questions.

Should I stick with first gen? Or get a 2nd gen. I can’t afford a 3rd gen.
Ideally I’d like it to be manual and 4WD.
Now my question is: how much rust is salvageable by ziebarting/sandblasting (or is that even advisable?)

I am looking at this 2010 Tacoma which only has 80k but there seems to be some rust. It was ziebarted, but this is what it looks like. Is it too far gone? Opinions appreciated!

 

Omg.... that looks terrible. I'm not joking... cracks in the thing everywhere you look. Run away. A little rust is ok but that crossmember is completely toast. Hense the truck is

My suggestion is to figure out your maximum budget. Spend 80% of it on any manual taco that's rust free. Don't get hung up on door configuration, generation ect ect... let your budget and manual transmission set your parameters... you might find a g3 2017 sr in your budget. Because some of us rirst gens for build projects. so they tend to be very pricy for what you get. Second gen is a solid truck....

But welcome to TW.

Edit: on second thought. If that truck only has 80k and that much rust. He must have rolled the odometer back, or driven it in the sea a few times.

 

Ziebart likely hastened the rust by sealing in the moisture. Avoid this truck because it was ziebarted.



Reminds me of the carbonite in Star Wars.

Sandblasting has to be done in an enclosed chamber, so it's impractical on a vehicle. Ziebart can be removed by dry-ice blasting, but it's expensive to do the whole vehicle. You may come across the odd restoration shop that can dry-ice blast, repaint the frame, and apply a thin rustproof coating like cosmoline, but expect to pay $1500-$2000 for the whole service.

 

Just wanted to say I love the 2nd gen with the 4.0l and manual. My dad has a 2010 and I was using it for a while. That is the reason I got a 3rd gen but I kind of like some things about the 2nd gen more. The truck has 210k and only needed a steering rack and front wheel bearing. It did get a new frame but it was only for a small hole on one of the cab mount welds. The frame could have easily gone another 7 to 10 years especially if it was oil undercoated.

 

My older truck is an 07 with 350k.... I have some rust yes. A few spots are actually wyoming red mud. But it looks nothing like your photos. Just a comparison for you.

 

How much rust is always relative to how much you can get it for. Obviously you don't want rust but. I live in a salty area and I bought my 2nd gen double cab 4x4 for $6500. It had rust but at that price I was ok with it because there wasn't any holes structurally.