Inside frame cleaning

How does everyone get inside the frame cleaned out. Tons of sand and gravel inside my frame. It was replaced under warranty and is in good shape. Did the fluid film thing last fall but how in the world do yall get the inside clean

 

I would suggest a pressure washer or an extremely powerful air compressor.

 

Oh lord I just opened a can of worms. May need to outsource this one. It's a bunch of big flakes of scale. Like 3 and 4 inch chips

 

I have a shop vac and I DIYed a clear hose attachment. So clear hose and some gorilla tape. Makes for quite the suction. I used a bore scope to look inside my frame to inspect it. I ran the hose through the holes that are already in the frame and clean as much as I can out. Use bore scope to inspect it. Gets it really clean and the part by the back (right in front of the rear wheels) seemed to collect the most. Black fluid filmed after application. I do this about once a year as I live in the midwest and they salt the roads.

 

You will be the best person to do this job!! Perhaps recruit a few friends

The bad part is there are no holes in the frame to flush out the larger pieces .

In my case when I start there usually are.

It all collects at the spring hanger that is why they tend to fail first.

Get the front of the truck up in the air use the pressure washer to keep flushing and hopefully break the bigger flakes small enough to flush out . It never hurts to use air to blow or vacuum things out.

Do not forget to treat the inside of the frame as well.

These Enclosed frames to save weight was not the best idea .

Good luck!!

 

@Levisbustedtacoma be very careful with a pressure washer. If the paint on your frame is already compromised, you can easily make it worse. I tried to clean put the inside of my frame rails this way with my old truck and I ended up blowing a hole in the my frame with a pressure washer. You could easily end up taking off what little paint there is, exposing the metal to the atmosphere and accelerating the corrosion process. I'd just stick a garden hose in there and slowly wash any debris out. Some have enlarged their drain holes, but again, proceed with caution.

 

Also, I'd just get some Eastwood internal frame coating and spray it inside the rails to try and encapsulate the rust as best you can, if nothing else to buy you some time. Don't bother trying to get all the chips and flakes out. Once it gets to that point, the frame is on its way out already. You might as well start trying to source a rust-free one from further south/west.

 

If you were able to blow out a section of frame with a pressure washer.

It was time to give it some loving care was it not ?

If you have huge flakes just how much paint is really left ??

Where the truck lives changes things quite differently.

 

That truck was from Maryland and Virginia, so it wasn't bad enough to rot out completely like a New England truck, but it got enough salt exposure to be delaminating internally by the time I got it. I think one of the POs had painted it to hide the issue, and I was unaware of the internal rot issue when I got it. I cut my losses and eventually got my current rot-free Texas truck.

 

Blowing a hole through the frame simply meant the frame was already compromised but went unnoticed. No publicly available pressure washers have enough force to cut through metal that way.

The frame was already rotted completely through.

 

These frames have a way of looking solid from the outside while still being totally compromised and unsafe. I’ll never mess with a salt state Tacoma again, except for parts.

 

You have no need to tell me anything Though I am sure others are glad for the information .

I have been repairing 4x4 vehicles since the mid seventies or so.

These frames are much stronger then people think.

It was the enclosed frames that caused so many problems before that the cabs and beds failed.

 

I'm in the same boat. How does anyone really get a pressure washer inside of the frame? Doesn't seem like you could really point anywhere but straight at each hole. I coated the inside of my frame last year with fluid film using a 360 nozzle and I can't imagine a vacuum pulling out much now that things are coated in oil. I plan to borescope to see how bad it is and probably just use a hose to fill up and drain the frame. I added an extra 1/4" hole at the typical worry spots to enhance drainage.

 

That's why you always take a ball peen hammer with you and check the frame prior to any purchase.

No excuse for ignorance and it really sucks seeing the new members joining with a thread that starts with "New truck with bad frame..."

With motor vehicles having come to existence over 100 years ago, it blows my mind that people still don't do their due diligence when buying a used vehicle.

 

Some still manage to do the same with buying horses.

To me they are very similar road test and up close personal inspection starting at the ground and working up.

Why the back and forth bargaining is a habit with me.

 

So toyota replaced the frame in my truck a number of years ago. I fluid filmed it last year and it looks perfect. But inside is got pretty bad over time. I'd rather not use ANY water. If I do it it looks like I'm cutting a large hole to get that crap out and then I'll treat the inside. Afterwards weld a patch back over it.

 

Foamy engine degreaser

Then dish soap and pressure wash/rinse

Fluid film after drying

 

Like I said, I was unaware of the issue at the time. I bought it site unseen, which was the real mistake. I even had a local shop inspect it and they said it was fine.

 

I suspect that's one of the reasons why most semi-trucks have a c-channel frame.

 

No, my comment was not directed at you specifically, just in general.

Tons of people continue to make the mistake every single day to buy a vehicle and not do their due diligence in ensuring it is what they expect it to be.

Not that every car you buy would or should be perfect, as that scenario doesn't exist. But if buying a used car, one should make themselves aware of pre-existing issues and decide if they're within their means of fixing it themselves or if it's within their budget to pay someone else to fix it.

Also consider the added budget of preventative maintenance that's due, or even maintenance in general now such as brakes, tires, fluids, etc.

If someone says they have a $10k budget, realistically the vehicle itself should be less than that to allow you to spend the remainder to bring the vehicle up the snuff.

Basic stuff really.

If someone is buying a car, and it's a piece of shit deal, all I can hope for them is that they learned from their easily avoidable situation.