More chassis rust…

Hi all.
Super bummed to find another bit of rust on my 03 chassis. I did the SafeTcap three years ago.
Thinking it may be time to give up the dream.
117,000 miles.

 

Is this a for sale ad? If so, get up to 50 posts and list in B/S/T.

If you want advice, post up pictures of the rust.

 

Why, that's a dam good looking truck. post some pics of the new rusted area. Someone here might have a solution for you.

 

So I’m just looking for advice as for what I could possibly sell this for- I think I may be done with solutions- I did the safeTcap fix at the rocker joints and middle of the frame 3 years ago, today just found a hole where the rear strut attaches to the frame. And it looks bad. This is me not sleeping figuring out how to explain to my wife that it may be time to let this truck go.

 

Post pictures of all the rusted spots. If it’s rust going through the frame, you might be better off stripping the truck and selling the parts off of it. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would want to buy a truck with frame rot sorry to say.

 

Sounds like its a lost cause if you started this thread

$500 and I'll take it as is

 

if the bodys clean the last double cab i picked up with a rotten frame was 1200.. but the rockers are gone. body clean? probably 2 grand to the right person.



(i totally want to say i'd buy it.. because i have one more EC frame.. but im too deep into projects right now)

 

Well my wife really doesn’t want me to part it out just yet. I think the answer is going to be adding another safe T cap section, and keep an eye out for a clean frame-

 

EC frame? Is that a new frame? For sale?

 

Your the only one who can make that decision !

Anything can be repaired or new parts can be built .

It comes down to how much you can do yourself and how large your budget is.

 

Thats bad.....I'll go 5000 and get it outta your hair !

 

The rust belt is a real b*tch

 

Yes yes it is!

 

Extra cab. It’s on a rollover I have. I’m just waiting for a decent cab to put it on and have the rear straightened. It’s far from a perfect frame and it’s currently on a driveable but rough truck

 

I have fixed that spot on two 1st gens. You will most likely need the shock mounting bracket as well as the Safety-Cap part. Dirt and rust flakes get trapped inside.

May want to go ahead and look into availability and cost.

TACOMA | Toyota Parts Catalogs | PartSouq

 

I think it will be easier to just find a frame California has alot but shipping is what kills

 

I did my 01 with safety caps. If you do not rustproof the caps it will rot faster that the frame from the inside out. I suppose it was still a good investment, bought the truck in 2016 rotted $350 dollars, 80,000 miles), spent 2200 on safety caps, sold it in may of 2023 (rotted again) for 2500.00 (118,000 miles).
The unusually short, very polite and smiley non English speaking man said it was headed to Guatemala for parts. The cab was perfect.
Edit: There is a strong market for these if they are mechanically sound.

 

If you drive these in the rust belt, you have to rust proof them religiously - a full underbody spray with Krown or Fluid Film every fall at the minimum. Either that or get a winter beater. I'd cut my losses and buy a rust free truck from the south. You could try selling the ARB and topper separately to make a little more from it.

 

I'm about ready to do this project this summer. It's a big job because you have to remove all the rust before you can put the new plates on. A needle scaler and peeling back as much as you can then wire wheeling everything sealing the inside welding on the new plates and sealing the outside. I'm going to fix Toyota mistakes by adding some holes so I can clean the frame out and box the rear frame section and get rid of alot of the useless brackets. It's not hard if you have a welder just time to get down to the frame and get everything cleaned up.