06 regular cab (cab off frame restoration)

I’m finally getting around to addressing the rust on my frame. Plan is to have my frame fabbed up n repaired, sandblasted and powdercoated. However, to save myself money I have to dismantle the rig down to the bare frame to make life easier on the fabrication & powdercoat shop. So this is where we'll be documenting all that ish.

Recently bought a gantry crane from Harbor Freight that ill use to lift the cab off the frame. Not sure exactly how I'm going to cradle it but I'm thinking of removing the doors and using 2 recovery straps in either front n back of the cab or a driver/passenger orientation. If anyone has any advice for that feel free to run it by me.

Also— if anyone knows where a regular cab frame might be or where to look other than EBay too feel free to share. So far I've not found any except for a guy out in Georgia that says he has one for $2500 plus $800 shipping out here to Oregon. I sourced it through a wrecking yard but the guy wasn't even willing to look at the trucks frame to guarantee it wasn't rusty. He said he was “in georgia and trucks dont rust there”, which ok i get that but that doesn't mean the truck has always been in georgia. So im probly gona pass on that and just do my own thing.

 

Setting up the gantry, got dark so I held the phone until I had more time to come back n finish putting it together. In the meantime here’s a few pics of the unboxing. This thing is heavy af..

 

Subbing. My 2010 regular got reframed by Toyota 4 yrs ago but curious to see how you do this

 

I have been looking for 4x4/prerunner single cab frames thinking long term, just in case, and never see anything come up. Saw this on you tube the other day. He chopped a access cab frame to fit his regular cab noting the same problem with locating a reg cab frame.

 

In 2021 when mine needed a reframe it took 3 months..reason being, the frame had to be built as they didn't have any left.

 

I purchased an aftermarket rear bumper and had it galvanized by AZZ, aerosol can painted it a flat black, and it still looks as good as when I put it on. I used to work in quality and had to inspect powdered coated parts from out side suppliers and you can't believe how some suppliers would try and cheat the specs. In the Rust Belt, if powder coating isn't done properly, it's no better than self applied coatings. I once had a front bumper powder coated and after the first winter it looked as bad as it did before.
At the time it cost me $377 to have the bumper galvanized plus another $40 in aerosol paint which I applied myself. I dropped the bumper off at AZZ in Minneapolis, they shipped it to a plant in Western Mn, galvanized it, returned it, and I picked it up in Minneapolis. The only other thing I had to do is drill drain holes in all the tubing so it could be galvanized inside and out, a must.
After I got it back I applied Rust-Oleum Cold Galvanizing, 93% zinc as a primer and then top coated it on all outside surfaces visible to the eye.

 

What do you mean applied correctly. Are we talking if it’s not thick enough or? The frame will be sandlblasted so that should cover most of the prep as far as I know.

I have a mil thickness gauge to check how thick the product was applied but idk. Hoping they have enough knowledge with rust buckets.

There shouldn’t be any rust on the frame prior to powder coating aside from what may exist between the c channeling that hasn’t began to split the steel seams. Unless I separate the frame so they can get in between all of that. If i did grind down the factory rivets or whatever you call those nips that hold the frame sections together— I wonder what I would replace them with? Grade 8 hardware I suppose?

 

I’ll get a better pic of it as these are kinda dark but I got it standing up yesterday night. It stands about 8ft tall or so as it is. I still can’t believe I’m taking this on with a full time job lol. But it has to be done. Not a cheap endeavor but it should be a solid outcome and ideally shouldn’t have to worry about it for a long time. Once this is done I’m think brand new 2.7 with OTT tune. A 4.0 would be even cooler but I got a thing for the reliability out of these 2.7s

 

I did something like this from my rafters, are you you sure you’ll have enough room to to sit with the crane?..maybe on some rims only when you push it forward?

 

*room to slide it out

 

Like enough room as in will the crane lift it high enough? I hope so lol otherwise I’ll have to pull the engine first

 

What most folks don't understand about metal finishing is that the preparation work is actually more important than the actual paint, plating, powder coating, etc. when it comes to the longevity of the paint For instance, did you know that before the factory applies the electrodeposition primer to your body panels that they go through a multiple step cleaning / degreasing process prior to an oxide coating that gets the metal surface ready for the primer? (Yes, think of it as a primer for the primer.) Even something as innocent as a fingerprint on bare metal - if not properly and completely removed - will lead to adhesion problems down the road.

Now, if you compare the process that I've gloriously over-simplified above to what literally every collision shop does (maybe a wipe with a solvent soaked shop rag prior to primer), you'll begin to understand why factory paint lasts so much longer.

Getting back to painting your frame, does this mean that you need to go through all of the cleaning and chemical conversion coating processes I've mentioned in order for it to last? Truthfully, no. Especially if you don't expose the frame to corrosive environments such as road salt. But just how clean and rust free you get the bare metal will have a direct effect on how long the paint does last.

 

You might be able to tip the cab enough with a couple people to roll it out, it is so much easier to pull everything with the body out of the way.. or like I said if your on concrete you could just bolt on some old rims and roll it out on the rims

 

My dad said i have some old wheels n tires at the house so in a pinch i might be able to do something like that ya

 

I totally get that. Hopefully the process the powdercoat guys use can be a long term solution. There rust in between the frame section which sucks so im also debating grinding off the rivets that hold the frame sections together to get all the way in between the frame sections to get as much rust out as i can. Im wondering if just bolting them back together would be ok to do though? Im not sure how id do the steel rivet thing

 

Yea, those laminated sections are going to come back and haunt you for several reasons. First, there's the fact that corrosion there is hidden and virtually impossible to get to. Second, as the corrosion proceeds, it expands and deforms the frame rails. I'm willing to bet that if you pull the sections apart, you're going to be appalled at how much metal (and thus, strength) is actually missing.

 

We’ll see when I finally get it apart. I haven’t moved forward with taking the rig apart yet just been working a lot lately while it’s still raining. But if they’re looking real bad I’m prepared to have it fabricated into a brick shit house and I’ll powdercoat over that. It’ll separate the frame sections and it’ll get professionally sandblasted prior to the fabrication. My main concern really isn’t the rear section though it’s the front section. Cause I can’t get up in the boxed area that well. It doesn’t seem like that’s gona be a problem area but I won’t know until I get things all stripped down. But I’ve got an awesome fabricator so if it’s effed I’ll deal with that too.

 

Haven’t been doing a great job at getting pictures but I’ve been modifying some angle iron and buying trolleys n stuff for the gantry. Apparently the electric hoist doesn’t mount directly to the gantry so I had to take the more expensive route and buy additional trolleys to get myself a setup that’ll mount to the gantry. I’ll get some pics tomorrow to show what I’ve been up to

 

I live in Salt Hell and honestly, I would really consider rethinking powder on the frame, especially given the laminated construction. The tiniest nick or gap (think flexing in the laminated portions opening a hairline in the powdercoat) will let the rust run underneath the powder and before you realize it, it's A) toast and B) exponentially more difficult to clean up.

I prepped some wheels absurdly immaculately before having them powdered and just one winter later there are already trouble spots, and there's no question about the quality of the powder - one of the wheels took a hit so hard it tacoed and the powder laughed it off at the point of impact.

If you're going so far as to blast the frame, I would honestly give it a multi-coat paint job with an Eastwood chassis paint and then use a product like Hard On (I know....) from WoolWax before putting the frame back under the truck.

 

My two cents… smaller trucks like the second gen,third gen, etc are going to be non existent as far as new ones being available in the future, they will quit making the smaller width trucks is my guess. so in that respect is if you want a frame, especially in the salt belt to last a life time, oil it up in the late fall and park it.