Howdy y'all, new taco owner

Hello fellas, my name is Frank. I've recently acquired a 1996 single cab taco 2.7 4x4, with 170k.

My truck came with no A/C, and manual windows. Since I live in Miami, no A/C is a nono. I have done some research on adding A/C and I know it will be pricey, but I got the truck for free so I can't complain.

The truck is in no way perfect, The Driver side fender is dented; I needed to replace the clutch (Thing looked like a CD of how skinny it looked). the bed is tweaked badly, the rear panels are rusted through.

The worst part is the rust underneath. The top part of the frame were the leaf springs are bolted on in the rear are so!!!!!! corroded that i dread trying to dismantle it. My rear license plate holder thingy is falling down because the mounts are corroded. Basically the rear of the truck is a disaster, the only good thing is the front part of the frame, interiror, and the engine and tranny.

I already went through a mini restoration with my current car (Mazda Miata) and I'm not to please to find out that the PO used bondo on half the car (He did a good job covering it up).

I ran a Car history report on the vehicle and found out it belonged to 1 owner, but I don't know if he ever took it back to Toyota for the frame recall.

I always wanted a Taco x-runner since the first day I saw it, but this is what I have been given. I'll take better pictures of the rust, so y'all can see it better

Passenger side fender


Passenger rear panel "crappy fix"


Tweaked bed, and step thingy falling appart because of rust (being held by bungee cord)


Driver side rear panel (Worst side)

 

Good luck and welcome to TW!

 

Looking forward to seeing your restoration work. good luck with the project!

 

Updated pics:

Rust near rear leaf springs.

Driver side rear leaf spring:




Passenger side rear leaf spring:




What do y'all think? is it really serious? I have been researching and seen other trucks that are far worse. I would like some opinions from others who have tackled projects similar to mine.

Thanks

 

Is that a bungy cord holding the rear shackle?

Your warranty is long expired, you are on your own. The warranty was 15 years after the purchase date.


Honestly, its a 19 year old truck, and that rust does not surprise me. It looks like a lot of scale, but you won't know until you test it with a hammer if its solid or not. It kind of looks like someone put bedliner right on top of your rust. Which is not good, bedliner will retain moisture speeding up rust. However, I think with some elbow grease you could get rid of all that crap and clean it up nice. I would only be concerned with rust holes possibly. Check the leaf spring front mounts along the frame rail. In my engineering opinion, you can fix that. More pics though would help.

I have some frame rust but not anywhere close to that, I plan on wire brushing the loose stuff off, rust treatment, paint this summer. I will put a guide up.