Frame inspection

Hi all, about to be the owner of a 2004 tacoma, getting it from my brother in law because my wife's car got totaled when someone hit her head on last year, she is still recovering but we are about to get to the point where we need a 2nd car again and he offered his to us for free as he inherited his fathers 2012 tacoma.

He said that it does have some rust on its frame, and until i started researching this i never imagined that this could have been as big a issue as it was, he lived in CT and bought the truck new, he lived through about 4-5 CT winters with it prior to moving to TN where we are now, so he could help with his father's failing health. his had a tree limb fall on it on the way down, possibly in 2008, or at least that is the last year the tags have a registration, and it dented the roof over the rear drivers side window enough to bend the window frame, for all of his help his mother got that repair a couple of years ago, but the truck sat for 3-4 years prior to that, and has sat since until probably this week or next when i take possession of it.

I have not had a chance to get under it to see the rust first hand, so i don't have any clue about how bad it might be. i can imagine that if it was really bad that the repair guys, who as far as i know replaced the cab, cause it was a $5k repair, would have said something about it being dangerous to drive, and said hey we can fix that. they didn't say anything about it by the way.

so my question is, what can i do to inspect it, i know that the replacement is over, and i dont think just from the timeline that he ever got it in to have it inspected prior to 2012. so replacement is out the window. but i would like to check it to make sure it is safe for me to drive.

Any tips on how to do that myself? or what i should be on the lookout for?

 

Just basically get under and have a look and take a scraper, scrape away some surface stuff and see which areas are the worst and how deep they are. Specifically look right under the rear wheel wells, on the inside of the frame rails. That's usually the worst spot. Keep in mind that rust is a ticking bomb.

 

Take a ball peen hammer to it and go down the frame looking for soft spots.

 

just make sure it doesn't look like this....

you get my point...

 

Where the front part of the leaf springs bolt to the frame is the most likely spot for rust problems (on the inside facing part of the frame, not the part you can see standing next to the truck).

 

They can all be fixed just the question of wanting to spend the money. Having the needed skills and place to work.

Now if you need to pay someone for sure not really worth it.

I have rebuilt quite a few over the years I was not about to give up my Truck even for 1 1/2 times The KBB value

 

thanks for the info, i will be able to take a look at it tomorrow, crossing my fingers that it isnt in bad shape.

As i already know it has some rust, if it is just surface rust, is it advisable to remove it somehow, like with a wire brush and sander, then get it coated someplace with a rust preventative like rhinolineing? or something like that?
Or is it more of a leave it alone sort of thing I would think it was a good idea to remove what is there if it is just surface and to get it coated. but want to make sure i am not opening a can of worms by doing that.

 

If it's good enough to DIY spot work, you should clean reasonably and apply a rust encapsulator, something like POR15 or the one from Monstaliner.

They can be applied at home with a brush, and work well.

 

Fantastic, thanks. keeping fingers crossed that it is just surface rust