1996 taco frame inspection

Happy Easter gang. I what to have a dealer check my frame out. I have 1996 taco in Wisconsin. I have checked it myself. It appears ok but I want to have a professional look at it.

So for the sake of the conversion...I take my 96 taco in and they find the frame is unsafe. Do I have an recourse or is just tough luck for me? Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

If your frame is rusting through Toyota won't do anything for you now.
They extended the warranty for 15 years from the original date of sale, so if your truck was sold in 1997 the warranty expired in 2012.
The way the dealer checks the frame is simply by taking a ball peen hammer and tapping moderately on the frame in 2" intervals with a swing from about 1 foot away, not a very technical inspection at all.
The main area of concern is usually on the passenger side inner frame just forward of where the front leaf spring hanger is welded to the frame.
The problem was the frame wasn't coated properly with anti-corrosion paint and if you live somewhere where they salt the roads in the winter, the salt gets inside the boxed frame and migrates rearwards to where the frame curves upwards by the rear tires and rusts the frame from the inside out.
You can test your frame yourself by tapping lightly in that area and if the hammer penetrates the metal then you will need to address the rust.
There are a few online websites who sell pre-made metal plates that can be welded onto the frame to repair the rusted area.
Autorust.com, Cbioffroadfab.com, Trail-gear.com, Allprooffroad.com
If your frame checks out okay and the hammer doesn't perforate the frame then I would hose out the frame as best as you can to get any salt out and then once it dries out you could spray a product such as RustCure3000 inside the boxed portion of the frame to prevent any further corrosion.
Good luck, hopefully your frame is solid.

 

Thanks Bejabbers!! Thats really good info. Thanks again.

 

Yeah unfortunately youre screwed....when you truck was covered it would have been a buy back, not a frame replacement. Only 01-04's got/get replacements.


Also, Eastwoods makes a couple different very easy to use internal frame rust inhibitors.