Frame rust 2001 Tacoma pic.. How bad is it?

what do you guys think of the rust. Normal or bad for an 01 Tacoma.

 

Tough to tell by looking. It needs to be hammered on in a couple of places to see if there are weak spots. They rust from the inside out in a lot of cases. Mine has a hole just forward of the leaf spring mount on the passenger side that was noticed by hitting it with a hammer. Take it to Toyota and have them inspect it if you want to know for sure.

 

The guy that is selling it said he took it to Toyota 6 months ago and it passed. They said it was surface rust. Toyota has no records of it being in.

 

And there you have it.

 

So you think that's normal rust from the pic. The guy says it's always been garaged. I have an 02 suburban with no rust. I'm trying to figure out if that's what the frame rust looks like causing frames to go bad.

 

Depends where it lived. If Toyota has no record, it was not done. I could be garaged all its life but if driven where they use salt in winter, I would bail. Rust on these frames happens from the inside out.

 

Mine's got more rust. but all surface. it wasn't coated by toyota, so i'm out in the wilds by myself. I'll be needle scaling it and coating it with POR-15 soon and making alternative plans at some point if i need to. My truck started in Hawaii, then came to Wisconsin before i got it. My father in-law has an 01 prerunner with less surface rust, but just found a 15 inch crack in his frame.

I'm not saying don't buy it, but get under there...poke around everywhere, and understand that even if it is solid now...it may not be some day.

Think about your financial resources, and what you'd do if you buy it and find a crack down the road.

If you get it, or any tacoma, begin your own underbody treatment regimen. ...Fluid Film has a good reputation around here as a yearly application

 

Get Toyota to say it's OK and move forward with it, other wise don't!

 

you didn't mention price. is he selling it considering it as a rusty frame...or is he selling it at a price that would make you think it came from a museum?

 

He is selling it as no frame problem...

 

go into it carefully if you do. i got mine knowing the frame was rusty, so i'd have $$ to do something about it if i had to.

 

Here is the deal if you live where they have a winter Ice or snow often enough the frame will need repair

Even if the truck came from the Southwest USA

My 2000 never saw Much winter till it moved to Pa. from Texas 2 winters it needed some work

 

Did not buy the truck.

 

Based off that picture, nobody on here is able to give you an accurate determination of the condition of that frame.

 

When i got there to look in person it was a lot worse than in the pics.

 

Bummer,the search continues then..

 

I've bought three of these first gens in the last five years. I live in Wisconsin where these things die. If you don't mind doing most of the work yourself, use the rust problem these tacomas have as a bargaining chip to get the price down and use the extra money on fluid film and put a little away for future problems. Tacomas used to fetch a lot of money in resale but lately the rust issues are forcing them back down to a normal used truck level. At least up here they are. If you live where this truck has been living and rusting, you will have to treat it right away. It's already got stage 2 cancer and is spreading fast. My last tacoma I had to buy in arkansas and have shipped up here to get a good truck that I can build how I want and protect. Price is key with these things now. too high, walk away. get it for a steal and expect to put in long weekends to get it back to good condition.

 

My opinion, and the route I'll be going, is

- sand as much as you can off and blow away all debri
- spray brake cleaner or acetone to remove any leftover on the frame itself
- chassis saver
- fluid film

 

if you plan on de-scalling and removing the rust down to pure metal or very light surface rust, I highly recommend using a product called Rust Bond. I live in the Deep South, work in the Marine Industry operating vessels in the highly salt water of the Gulf of Mexico and I know first hand how this product will seal out moisture from metal and also provide an excellent surface for your top coat. this product is a two-part epoxy, so when it dries, its hard as a rock but will not crack when flexing.

 

It doesn't really matter what you do to the outside of the frame, as stated previous these things rust from the inside out. If the frame tests solid then plug all the holes and fill the inside of the frame with chain oil or even used oil and then be prepared to continue maintenance for as long as you have the truck, spray the outside with fluid film or something similar. My 98 leaves your hand dirty with oil no matter where you touch it and is ok so far, but this is my first and last Toyota truck.