Digging into my cheap Taco

So I've been gathering some parts in anticipation of doing some work on truck this week. Plan is Timing belt/ water pump
Diff/TC/AT/Rad fluid changes
Plugs/wires
Carpet/seat
Remove 3" bodylift
This was probably a bit more than I should have tried to accomplish all at once but figured I have a week off and this would be as good a time as any. Well I got the front-end off and noticed some cracks in the stamped structure...




What do I need to do about this? The rear member is still solid but probably under more load now.

 

Next on the list is the Body lift removal. Wow, what a pita. Most of the bolts came out without too much difficulty but two of the bed bolts (the ones that must have nuts welded up in the cross-member) broke the nuts loose. I ended up using a saws-all to cut through the bolt then pushed them up into the cross-member. I'm not real sure how I can get to them short of drilling two holes in the bed from above to allow me to get at them and attach a new nut.

 

You would be better off cutting a hole big enough for a wrench to fit in on the side of the cross brace.

 

Sounded like a good idea so that's what I've done. I found it easier to just remove the bed.