The rusted frame dilemma....to repair or not repair, that is the question

I followed your frame restore thread and was impressed. Good work. It may seem to some I took the easy way compared to a bare metal strip but the salt water exposure due to storm surge and tidal floodings dictated treating my Yoda like a rusty old boat. I first found Corroseal in a local boatyard where they paint rusty old boat hulls. They wet particle blast then prime over the resultng rust flash using Corroseal.

 

I "thought" I was going to clean this up with a wire wheel and POR15 it, but when I started tapping with a ball peen hammer I popped off about 8oz of rust flakes and then I the holes started appearing and then I said......I need a beer.

 

Makes me sad

Probably easier to pull the bed off to do that. Possibly a sand blaster?

 

That frame looks like new compared to mine

This is how it looked when I got it about 3 years ago. I've patched it quite a bit forward of this area, but this rear section is still holding up fine. Cleaned it a bit and use POR15 each Fall. Granted, I don't haul a lot, but I do tow light loads, and have a heavy fiberglass shell on it. Those spring mounts are still doing fine. Matter of fact, the springs and shocks have not been changed on this truck.

 

That's looking pretty uniformly rusted all over, you might have been worse off than me, however your truck is six years older too...

 

it is RATHER difficult (for lack of a better word) to do this when temps are often well below freezing for months on end!
plus you have to deal with the scummy outside wand wash places and the filthy concrete floors while the meter is running!

i did what i could for almost 25 years now at those type of places

 

I'm not sure if you mentioned already or not, but I thought the 2oo1 model year was eligible for the frame replacement?

 

It is/was eligible but long ago I allowed them to put undercoating and since I made that choice I was automatically ineligble for a new frame, as I soon found out afterwards.

Hey, I got my moneys worth at 309,000 miles on this truck, minimal maintenance, always reliable, took a 5,000 mile round trip to Canada and back without any issues this year. I just dread a down payment and a monthly car payment.

 

dammit that really sucks! my relative had a 98 single cab (bought used) that perforated and they had to buy it and crush it

i am not exactly sure when i would get my moneys worth out of mine lol
the Corolla is almost getting toasted so i have a car payment to look forward to any day now it seems when the wrong thing on it goes bad due to climate more than likely

 

Very true. I’m just saying that would be “ideal”. You do what you can without freezing your kiwis off.

I’ve seen some people that just buy their own wand thing, and a hose attachment. I’ve seen others that jsut move to CA or AZ, lol

 

CA is also home to the state of jefferson. But I think both endmembers of the spectrum are nuts.

I don’t claim to have personal experience with rust, but I do have general knowledge of rust and how it works just through my 40 years on this planet. I took a chemistry class or two in college too. Plus, I've been a tacoma/toyota enthusiast for 25+ years, and I've seen/read many of the elevendy billion frame rust threads, so I’ve picked up a thing or two.

And yes, it does rain here sometimes, but rain is not what is the acheilies heal of toyota frames, it’s the chemicals/salt they apply to roads in (some) cold weather states that is the worst for the frames.

 

this sounds like a Farmers Insurance ad.... “we know a thing or two, cause we’ve seen a thing or two.”

 

I call dibs on the Michelin LTXs

 

The bodys not cold yet and you're pulling the shoes off ? No fair call-in dibs before a part out cry

 

thank you for your time, knowledge and efforts, its appreciated!
regarding the freezing outside washes i need to find a strip away wet suit that i can just throw in the back of the bed and attach to rope hook so it doesn't blow away on the windy ride home from said wash, will also probably need a face shield as well! for the spray back protection if i'm gonna get head & full body under there
i look forward to taking some pics for you at the wash in the coming months to show you the realness of it all, i am also going to do an experiment when they lace the street north of me with that liquid de-icing stuff on the new paint I am replacing with

If only I could find the exact frame coating formula they used at whatever plant they made these at!

 

Mama told me that the early bird gets the worm... Don't worry I'll Dibs the next set that pops up on here for ya I don't want to be on the bad end of one of these

 

Now just look at what you gone and did.

 

Not sure if living in California is with a rust free frame.

 

Warning. Never ever tap "Show Ignored Content"

 

tin worms?