Frame Rail Rust

Hey guys, i got a problem, the frame rails on my 2005 tacoma double cab are rusting badly, can someone give me some ideas on what i can do to stop the rust or even fix it all together, without replacing a whole bunch of stuff
thansk

 

Oh, i forgot, i have been to a body shop and they have told me that the rust on my rails is an abnormal amount even if the truck was up north
also, i have thought about getting a coating on my rails of some sort (like rhino liner or something) what do yall think

 

Let's see some pics.

 

I will post pics as soon as i can load them on to my computer

 

i had the same problem, i went to the dealer and they said it was normal.

heres my thread on what i did.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/44941-mod-weekend-last-weekend.html

 

this is helpful, mine is a little worse though, not witht he depth of the rust, but with the amount, there is a larger spread of rust
i have a friend whose dad owns a rhino liner place, has anyone done an undercoating with rhino liner?

 

if you coat with a rhino liner, you will have to get as much rust off as you can. if not, it will still rust under the liner. thats the advantage of the paint over rust type solutions, you rough up the surface (i still like to remove as much as possible) and the way they work is they completely seal off the rust from the elements eliminating the rust. or at least in theory thats how they work haha. i'm not sure how well rhino liner will seal out the rust from the elements.

 

If you want to 'coat' it, go with something like POR-15 paint.

If I had the time, a closed garage, and the willingness to fix all the things I would inevitably break, I would pull the box and cab and use POR-15 on the whole frame purely as a preventative measure.

 

You guys back east need to wash your undercarriage more in the winter.

 

i wash it whenever the weather warms up to a pont where there will be no salt for a few days

 

I painted mine when I bought it. I read on here, and noticed on the truck, they were coated with the same kind of crappy like, baked on junk they put on some replacement chassis parts. Fragile, and mine was already chipped and stuff everywhere. Not to mention all the lap joints filling with potential rust.

So.. paint and undercoating to protect and try to keep water out. Its always an ongoing struggle though, not a one and done scenario.

To get rust to slow/stop, I like to use, well on a frame.. a good wire brush or wheel, followed by a metal surface prep solution, like picklex, ospho or several other "rust killer" solutions that are, in my experience, always clear green. Its an acid with zinc phosphate (i believe) in it, the acid more or less plates the metal with zinc. WOrks great, and can get into crevices (flows like water) but needs to be covered when done. That's when you can toss down por-15 or whatever. You want as little rust as possible for the pickling. I paint body parts with the stuff to get rid of/stop, flash rust before painting. You need to wait that full 24 hours or more to get the right finish for painting.

If you chose por-15, use a brush with it, actually I use foam brushes, it might be tempting to spray it if you have the tools, but its hydroscopic/moisture cured, and will stick to your lungs, eyes, whatever, like superglue. Make sure you use proper precautions.

THat "chassis saver" looks a heck of a lot like por/rust bullet..

 

I wash my undercarrriage every morning. and give myself a little how's your father.

 

Speaking of which.. kids are just off to school... so......

 

here are some pics of my frame rails, and one of my truck (havent put one up yet)

 

I would definately take a wire brush / wheel to those serfases and get rid of as much od the surface rust as posible. Then you want to use a chemical that will nutralize the rust that you can't get off. once you have the rust nutralized then you should be good to go with the line-x or Rino lining. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that you will not be able to coat the whole frame unless you pull the body off so there may still be some problem areas you won't see.

 

eesh.. yea.. At least that's showing it's toyota heritage.
I wouldn't bother with linex or rhino.. or even the more sensible herculiner.

Not something you can put over rusty metal.. and you will not get it rust free without a dip.

If you wire wheel, pickle and paint, then do touchups every year or so, you'll be better off.

You can also pick up.. one of these

or get to work making up some waxoyl and spraying that every couple years.
My 35 year old landrover was covered in it and the inside and outside of that boxed frame was beautiful, and they do have rust problems. Its just so damn messy. Lots of people swear by the stuff.

2 1/2 quarts turpentine
12 oz. beeswax / candle wax
1 quart light machine oil

 

That's nothing you should have seen my last 05 after 2 winters. Just about all the paint was gone on the outside of the entire frame and it was pitted and flaking pretty good in spots. Even had a few places where it was all puffy from rust. And this is a garaged truck that was washed every other week in the winter. I spent a day under it with it on jackstands using a cupped wire wheel on my grinder cleaning it all up. Then I brushed on 2 coats of rust bullet blackshell. It's glossy so it kind of looked like ass but once it got dirty it looked fine. But the rust never got any worse. The truck I just bought spent most of it's winters in Florida so the frame was really clean. On this one I used Eastwoods rust encapsulator paint in spray cans. I used 2 cans and went over the entire frame inside and out. It's only been a few months but it still looks mint.

 

Your prep time shall be returned unto you ten fold. Moral of the story is.. toyota metal.. for aeons has been more of a pierced by rust type than a nice protective glaze of rust, like some cars get.
You can't let it scale up, got to nip it in the bud, cause it bubbles like body panels. 's why they have that rust guarantee.. they always had the mechanics, but who would know when your strut tower shoots through your hood at 50k. Got to perform some perception management.

 

Wire wheel on a drill and take it down to bare shiny metal. Coat it with Por 15 then shoot it with undercoating. That's what I did to the frame on my 69 GMC years ago and it's held up well. Look as good today as it did when I finished it.

 

by wire wheel he means..
or

not


and especially

If you want a graphic description of what they do to get a piece of metal or metal flake out of your eye.. I can PM you.. he he.
After a good wire cup session, I'm pulling wires out of my arms. Pretty damn macho, but not good for the eyes. And that first few hours after a cornea abrasion to remove some rust is.. well its eye watering...


Got that in there while wearing sunglasses.. from the side, not safety goggles, and no its not really my eye.. but mine looked the same.