Boxing a frame

The Tacoma frames flex a lot helping with additional wheel travel. If a portion of the frame was boxed, I'm guessing it would lead to additional stress in other places leading the premature wear of the frame and eventually a crack.

Has anyone on here fully boxed their frame? Did you loose any wheel travel? Speaking of, wheel travel seems like the wrong term but I think you know what I mean.

Any other pros and cons you can think of. E.g. weight, water/dirt getting stuck in the frame.

 

https://dmzfab.com/product/2005-tacoma-frame-boxing-kit/

 

What problem are you trying to solve?

 

Most true pre runner desert dudes or people who crawl box the rear of the frame, and atleast do a weld on slider to add some to the center of the frame.

 

Nothing, just curious

 

I’m very skeptical the frame flexes enough to affect wheel travel to a measurable degree.

I also don’t think it’s likely that boxing the frame would lead to cracks elsewhere. If anything, it would prevent them by keeping the truck rigid.

I do think you need to carefully consider corrosion prevention if you box your frame and live in a wet climate. You don’t want water trapped inside the frame to touch bare metal. I think welding generally destroys paint, so you’ll need to figure how you protect the bare metal now inside the frame. The Toyota TSB for rusty frames might have some clues. It describes a process of spraying a protectant into the inside of the boxed sections of the frame.

 

I wouldn't listen to anyone who tells you to not to box the frame so it still "flexs", it'll just lead to a permanent bent frame like this if you wheel hard. Notice the drivers side bed is about 1-2" higher than the passenger side.

 

He just needs to hit the same trails in reverse to even it out.