Finally found my truck and decided to quit lurking.

After months and months of searching I finally found what I was looking for! Yesterday I purchased a mostly unmolested 2008 access cab TRD OR with a 6MT in speedway blue from the original owner. I had been on the hunt for a 2.5 gen in the same trim, but the shiny blue color won me over.

It's obvious that it's been very well cared for by the PO. The downside is that the mileage is a little north of 200k but I guess I'm doubling down on this Toyota reliability I keep hearing about, and despite being a southern truck it does have a fair amount of frame rust. It's not as bad as some of the stuff I've seen while I've been hunting, but it's definitely the rustiest vehicle I've ever owned.

I only found one very small spot I could poke a screwdriver through, but there is a lot of scale on the frame from the cross member that holds the spare tire carrier back to the trailer hitch. Everything else looks to be in great shape.

My tentative plans are to complete all of the maintenance on the "quick reference maintenance guide" just so I know 100% that it's been done and then move onto a camper shell build, suspension, and eventually wheels and 33's when I chew through these new wild peaks. If I can get the work done quickly I might be able to swing a cross country road trip this fall, but the clock is already ticking.

I'm not a stranger to turning a wrench, but I'm a little concerned about the crustiness of the frame. What's the best way of going about repairing it outside of a full replacement? Where does everyone order their parts from? Is there a handy maintenance schedule for engine service like the timing chain or valve adjustment? (I haven't found an fsm yet)

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome aboard


Nice truck, one of my favorite colors!

 

Congrats! Love the color!

 

I've always been a sucker for blue. I was perfectly fine with finding a white truck, but then I found out about all of its paint issues and decided I didn't really want to deal with that headache.

 

I'd take peeling paint over a failing frame all day, everyday, assuming those were my only 2 options.

When you can poke a hole through it, rest assured the inside, where you cannot see, is much worse.

There are remedies out there (Safe-T-Cap being a popular one) but there is a lot involved.

Hope it shakes out ok for you.

 

I was able to run a borescope down the rail in a few spots and the front is solid. It's really just the back 3 feet that's not great. The PO had a few spots repaired proactively up front and he said he did have a rust prevention coating put on it ahead of winter. It came from Asheville so it did get some salt on the roads ahead of winter weather.

 

Welcome