Any advice for Safe-T Caps?

I'm planning to weld Safe-T Caps to the entire mid section of my truck (3 Safe-T Caps on each side). Think it's worth doing on this frame based on these pics? I scraped off the asphalt undercoating and the frame is perfect in some spots, and others its quite flakey or has holes. Only ~108,000 miles so I'd like to keep the truck. Planning to grind the leaf spring mounts right off and add new 1/4" thick ones as well.

I have a TIG welder and would weld it myself, after removing the bed and gas tank for easier access at the rear.

I'm mostly just looking for some advice - any tips for prep that would make fitting the Safe-T Caps easier? I noticed on the driver side inside frame there are a bunch of lines and whatnot that would have to be removed before the cap would fit.

Should I cut out the entire bottom part of the box frame including the parts that are still good so that I can spray the entire inside with some kind of rust converter before plating over, or just cut out the bad parts?

Can anyone recommend a good product that will chemically convert and stop the rust on the existing frame, which I can then weld over without grinding away again? Or would I have to grind away the primer/paint where I do the weld joints? Ideally something other than POR15 as I've heard mixed reviews about it. I live in Quebec, so there's lots of salt and long winters here, so I'm trying to fix this up before this winter. I imagine it should take me 2-3 full days of work - is this optimistic or not? I use the truck as a work truck, so hoping to do all this on a weekend between my jobs.

 

108k miles is not a lot!

i am currently looking into Eastwood's internal frame coating as a possibility, but not sure yet if it can be sprayed over any loose flaky stuff

if you need some pics of what the collapsed inside parts of a 97 single cab look like (passenger side) i do have some from a recent salvage yard visit

how are you intending on getting all of the buildup on the inside out?

 

anything chemical that would interact with the rust I would want to grind/wire brush off before welding. Though something like muriatic acid or naval jelly would cut the rust and probably be welded through I wouldn't want to fuck with that stuff being breathed in

 

Have you ever TIG welded before? If so, you should know that you're not going to have any luck trying to weld through a bunch of rust conversion chemical gunk. You need clean bare metal. I wouldn't even flux-core or stick through that crap.

Your main problem isn't the rust you can see. That's easy enough to remove with a flap disk. It's all the rust on the INSIDE of the boxed sections of the frame you CAN'T see that would be your downfall. So even if you weld a bunch of plates on the outside, you'll still have frame cancer in the inside that is MUCH harder to deal with.

I've seen people go as far as cutting open the frame, removing the rust, treating it, and re-welding the box frame together, THEN welding reinforcement plates on.

I see more people find another frame and swap it.

 

I Hope Tig Welder was a Typo??

If not your prep time is going to be days

If you do have a Tig welder you plan to use lift arc??

Have a Thumb Control ??

 

Yeah, even with proper metal prep, TIG doesn't seem like the process that makes the most sense.

If that's all you got, maybe rent a MIG/FCAW rig from home depot.

 

It is indeed TIG, though has a high frequency function. I've welded some mildly crusty stuff with a little cleaning just fine with TIG before. I do a fair amount of aluminium stuff, but that's all new fab, so not entirely sure what it'll be like trying to weld to this. I imagine it won't be too bad if it cleans up nicely.

 

I'd definitely be interested to see, though mine is an extended cab. I'm going to pressure washer out as much as I can, possibly even get it sandblasted. I will try and grind away as much of the flakey stuff as possible though.

 

I'm no TIG guy and I'm just starting to dip my toes in MIG, but everything I've seen is that TIG is even less forgiving to rust, scale, paint, dirt, etc than MIG or especially FCAW or stick.

 

these trucks ('96'97'o2) at the salvage lot i inspected (so i know what to deal with and avoid on mine) had a ton of build up inside where the bottom did not fall out yet, which probably made matters worse, but i still cannot get an expert explanation,etc.

lots of dirt/mud sand and rusty chunks, inside but not sure if yours does or not?

 

What kind of an explanation do you need?

Boxed frames collect dirt, mud, road salts, etc... inside because you can't get in there to wash it out (easily). That stuff sits there, and the added moisture creates rust that you can't see until it pokes its head out the other side of the frame.

 

i need that told to me (and publicly admitted) by the powers that be at Toyota motor corporation and educate their servicing dealers so that when a concerned customer comes in with pertinent questions and or concerns they can adequately address them professionally. They only seem to be concerned (from my experiences lately) with what is on the outside, which is the only thing i have ever concerned myself with until TW came along

 

As a corporation, they had to draw the line somewhere, so they have a certain definition of what constitutes a "problem" frame to the point they will pay to have it replaced. I believe that is something on the order of a dime sized hole or larger in the frame, but more than that, it can't just be any rusty frame. There is some responsibility on the owner, so that if now is the first time you've done ANYTHING to address the rust on a 15-20 year old truck (hence the need for prior frame treatment), they are not going to have a lot of sympathy.

For everything I love about Toyota, they've really screwed the pooch with this frame rust thing. They knew back in the mid 90's that their frames were rusting at abnormally high rates in some areas. But to this day, the frames they replace are identical to the old ones with no additional rust protection. They didn't even learn their lesson with the 2nd gens, 4Runners or Tundras as those have issues too.

Granted, I'm sure they've done the cost-benefit analysis of replacing frames/buying back vehicles vs. the cost of treating ALL vehicles with super extra fancy rust protection. I guess that's cheaper. Class action lawsuits aren't cheap either, though.

 

Better yet, does any one have any dimensions/layout of Safe-T Caps so I can prefab my own together? Looking at about $1500CAD with shipping across the border, plus whatever the customs import fees will be (likely a few hundred more). I imagine I could get the sheet steel I need for a few hundred locally.

 

If you're going to do that, just get some cardboard and make some templates.

 

I wish you luck !

Media Blasting is a very good idea !!

Prep time I figure 58 minutes for 2 minutes of welding in this case it might be more prep time .

You can make your own metal pieces if you can measure what you need.

If you make your own pieces why not go stainless??

I have seen frame dimensions floating around someplace

 

As to welding. 1st choice MIG with GAS. 2nd choice Flux core MIG. LAST CHOICE TIG. This is a cab and bed off job, Safe T Cap specs will indicate which parts can be welded CAB ON and BED ON and only a couple can be. Specs show cutting out frame bottom and removal of rust where plates will be installed. DO NOT WELD OVER RUST CONVERTER. Corroseal is by far the best rust converter on the market and can be sprayed in side box frames using a undercoating gun and wand. It can be top coated without primer or fluid filmed over inside box frames. 2 or 3 days? you chose the word IMAGINE correctly. Extended cabs have sections which cannot be welded cab on. I have been able to cut 1.25 inch off the top and bevel those edges to allow enough clearance for mig welding cab on but it is extremely tight space and welding overhead with no visibility.....WELL just imagine.

 

If better than, then go for it.

 

I figure stainless would end up corroding anyway with all the salty slush concoction sitting on it all winter.

One of the leafs on the other side is snapped. Got new leaf springs as well to install once this is finished.

I assume I will grind down the the weld area as much as possible so it's very smooth, clean steel. I feel like my TIG torch with the small electrode holder is way smaller than a MIG gun and can easily fit in the tight spaces. It's not the ideal process, but it's what I have and I should be able to make it work as long as I stay out of the wind and clean the weld area really well, no? If there's more to it, maybe I should rent a MIG though. That's why I'm looking for advice!

I mean really the only part that's time sensitive to me is welding on the sections where the leaf springs are as I want to remove the bed and gas tank to make it easier, but also need to remove the leaf spring hangers and install new ones. The long middle parts and front area can be worked on after work any days really while still being able to drive it.