Frame delamination - rear leaf springs mount area. Worth selling or try to fix?

Hey Tacoma world

 

#1. Go punch your mechanic in the face for missing that. Then keep and fix it if you really like the truck. Don’t worry about lost value because if the next buyers inspection doesn’t miss the messed up frame your gonna eat some money anyways. Good luck either way.

 

Even though those areas that are sandwich together like that are the first to rust in states that use salt and chemicals on the road it’s kinda of surprising nothing else is showing the signs of rust. Even the threads on those bolts look really clean. Where did the truck live most of its life?

 

That’s a rather odd level of layer splitting to have been caused by rust, and the metal look that clean right at the edges. This thing ever rear ended on the reports?

 

Thanks - yeah I'm talking with him about getting his shop to pay for the cost to repair. He's been pushing back but I will try to be persistent.

Yes - It is a little odd. I went around the rest of the frame. There is no other rust like this to speak of. I checked near the cats. I do have a bit of rust on the portion near the sidesteps, though it appears to be surface rust. (I hit it with a hammer and it doesn't go through). The truck lived most of its life in Colorado and Arizona. I'm not sure if it will continue to get worse.

 

It does look odd - similar frame delam on the other side though not as bad. I think that the muffler heat is making it worse on this side (passenger side). It was not rear-ended in the report.

 

It was rear ended. When they straighten the frame, it leaves those waves.

 

Thanks for that explanation. That sucks but honestly, I'm more OK with that than rotting out if that is indeed the case. Do you know what the frame straightening process is called so I can contact a body shop and see what they have to say about it?

 

That logic makes sense to me also. And that’s good news for the OP. At least it explains why there no rust anywhere else.

 

I found this other thread on TM which seems similar to my issue. It's hard to say that this was rear-ended based on this other person having something similiar

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/frame-rail-wavy-in-rear-issue.484957/

 

If anyone has any thoughts or similar experiences on this, please let me know. Still trying to decide what to do. Thank you

 

My frame had the same issue.It was replaced under the frame warranty...

 

Dang - good for you though. Fuck, so do you think I should sell it or trade it in somewhere?

 

CO does not use salt on roads, in the mountains at least.

 

They use Magnesium Chloride which can also cause some corrosion

 

They use mag chloride which is also corrosive.

 

Some but nowhere near as much as salt. I've had my 05 since new, nearly 16 years living in the mountains and only surface rust on the frame. I inspect it closely and often. It's my primary winter vehicle and we get a lot of snow. Pagosa Springs area.

If that truck spent its life in CO the frame issue is not due to rust.

 

It looks like rust is in the middle of the frame and it is delaminating. I have seen a few other posts about it rusting in that area as part of the horrible frame engineering that Toyota had with these trucks. Regardless of the issue, I'm trying to decide if I should keep or sell the truck.

 

No question they messed up the frame, and not just on gen 2 Tacos. At this point I would do whatever you feel like gives you long term peace of mind. BTW I went to the Durango Toyota dealership just before the frame replacement deal expired on my truck. They looked it over and said it would not qualify, not even close. They are a fairly high volume dealership and had not replaced a single frame at that point. Unusual for a CO taco to need it according to them, and unheard of in SW CO at that time, FWIW.

 

Did you have anything like the frame delam that I'm having? Or, did you have a typical frame with minor surface rust?