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

No nothing like that. Just surface rust. Just thinking out loud, maybe someone towed a lot (or too heavy), does it have the factory tow package? Hard to believe a major rear-end collision could get past Carfax etc but who knows. The issue with frames was not bad engineering per se, just poor metallurgy at the supplier level. Maybe a lot of tongue weight on the hitch could do that? Have no idea. I go thru periods of towing a lot (firewood and trailers full of motorcycles) but have not seen that.

 

OP, you could check out the Colorado forum here and ask. Maybe somebody there even owned your truck before, or knows its history.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/colorado.172/

 

Hey thanks for that. I actually got it from a private seller. Clean carfax - they bought the car here in Colorado and had it in AZ as well. I am the second owner

 

No problem, let us know if you find out anything.

 

I am pretty certain this is a rust issue from the frame recall and the previous owner never took advantage of the recall. My mechanic royally dropped the ball during the pre-purchase inspection. In my opinion, they are the ones liable, but they've claimed "we aren't a frame shop - if you wanted the frame inspected, you should have taken it to a frame shop". No one takes their car to a frame shop to get inspected..

 

That sucks! Especially since all it takes is a good visual on the frame. He just didn’t have a clue as a mechanic, especially since he was getting paid to look this over.

 

It does suck - I talked with a lawyer who said I have grounds to sue, but I'm a young dude and am not made of money. In fact, the only reason I got this truck was to replace my Rav4 that was totaled by a semi-truck... Been an absolutely shitty month!

Does anyone have any advice on what type of recourse I should be seeking here? I don't think insurance covers this but I'm hoping to pursue their insurance to get the truck bought out. I think it's a long shot.

 

How much did you pay for the truck?

 

I paid 16k

 

I think it would be wise to take it to a chassis repair shop and get an expert opinion and estimate.
Just make sure he writes you up a detailed estimate.

 

I actually got an estimate at a good repair shop. They quoted $5,600 parts/labor to get it back to factory specs. However, when I brought it to them, they didn't think that type of job was totally necessary. They just said, "here's the price if you care enough to fix it."

 

Also, Toyota offered me a trade-in value of 11,250. That would be a big loss obviously. Confused as to what I should do now

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

I was quoted 5,600 to fix the frame at a body shop.. Toyota offered me 11,250 for the truck. I just paid 16 last month for it. What do you think I should do?

 

Is it causing you any problems? I'd probably not fix it and carry on as usual, but keep an eye on it.

 

Well, it isn’t causing problems yet - though it only gets worse as there’s no way I can stop rust. The frame panels have been expanding apart from each other right over the leaf spring shackle. It feels like that’s a bad place for that to happen.

Once it does get really bad, I will have less options. It will be difficult to impossible to sell with welded frame caps put on and if I did do a professional job, that’d be a huge expense (plus it may damage the title of the truck).

I really am at a loss because it’s not something that will be easy to repair. It’s very much a ticking time bomb.

 

Get in there and try and clean it out the best you can with something abrasive. Then spray some primer in there, let it dry, then coat it with something. Then I would spray some fluid film or something in there to coat it and not worry about it for a while. Then every so often do touch ups. It’ll be fine

 

Yup.

OP this is not a rust issue imo. That frame looks really good otherwise. I mean it still has paint on it ffs.

Does the truck drive fine and track straight? If so Id be inclined to not worry about it. Maybe give it a good pressure wash, and then spray some Fluid Film in those waves to prevent any future rust

 

Thank you for chiming in. I definitely need all the advice I can get on this! Horrible feeling.

What makes you say that it’s not a rust issue? I actually found it while applying fluid film. The frame rails are rotting inside and pushing the panels outward. If that’s normal then I’ll keep driving it, but many people have said that used to qualify for the frame replacement.

At this point I’m worried that if (when) it gets worse, I’ll be out of reasonable options for it.

 

If you’re really worried about it clean it out, clamp the shit out of the frame and weld the seam up