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Frame restoration - did it myself

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by SeNate, Mar 23, 2015.

  1. Oct 11, 2023 at 7:38 PM
    #241
    Fzfg1000

    Fzfg1000 Well-Known Member

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    Great guide. This must have taken a lot of effort to do and post
     
  2. Nov 25, 2023 at 6:05 PM
    #242
    tp44

    tp44 Active Member

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    Looking for 13-15 Double
    I thought about doing this to my Tundra. A shop in Jersey charges between 600 and 900. I'm inclined to letting them do it.
     
  3. May 20, 2024 at 12:02 PM
    #243
    Mozay

    Mozay Well-Known Member

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    This is on my to-do list as well. I ordered all the gear/chemicals from OP's list and will do it when I can set aside a few days. My '05 is holding together but I like the thought of a shiny black frame
     
  4. Jun 4, 2024 at 6:21 PM
    #244
    nickmac30

    nickmac30 New Member

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    Nate- what size compressor did you use to operate your needle scaler?
     
  5. Jun 5, 2024 at 5:01 PM
    #245
    Mozay

    Mozay Well-Known Member

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    I just finished this project on my truck today, tho it doesn’t look as good as OP.

    I have a 20gal husky compressor from Lowe’s, it kicked on a couple times during scaling but the tool never slowed down. Ran it around 50psi
     
    nickmac30[QUOTED] likes this.
  6. Jun 6, 2024 at 3:58 AM
    #246
    nickmac30

    nickmac30 New Member

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    Thanks for this. I think Im gonna run the scaler around 90psi so itll kick on more. Also planning to run 2 compressors as ive amassed 3 needle scalers already lol
     
  7. Aug 26, 2024 at 4:56 PM
    #247
    Dawnland Roller

    Dawnland Roller New Member

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    Impressive! May I ask how much money you spent on materials, tools and PPE?
     
  8. Sep 14, 2024 at 10:25 AM
    #248
    VikingTrad3r

    VikingTrad3r Well-Known Member

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    adding my experience.

    my truck is a work truck, I need it to continue working. As with most Tacoma’s the rest of the truck is awesome, unfortunately, my frame is perforated in multiple locations, and I didn’t realize it until now. I have tried grinding the rust off, and welding in patches on the frame.

    I extracted all of the mud and dust and sand and flaked rust that there was in the boxed part of the frame. that took a long time, used a vacuum and a hammer to break it up and sucked it. then blow it out with compressed air. Found a fist size rock in the driver side boxed frame.

    plan is to then weld in patches, and then, after that coat the welded area with the acid etching primer, spray with a rust oleum, and then what I think is the most important part, is oil the ever living snot out of my frame. This isnt an overlanding rig and its not a city truck. I actually use it in the oilfield. They are awesome operator trucks because they are light, nimble, never get stuck, and are dead nutz reliable.

    So absolute drenching the frame in oil is fine for this truck. I am going to start with a mixture of ATF and acetone to get an initial creep into all of the porosity in the frame in between all of the layers in the frame. Once that initial treatment is done, I will move to a more conventional under coating like a fluid film or something like that. Or honestly, I might just stick to waste motor oil and spray that ever leaving snot out of it because I really need it to run into all of the nooks and crannies. I have used fluid film in the past, but it just doesn’t seem to run into the nooks and crannies like I need it to.

    You’ve all seen lots of pictures of the frame rust, so I really don’t need to show you that.

    I have however found a second Rust location, while replacing my antenna under the passenger aide fender. have not seen documented so here goes. It is on the front passenger wheel well about half of the way up to the top of the arch on the rearward side, where the seam is to the firewall. My truck does not have the creamy coloured fender liner coating over the entire metal wheel arch structure. Maybe it was a monday morning truck. Its there, just not 100% there. And this is where it rusted. There is a seam there that has rusted as water wash has gotten in from the wheels. It’s actually perforated all the way through to the underlay on the inferior side of the fire wall, and above, into the engine compartment.

    I looked to see if I could easily remove the carpet on the inside. Then I would weld in a little patch. However, this steel is very very thin. So my new plan now that I have wire wheel a nice good size patch, buy some thin metal 25 gauge it was, coat the acetone cleaned fender liner, and both sides of my patch, using rivets to “clamp” it together and the 3m panel adhesive will be rock solid.

    edit. frame welding and repair complete. Took a solid 3 days. Used 1/8 plate. obviously the plate was flat. i found that if i smashed the edge beside the welded area with a 2lb mini sledge, it would bend / contour.

    My welding sure improved thats for sure. i have one plate with booger welds and i discovered somehow my wire feed had been cranked to 10.

    used 2 reels of 0.30 fluxcore, in 2-low, wire speed 7. Welded entire length of panels. My frame will be just for for another decade at least.

    It has been coated in atf/20% acetone for the creeping, using a junk/cheap spray gun, and second coat of waste oil will be going on tomorrow, oils i now spray should be able to creep along the atf pathing.

    take care!


    image.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2024
  9. Sep 15, 2024 at 6:01 PM
    #249
    VikingTrad3r

    VikingTrad3r Well-Known Member

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    the panel bond will be rock hard, and the rivets plus the bend formed into the panel made for a rock solid fit.

    Will probably spray with some sort of abraision /wheel wash resistant coating like a tar after this. I think the panel bond will be fine, but id rather clean and reapply a sacrificial coating a couple times per year than redo the patch.

    Also, inside the engine bay, where the firewall meets the arch, its all filled in with panel adhesive (its an epoxy). All fixed up

    hope this helps add to the sticky. cheers.

    104040C2-E03C-438A-A5A2-955FC9614782.jpg
    32CA82F0-A20A-4808-9A60-A28D97D0580B.jpg
    3D10D105-C054-4347-BE4B-96C458762C33.jpg
     

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