Frame Rust Help 08 Tacoma

Hey all!

I just purchased an 08 Tacoma with low mileage and discovered that the frame is rusted in all areas. Seems solid but I have my concerns. I do live in Ontario so having rust from our salt is typical. It did seem like the previous owner took care of the truck. I’m just wondering what to do going forward. I don’t think the dealer I bought from is going to want to do anything. Thanks for the help guys!

cheers,
Adam

 

It looks like the frame rust proof spray is likely covering up a whole lot more

 

I have a 2009 with similar issues (East Coaster).

Once spring hits you can scrape away at it, use some rust converter and paint it with Por 15 or similar.

Hard to tell from the pics but it looks okay to me. The only way you'll know for sure is to crawl around and inspect thoroughly.

 

You aren't looking in the right places.
The 2 biggest places are by the converters on the inside frame.
And over the rear left wheel, starting at the front leaf spring mount, up and over the wheel, next to the muffler.

BTW, it looks like your truck has the old 3 leaf pack. The newer TSB springs have 4.
I'd look into it. You may qualify for the new springs. Mine was covered under a recall.

 

Sounds good, Por 15 is definitely something I was looking into. Did you do all the steps for por 15, like all the metal etching and such?

thanks for you help!

 

Thank you for this, I’ll definitely do some more looking around under the truck when it’s a clear day. Hopefully everything still appears solid

And okay, I should look into that too, that’s atleast one thing off the agenda

 

I haven't done it yet, it's my summer project. I will clean up the rust, etch it with phosphoric acid and paint it. My truck was bought with 200, 000 kms on it to be a work truck. I'm not worried about pretty.

I'm also not afraid of frame rust in general. I'm okay with welding in plate steel until it becomes impossible to do so. My son has a machine shop and I figure that he owes me a couple of favours. Lol

 

POR15 is incredible if and only if you are extremely thorough with the prep. Otherwise it will look great for a minute and then start to bubble in places, eventually popping and peeling and leaving pockets that hold brine and accelerate corrosion.

I did my frame from the front boxed section back to the rear cab mounts over the course of several days spent degreasing, scrubbing, degreasing, rinsing, wire wheeling, needle scaling. zinc etching, and painting on the POR15.

Follow the instructions carefully and thoroughly and you can do a great job in the driveway - just be ready to sink a lot of really nasty labor into it.

 

A dealer sold you that truck,they took Advantage of you,BUYER BEWARE comes to mind .

 

If you just got it literally I'd take it back. That's not got long left I bet.

 

meh…


run it ‘til it breaks.

 

That's perfectly fine to me, I'm probably going to heavily focus on the areas that give more such as the weld points. Thank you!

 

Of course, I should've done my due diligence but I was way to excited with my ADHD brain and bought the damn thing.

 

Hoping it survives a long time, wasn't the cheapest thing ever

 

The dealer isn't offering much. They swear to me up and down that the frame is rock solid and they hit it with a prybar and hammer. I'm going to take it to a mechanic this week to get another look locally as this dealer is far away. Going to get their opinion and if there's a fighting chance that I find a hole, it would go against the safety certificate they provided and legally have to take the truck back.

 

The inboard sections of the boxed areas up front by the cats are the major problem areas, and also the front and rear faces of the front cab mounts.

 

This is a must, get an independent opinion for sure.

You can probably see it already but check the outside passenger and bottom passenger rail. That is where mine rotted..right below the door badge and where an exhaust hanger was respectively.

I could have had additional spots but I didn't crawl under. I pointed those 2 spots out to the service writer when I brought it in and they inspected those 2 areas and failed it without having to lift the truck.

 

The thinner metal goes first. Look at the mounts that hold your bed on. Mine are almost gone in some places I will have to bed off and weld new ones on pretty soon