Frame rust question

Hey everyone!

I’m working to get my first tacoma this summer, and came across one that I’m interested in, but am not sure about the condition of the frame. I know this group has a lot of experience, so I was hoping to get some advice. I have not bought this truck, but plan to look at it this weekend.

here are some pictures. My main concern is the area circled around the hitch receiver. Is this something that could possibly be scraped up and por15 applied, or is this one to stay away from? Any thoughts/advice is greatly appreciated!

 

What we can see looks fine (although I'd advise replacing the hitch). But given how much rust I do see, you really need to get right into the hard to see spaces to really say if the frame is okay.

 

In the northeast that might as well be new. Looks fine to me, but still worth being diligent about when looking in person

 

Thanks for your feedback! My thought was to replace the hitch, but on tacomas, are the hitches part of the frame? I ask as I had to buy and install a hitch on my Rav4, but wasn’t sure if a hitch on a Tacoma was welded to the rest of the frame.

 

The hitch is not part of the frame.

 

Some of the main spots to check out are around the leaf spring hangers. They tend to get pretty bad. Bring a decent size screwdriver and a small hammer with you when you really start checking. Use the screwdriver to see if you can punch a hole through any suspect areas. As was already said, the the hitch is replaceable, not part of the frame. Btw, welcome to Tacoma World! We can definitely help you spend your money!!!

Edit: From what I can see in the pictures you can probably take a wire wheel to clean it up then spray the area with some undercoating and call it good depending on where you live.

 

Thank you all for the feedback and advice! It is super helpful!

I can totally see how this community will help me spend all my money . All good as I’ve been needing a new hobby!

 

Well then, you’ve come to the right place!

 

I've never been a "truck guy," it's just practical for my lifestyle. But I've learned more about trucks than I ever intended to as touching up and taking care of the big red machine became a hobby.

 

Welcome to planet Tacoma. We hope you enjoy your stay, it’s good to have you with us.

If you are near the rust belt or the snowy/salt belt (ie Canada) looks “okay” “Yellow card” needs work but not urgently.

Frame: 7/10 Yes there is surface rust, but manageable. Would recommend keeping a constant eye on it.
Have a plan ready to take care of that before winter. Best to just do it and not think about it for the rest of ownership.

Hitch: 5/10 If you intend to tow or get recovered off-road frequently, change out the hitch before you rip it out and cause more damage.
You can see it flaking already. oh and you can also see that the left eyelet is bent, either was recovered/pulled out from there which is most likely. Or a trailer came undone.

Bonus: Rear diff case, will need some love.
Also Leaf springs need to get swapped at some point, there is growing rust towards the bracket.

 

I agree that the frame looks good and the hitch looks bad.

 

Sand blast the snot out of it paint the rust spots drench it with fluid film. I'm in Maine my frame is still black (2011) The trailer frame work is pretty substantial again sand blast then see what it looks like.