Suspect welding

That likely could be your out. I can't see repairs like this passing safety inspection. If the place you bought it from makes some sort of claim about safety inspections, I'd take this back.

At least in CA, and I'm sure most other states, commercial car sales have to be "driveable" so you can't sell a car that doesn't pass smog, or is unregistered, etc...

Might look up the laws in your state pertaining to used car sales.

 

Don't get yourself too wrapped around the axle about this. You say this was your first buy. We have all made similar mistakes.

Explore all your options. Sounds like you have an otherwise good truck. I know there are people here who have complete frames they are trying to get rid of, and there are several people who have documented their frame swaps. It's a doable project for an average DIY'er.

If you can swing it, consider this a project truck. If you need a daily driver right away, then I'd suggest doing what you can to return it (see my above post) and buy something else.

But there are a lot of people here who'd kill for a project truck like this.

 

I have seen many much worse then that .

That showed up

Gotta give them credit for signing the work

with this little Truck I Would not be crazy about the vertical splice if it bothers you make some plates to cover the splice inside and outside bolt them in place

Now if it was a Tri axle grossing 80,000 pounds the vertical splice of the frame would get some one some time off.

 

I just googled and it said it is legal to sell a vehicle with past frame damage/repair but must be disclosed in writing to the buyer . I don't know if your state has Inspection but dosen't look to me like it would pass .

 

True, I've seen frames patched with rebar, lol

 

I’m going to look into the laws. I’m honestly kinda pissed that the guy I bought it from didn’t mention anything about it... like cmon, but I guess I see why he didn’t mention it. I’m going to check the laws and see if I can take it back. I’m not really all that worried about it breaking or anything because I drive like a grandpa but mainly just upset that it was never disclosed to me

 

We do have inspection. I live in NC, it’s not near as strict as some states but we do have it. The guy told me the truck had passed inspection with flying colors and even showed documentation and it passed. I learned my lesson with but here pay here lol

 

Where in NC? Do you know the trucks history/previous locations?

If it was a dealer, I doubt they even looked under the truck. My coworker was looking for a taco not long ago. Told him to check for rust/etc. He looked at an 07. Frame was swiss cheese, car dealership never even knew. He told them, but its still listed for sale.

To pass inspection in this state, the vehicle doesnt even have to go up on a lift. Their main concern is scanning the computer. Since the shop doesnt make any money on it, why bother actually wasting the man hours required to give it a proper inspection while up on a lift?

 

I was curious myself and did a quick search and found this:

https://www.carlotz.com/blog/north-carolina-vehicle-safety-inspection/

https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_20/Article_3A.html

Even did a word search for "Frame" in the second document, and there is actually no mention of frame, and only one mention of "chassis" that isn't relevant to this discussion.

In other words, it seems like NC's "safety" inspection doesn't really care if the car will fall apart or not, only if you have working turn signals and windshield wipers.

 

Bingo. State money grab is all it is. See my post above.

 

fify

 

Well yes, but the car lot manager said he never even looked under there. Real small, mom and pop place. They were advised to run it down to Toyota and see if its still covered, dunno if anything ever came of it. Still for sale over a month later.

 

I wouldn't let it set you down too much OP. The welds aren't done by a pro but they look like they'll hold. If it worries you, plate or even box the frame. I'd get it aligned and see what the alignment tech says, but if he green lights the truck i'd continue my regularly-scheduled-driving-the-piss-outta-it. If the truck drives well then it drives well, ya know? We've done frame repairs on a few Jeeps drunk in a garage that get framed out on the regular with no issues... besides the frame we haven't fixed yet

 

Yeah, that's just it. I'm no used car lot manager, but from the customer service experience I do have (I used to manage a bike shop that sold used bikes), I would actually inspect , overhaul, and repair the bikes we sold, and definitely would NEVER sell a bike with a rusted out frame. Sometimes I'd leave a little surface rust on the frame, and clean it up and throw some clear coat on it for that rat rod look.

I wasn't interested in selling piles of shit to people. It didn't even need to be about "respecting the customer" since I would actually make more money fixing up and flipping bikes, than if I would just wipe the cobwebs off and resell it, which is essentially what most used car lots do.

 

I bought it in forest city NC. The dealer claimed one owner and the title was from TN. After doing a little more digging today i found loads of sand under the bed liner.... Wtf

 

Seeing these few comments about the welds looking like they will hold is giving me some hope. I bought this as a daily driver but now im kinda nervous to DD it after figuring this out. I think what i'm gonna do is get the aligment checked... If it check out, then ill just get an experienced welder to have a look and tell me what they can do to reinforce to area so it's safe to drive everyday.

 

Thank you for all the advice you gave... I really appreciate it man. Hoping this does not become a huge issue later on. I'm just gonna drive this damn thing into the ground

 

Don't let it worry you man. They're definitely not pretty but they do look decently strong. The first pic maybe touch up the bottom to keep shit from getting inside. If the alignment checks out and everything is working fine, sounds like ya scored a fine truck.

If the welding drives you crazy just because it looks like ass, support a local welder they can pretty it up for ya and i'm sure make it a bit stronger in the process

 

Thank you for the advice.

 

Thanks man, the last thing i'm worried about is how it looks, I just don't wanna be wheelin down the road and it snap for some reason. That's the plan man. I really appreciate the helpful comments, puts me at ease a bit, I thought I really got F**ked over. At least it runs good, well great actually. I am experiencing a small clunk coming from that area (where the driver side weld is) when taking right turns and hitting a small bump simultaneously... even sometimes when just hitting a small bump and driving straight. Any idea on what I should check? It's somewhere near that welded area.. maybe where the cab bolts to the frame??