Tacoma Frame Remedies

I’m sure your frame is fine after the recent repairs. Post some pictures so we can confirm. As long as your mechanic removed the rusted rot, annual applications of fluid film or similar will protect the truck for many more years.

Tacomas have more demand out west so they are generally more expensive. Basically all of these trucks will be in good shape if they didn’t see road salt so Alabama is probably just as good as California. I bought mine from Washington and drove it back to Wisconsin. It’s not immaculate but it’s definitely what people here call rust free. Morale of the story is undercoat your truck and go enjoy it.

 

I sometimes forget how low the 5 lug is off the ground
Do you have some medium duty ramps you can back the taco up on and have a bit better access for some well-lit pics underneath?

 

Hey I don’t have any pics of the whole frame but here are two pics I took last time my mechanic had it up on the lift of two problem areas that I should probably take to get reinforced. I think the rest of the frame looks in decent shape but I’d like to see what people’s opinion is. I probably won’t be able to get those for a little while since I’m not gonna ask my mechanic to put it on the lift just to take photos. Or maybe I’ll see if I can get some photos from underneath.

 

Nick, that damage looks more extensive than I thought it was going to be, especially by the exhaust/cat hanger.
You said your frame mechanic guy has a good plan to reinforce that and make it structurally sound?

 

hey, yeah that area in particular did give me reason for concern. the rest of the frame is in better shape than that, but those two spots caused me some concern. i just dropped it off with my mechanic and he seems to think he can fix it no problem. hoping it doesn’t cost a pretty penny

 

Hey, I was finally able to get it up on a lift after my welder mechanic worked on it. Here's a good set of pics showing the condition of the frame. Let me know what you think!

 

Repairs look good. Pull the bed off, sand blast or wire brush it, then POR-15 the frame, then finally Fluid Film the inside and outside the frame seasonly. But be prepared to see big rust damage when you pull off the bed. Traditionally these frames rust above the rear tire often from the inside of the frame.

 

Question is can one DIY this without a lift, garage and abundance of tools? Like what do you use to pull of the bed? I'm not opposed to DIY jobs and I'm pretty good with my hands as a carpenter and occasional truck fixer upper but I don't want to have my truck pulled apart in a public parking lot thinking to myself "how did I get here?"

 

The recent repairs your guy did look good. And if you can’t tell, there are other areas patched by previous owners. The only thing this frame needs is a thick coating of oil (fluid film etc) and routine checks to make sure things aren’t getting worse. There’s no value in painting it. There’s rust everywhere inside and outside that frame.

You can easily do the undercoating yourself. I’ve done it a few times rolling around on the ground underneath the truck. Not ideal but cheaper than hiring someone. Probably more difficult on a five lug, ramps would be helpful.

Buy a gallon of fluid film and one of these sprayers, hook up to an air compressor and it shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes up an hour to soak everything. Get the inside of the frame where you can.

$50 InoKraft Undercoating Spray Gun with Suction Feed Cup, 360° & Straight Spray Hoses, for Truck Bed Liner Coating, Rubberized Undercoat, Rust Proofing

https://www.amazon.com/InoKraft-Undercoating-Straight-Rubberized-Undercoat/dp/B0DGPKYPD6

 

Okay thanks for the tips. I'll look into buying some ramps myself and doing the undercoating myself. I don't believe that there was any framework done by the previous owner. I think what you're referring to is the work I had done to the frame when I first bought the truck. I know there's some surface rust but I think that's from only the year and a half or so that I've owned it. How do you get into the fluid film inside the frame? Just by spraying the areas where there's an opening? Is there any concern when it comes to overplaying the sealant?

 

Also I'm pretty surprised to see that this is even an option but there is a business less than 20 minutes away where you can use a lift for a fairly reasonable rate. I've never used it but it seems to have good reviews. $35 an hour for a bay with a lift. https://uwrenchitauto.com/about/

 

Use google search for "Fluid Film Tacomaworld". There are hundreds of threads on this topic.

 

POR stands for Paint Over Rust and when applied, the metal can still disintegrate from the other side. Undercoating can have the same effect. It might be better to use Phosphoric acid to convert the rust or just use an oily/lanolin (Fluid Film, Amsoil Metal Protector) rust preventer to stop further rust; at least you will be able to see if it is still deteriorating.

 

Will removing the rust with a wire brush and then fluid filming slow down the rust build up over time? I would consider using a sandblaster but that seems way more unpractical especially if you don’t have your own garage..

 

Sanding everything down and completely removing the rust and then covering with paint would best. HOWEVER, The reality is that the rust in your frame is not isolated and you could spend a lot of time wire brushing, sand blasting and painting only to have it continue rusting underneath the paint. I did that with my rear differential a couple years ago and the paint was flaking off within a year. That’s after a ton of time sanding, wire brushing, spraying with phosphoric acid (active ingredient in POR, it’s a rust converter) painting and then fluid filming. In the end I likely would’ve preserved the rear differential to the same degree by just using fluid film and skipping the other steps. Again, you can’t remove the rust from the inside of the frame so you can only treat the outside. The fluid film (or oil of basically any kind) will inhibit the reaction of the metal with oxygen and water and slow the rust more so than any other option you have. Again, in my opinion, just undercoat it annually and keep an eye on things season to season.

 

Por15 is a rust encapsulator, not a converter; it has no acid like Ospho rust converter. They do advertise that POR15 is non-corrosive unlike Ospho that will burn your skin. Por15 seals the rust underneath its coating without changing its compostition. Por15 is very difficult to remove if you ever wanted to do that.

Fluid Film and other such oily protectors will need to be reapplied from time to time, but at least you can still inspect the metal underneath for holes and flakes. You could apply bar and chain oil thinned out with solvents for a messy, smelly, cheap protectant that attracts a lot of dirt.

 

In this case, I would apply a rust inhibitor. Fluid film, woolwax, Amsoil HD Metal Protect (my favorite), or cosmoline. I have used POR15 on many projects but wouldn’t apply it in this case. Any moisture on the backside of the area POR15 is applied remains and rust grows. I had applied POR15 to rockers on my last truck and found that they continued to rust with POR15 being the only thing holding the rockers together. I ended up replacing the entire rocker. I also used it on the roof as the paint fully faded to rust and it held up well there because the wasn’t any moisture behind it.

 

Personally I wouldn't bother with the sandblasting... these frames rust from the inside out. Coat the outside with fluid film or woolwax and then do your best to put some sort of coating internally as well and block of as many entrances to the frame so more contaminates cannot get in. I've been told toilet wax ring wax makes for a good material to block the various different shaped holes with. Finally so that the bit that does get in can get out, pop a drain hole in the lowest spots of the frame.

I fixed my frame back in 2020 and it has been fine ever since just with some common sense about how to keep it coated

 

I would like to see that FF stick to the entire rear diff housing + 3rd member
It gets so hot and the windy tunnel underneath truck will blow it right off

 

Por 15 is wrong product for existing rust. It's simply a brittle paint and flakes and holds moisture when it cracks. Soft products like Fluid film or I use Waxoyl which is awesome. See their site for a product with a long wand to get inside frame rails. Great product. GL~