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1Gen-TundraGeneral discussion forum for the 2000 to 2006 Toyota Tundra.
This is a discussion thread titled "Rusted Frame Problems?", within the 1Gen-Tundra forum, part of the Truck Forums category.
I used to live in the "rustbelt" and it's hell on automobile bodies. I see why purchasing a plastic bodied Saturn makes sense. Nothing worse than almost having your vehicle paid for then dealing with rust holes in the body and a pitted frame from corrosion. I think the New VW Beetle bodies are 100% galvanized steel and use plastic fenders, so I hear rust is minimal on them because of that. Why can't all auto manufacturers do that? Planned obsolescence?
on the that repair - i hope it wasn't finished when you took those photos. the welds should be painted over with a good zinc anti rust primer and a couple of good top coat sealer coats.
Ya think?
__________________ *A parts man with a code-reader is NOT your friend! *The most expensive parts are the cheap ones that let you down.
*Testing ROCKS - parts swapping is for the . *Anybody can take a dump in a box and mark it guarranteed,but what you really need to do is buy a quality part.... "Tommy Boy"
Wow... A Tundra with a rusted frame? I know that the north has rust issues, but I did not know it was still that bad. I live in the southeast (northeast Tennessee), where rust is not really a problem at all because of road salt. Yeah, we get a few snows a year (15 inches is our yearly average), but we normally do not even get that. Most of our rust is just on the older cars and its just surface rust - and not from salt, but mainly just from the high moisture in the air.
My great aunt that lives in Detroit bought a brand new Cadillac in 1978. By 1980, it had huge rust holes. Unbelievable. I know that some of the older Toyotas had rust issues. Grandpa has a 83' Toyota 4wd that the frame rusted into on- but it was originally from up north- so I imagine that most of the damage occured there. In comparison, I had a 1984 Toyota 4x4 (in 1997) that was 100% rust free, but it was originally from here. Thats one of the good things about living in a "low snow" area - is the lack of road salts. Even my old 69' Chevrolet and 73' Pontiac have minimal undercarriage surface- which is very normal for a old car. My old 72' Buick looked like new underneath.
First two photos are recent ones of my 6' Chevrolet- no rust holes or scale... only surface rust....
The next ones are of my old 90' Lexus LS400. It was 14 years old when this was taken and it was still 100% rust free.
I would try to treat that rust on your undercarriage. At least scrape it and spray with rust proof paint.
I would try to treat that rust on your undercarriage. At least scrape it and spray with rust proof paint.
Actually,that was a Tacoma,but I see alot of trucks that look similar.It's not my truck,it belongs to a customer.Not all are rusted to that extent,but none look as nice as a southern vehicle.I am in southern Maine-if you head farther north and away from the coast,they get worse.You should see the vehicles from Quebec and Nova Scotia. In very rural areas,there are no car washes to run your vehicle through every week,and people don't leave their garden hose out for the DIY underbody blast because the hoses freeze,the people freeze,and the driveways turn to a sheet of ice.The conveniences that some take for granted are not always available here.
__________________ *A parts man with a code-reader is NOT your friend! *The most expensive parts are the cheap ones that let you down.
*Testing ROCKS - parts swapping is for the . *Anybody can take a dump in a box and mark it guarranteed,but what you really need to do is buy a quality part.... "Tommy Boy"
You can spray off the surface salt with a garden hase and such, but it's sort of a waste of time. Salt and that Mag Chloride stuff "wicks" itself into body seams and stays there. Hose it all you want, it's not going to help much.
The only hope is to apply something that also "wicks" into hiden areas like an oil-based substance.
Ever looked under a vehicle with a really bad, long-term oil leak? No rust anywhere.
Get your truck up on a lift, and have it power washed. Spent half an hour to an hour pressure washing the entire under carriage, or have someone do it. Then go out and buy a bunch of cans of FLUID FILM and spend the time to coat the entire undercarriage, frame, springs, axle, front IFS components, etc. Your under carriage will look like new, it will stop rust, protect from corrosion, bead water really well. Do this little ritual every fall and you'll be laughing.
When I was looking for a Tundra (finally found a local one that I am picking up on Wednesday), I would cringe when I would see one from up north. Some I saw had some undercarriage rust- but it was mostly surface rust at this point- but still, being a "southerner", any rust makes me cringe. lol.
Luckily- the local 2000 Tundra I am buying has always been here (in northeast Tennessee) and there is not one speck of rust underneath.
I once bought a 1994 Lumina.... about 5 years ago. It appeared rust free from looking at the car. However, one day, for some reason, I thought I would just look under the car. I was shocked.... I had never seen any rust before on the underside of a 1994 car. It was 7 years old then and I was surprised and even now- being 12 years old - still unheard of on a local car here at that age. As mentioned, even the older cars have surface rust on the undercarriage at the most. Mainly the ones with rust holes are the ones that have had leaky windows- water setting in the floors- hence the rusting. Luckily, that has not been a problem on my older cars. Even my grandpa's 1955 Cadillac has a like new undercarriage. It did have some surface rust on the front driver floor when they removed the old carpeting, but it was because of a leaky driver door seal and water had came in and set in the floor. As mentioned, most rust on southeastern cars comes from the high moisture content in the air.
The BEST place for rust free cars is the desert southwest regions.
I AS WELL HAVE RUSTED FRAME PROBLEMS. I JUST BOUGHT A 98 TACOMA FROM THE WANT ADVERTISER, FROM SOME GUY IN NH, AND COULD SEE THAT IT NEEDED A CAB MOUNT REPLACEMENT LIKE ABOVE, AND UNDERCOATING. i BROUGHT IT TO THE AUTO BODY SHOP, AND WHEN THEY TRIED TO LIFT THE TRUCK IT ALMOST SPLIT IN HALF. THE FRAME ROTTED THROUGH ON BOTH SIDES RIGHT BEFORE THE REAR AXLE AND FOLDED UPWARDS. MY GUY DIDNT HAVE MUCH HOPE FOR REPAIRING THIS. ITS REALLY TOO BAD BECAUSE THE REST OF THE TRUCK HAS SOME MORE LIFE LEFT. NOW IM SCREWED OUT OF $5000. NO LEMON LAWS FOR USED CARS. ANY ADVICE? SMALL CLAIMS COURT?
Someone brought this topic back up and I was reading my old post. When I posted this about my old rusty Lumina- I notice I forgot to tell where it was from. After looking through the glovebox, I discovered it was from northeastern Ohio. One of the snowiest places in the USA.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaffer
I once bought a 1994 Lumina.... about 5 years ago. It appeared rust free from looking at the car. However, one day, for some reason, I thought I would just look under the car. I was shocked.... I had never seen any rust before on the underside of a 1994 car. It was 7 years old then and I was surprised and even now- being 12 years old - still unheard of on a local car here at that age.
Hello and welcome. Wow, you must really be cross.... you are yelling in all caps. All jokes to the side..... did the owner tell you that it was rusted that severely? I am wondering- what almost split in half - the frame? Is there anyway they can weld a brace in? It seems so unreal that a 1998 truck would have rust. Wow, I am glad I live in the south.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Good luck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xmk23x
I AS WELL HAVE RUSTED FRAME PROBLEMS. I JUST BOUGHT A 98 TACOMA FROM THE WANT ADVERTISER, FROM SOME GUY IN NH, AND COULD SEE THAT IT NEEDED A CAB MOUNT REPLACEMENT LIKE ABOVE, AND UNDERCOATING. i BROUGHT IT TO THE AUTO BODY SHOP, AND WHEN THEY TRIED TO LIFT THE TRUCK IT ALMOST SPLIT IN HALF. THE FRAME ROTTED THROUGH ON BOTH SIDES RIGHT BEFORE THE REAR AXLE AND FOLDED UPWARDS. MY GUY DIDNT HAVE MUCH HOPE FOR REPAIRING THIS. ITS REALLY TOO BAD BECAUSE THE REST OF THE TRUCK HAS SOME MORE LIFE LEFT. NOW IM SCREWED OUT OF $5000. NO LEMON LAWS FOR USED CARS. ANY ADVICE? SMALL CLAIMS COURT?[IMG]
To update, I guess mine is normal for a southern truck- here are photos. There are only a few specks of SURFACE rust here and there - mainly from where the paint has chipped and the moisture has hazed it over a bit. We do not get much snow here, so the roads may be salted something like 2-6 times per winter, if that much. The owner of my truck was a older gentlemen, that was not able to do much washing, so these are photos of a rarely washed undercarriage. I plan on detailing it soon.
2000 Tundra - (from the highlands of NE Tennessee)
future mods: SOS rollpan, Hellwig sway bar, SOS sway bar bushings, turbocharger, big brake conversion for front, SOS rear disc brake conversion, and many more.....
Hello and welcome. Wow, you must really be cross.... you are yelling in all caps. All jokes to the side..... did the owner tell you that it was rusted that severely? I am wondering- what almost split in half - the frame? Is there anyway they can weld a brace in? It seems so unreal that a 1998 truck would have rust. Wow, I am glad I live in the south.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Good luck.
The entire truck almost spllit in half, when it was raised on the lift. the previous owner did not tell me it had severe frame rot. I thought it was just really rusted. the mechanic doesnt think its worth the time effort or $ to fix it because he couldnt guaranty it would be safe. Meanwhile the prev owner wont take it back because he spent the $. whats really unbelievable is that A its a 1998. And B it has like zero rust on the body.
so my options are sell the truck for maybe 1000$, or replace the frame. i was quoted about $4000, for a new frame to be installed. does this sound about right? I looked into finding some at salvage yards. Found some cheap(under a thousand), but will have to ship them to boston, and that can also cost up to another thousand. does anyone know if this sounds like a good idea. Its a 1998 tacoma 4cyl 4x4 sr5 150k miles. body and engine are mint. if I spend another 4000, ill have put 9000 int a truck worth maybe 7000. id be losing 2000. thats still better than losing 4000$
Re: Rusted Frame Problems?
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Re: Rusted Frame Problems?
mods to date: K&N 77 series CAI, TRD Headers, Borla Muffler Dumped, Gaylord's Fiberglass Tonneau , SOS 2"/4" drop kit, Helo 20" Wheels, Hankook 275/40/20 Tires, debadged, removed pinstriping, a crap load of neon/led lighting, Autometer Cobalt digital voltmeter, Kicker KS 6.5" & DS 5.25" components, Kicker 12" L7....soon to be 18" Solo X, JVC KD-AR860 headunit, 2 MTX 81000d amplifiers, custom center console/seat, 5% tint in rear & 35% in front
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