Please help, I just bought my 94 4x4 a few months ago, and the frame was bad But i didnt care. Now im getting worried cause its looking bad in the rear. Im amazed how fast its spreading and just eating the steel.
Its the worst in the rear of the truck , Kindof near the front of the leaf springs and etc.


The passanger side is realy bad. I Got a friend thats a good welder and im thinking of rigging something up and welding just for security.

But i realy have no idea on what I can do.

Only ideas I have now is a welding a long thick peice of rebar from under the door to the rear wheel, and just bending it for the curve of the frame.
but it wont give much support cause the middle is to rotted to weld a palte or anything......

If anyone can give me some tips or info it would be great.. .


I love this truck , my bed is pefect, no rust oneither bumpers... Id hate to see this thing go to waste it runs perfect.

Toyota is buying back older trucks at, If I remember correctly, 1.5 market value. If the frame is that bad, try selling your truck back and buy one without problems. I can not recall what years are involved but yours and newer years seems about right. I have a 92 and 87 and those years were not covered - I don't have a rust problem either. I have the url book marked but it is on my other computer. Just do a search on toyotanation or on a search engine and you should be able find it. I will look later and try to post it too.

Regards.

 

ya from what ive searched its the 95 -00 tacomas that are coverd.

Mines a reg 94 4x4.

I was thinkinking of taking a ride to the dealer just to see but i dout they will do anything.

The frame isnt cracked yet but one side doesnt look like its got much left in it so i gotta do something soooon ....

 

put another frame under it !-- problem solved !

 

Mine got so bad that the passanger side leaf spring came right out of the frame. I ended up buying another truck with a really nice frame and a bad motor and making one good truck out of the two.

It can be welded but it really should be by someone that has at least some knowledge of frames and welding. I have a friend that has all the knowledge and skill needed to do it and I still ended up buying a truck because it spread so fast while I was trying to figure out what to do.

Good luck

 

eeekkk i better check my truck!!!

 

got some nice peices of angle iorn.. Going to try something today.

Im basicly going to resupport the frame from the sides and bottom.

Some good size peices of iorn that will connect on the frame from over the rear wheel to the door


Ill try to post pics if we pull it off....


wish me luck....

 

GAH!

what are you welding with and how well can you weld?

if done wrong you could cause more problems !

 

as you can tell my frame is rotted to hell, after doing some tests with a small hammer the rest of the frame is solid....

So i got some angle iorn and welded it to the edge of my frame, my buddie did all the welding , he couldnt get it to look to fancy cause of the rot.....

It doesnt look the best, but it strong as hell.
theres one peice from the part of the frame were the rear wheel sits to the leaf spring mount. ( aove this was were the rot was the worst, it was about to break off ) and one from the leaf spring mount all the way past the drivers door... then a short peice conecting the to pieces of angle...

Tomoro ill do the drivers side, then hit it both with a grinder wheel and then with rust-oleum...
check out the pics!

 

what ever you weld you might want to completly weld. if water seeps between the two pieces, the rust will just eat it from the inside out. and may i ask... why didn't you cut the angle iorn?

-drew

 

what ever you weld you might want to completly weld. if water seeps between the two pieces, the rust will just eat it from the inside out. and may i ask... why didn't you cut the angle iorn?

-drew

the main under peice is also welder both underneath and side towrds the front.

and i was going to cut the piece that conects the two... But just got lazy and also the angle makes it 10x stronger.

Im going to hit it with a grinder tomro and try to neatin it up a bit. We just called it quits and decided to finish tomoro

 

...how does angle iron make it 10x stronger?

 

A regualer plate would only hold it from the side, anlge holds the bottom and side and its realy thick and strong at the edge.



maybe not 10x stronger, but it will keep that area of the frame from breaking off and falling apart for a while.... The leaf spring was hanging by a hair. so i ahd to do something.

I dont have the time or the place to do a swap or pull the bed off...

 

man, i understand your need for a fix, but this is scary stuff. when you cut steel, you introduce stress. all those saw (or is it torched, cant tell myself) marks introduce stress to the patch. if you must weld on supports for a fix, please radius all the cuts, and realize every single cut makes the steel weaker, not just at the cut, but around it for an inch or more.

remember, you frame was a box section of steel, and you've added a few small pieces to one side or the other, essentially making a torsion rod out of the frame.

Honestly, you're making a mountain out of a mole hill, its not THAT bad.
Whats bad though is the workmanship, welding directly over rust (Rust in itself doesnt help penetration of the bead) and making a sloppy job all in all. You wouldnt need to put angle irons etc on it. I'm fixing my frame (VERY ROTTED) with 3mm sheet and its atleast as strong as the original.

 

Ya im no iorn worker hehe, and after hitting it with a wire wheel and some black rustolium paint it doesnt stand out to bad. The parts of the frame that had good penatration are above the rear wheel and way out in the front by were the drivers door is. Rest is like you said welding to rust but....

You gotta post some pics of yours, id like to see what you've got going on.

 

sure thing, I'll post some up when I get to the garage.
mines an 87 though, and the reason why its crappy is because it has 2cm of dirt inside of the frame... toyota was generous to make lots of holes on the sides of the frame tubes, but only few very small holes for dirt and moisture to come out. :headbang:

 

we all hate rust...

i can only get one bolt off between teh muffler and the cat....

 

I just bought a 94 also, extended cab V6 4x4 with only 14K original miles on it, which is why I bought it. Long story short, the truck came from New Jersey, I bought it off ebay, the guy I bought it from only posted pictures of the best two spots on the frame, I had no idea the rot was so bad until it the transport company dropped it off at my house. I asked the seller in detail about the frame and his exact words were "yeah, the frame is rusted, but it's just surface rust, you could sandblast it and undercoat it and it'd look like new". If I sandblasted it, it'd probably blow the frame out from under the bed! The frame has a couple of holes rusted through it, the front suspension is so bad I'm afraid to drive the thing b/c I think it's going to break out from under it. Amazingly, the body, engine, drivetrain, transfer case, 4 wheel drive, interior, electrical (EVERYTHING ELSE) on this truck is in like new condition and works perfectly. I don't want to do a temporary fix, the rest of the truck is in too good of shape, I'd like to try to restore this thing. Is it a lost cause? I don't have the equipment, know how or time if I did to try to swap out the frame. I've done some searching online and I can't find a frame for it anywhere. I'm in Charleston, SC. I'd like to find a frame shop or somebody that can help me with this. Does anybody know anyone close to where I am that I can take this truck to?

 

I just bought a 94 also, extended cab V6 4x4 with only 14K original miles on it, which is why I bought it. Long story short, the truck came from New Jersey, I bought it off ebay, the guy I bought it from only posted pictures of the best two spots on the frame, I had no idea the rot was so bad until the transport company dropped it off at my house. I asked the seller in detail about the frame and his exact words were "yeah, the frame is rusted, but it's just surface rust, you could sandblast it and undercoat it and it'd look like new". If I sandblasted it, it'd probably blow the frame out from under the bed! The frame has a couple of holes rusted through it, the front suspension is so bad I'm afraid to drive the thing b/c I think it's going to break out from under it. Amazingly, the body, engine, drivetrain, transfer case, 4 wheel drive, interior, electrical (EVERYTHING ELSE) on this truck is in like new condition and works perfectly. I don't want to do a temporary fix, the rest of the truck is in too good of shape, I'd like to try to restore this thing. Is it a lost cause? I don't have the equipment, know how or time if I did to try to swap out the frame. I've done some searching online and I can't find a frame for it anywhere. I'm in Charleston, SC. I'd like to find a frame shop or somebody that can help me with this. Does anybody know anyone close to where I am that I can take this truck to?

 

man that sucks. i can't imagine anything good coming out of the salt mine that is new jersey... but anyway -

if you didn't pay much, you could always part out the truck- 14,000 miles blah blah blah

wonder if the toyota frame rot thing still applies to that year ? call a dealer.

 

Toyota, apparently, extended the warranty on the frame to fifteen years for Tacoma trucks from model year 1995 through 2000. Too bad for the truck from New Jersey, just one year too old.

I looked at that Ebay auction and it appeared to be by a NJ dealer. I'd be real tempted to contact NJ authorities if you can document that the vehicle was misrepresented.

 

Below is the url for the toyota buyback news. You might be able to fight this one with toyota, even though your year truck might not be covered.

Are you sure the seller did not reset the mileage odometer? It seems almost unreal that the truck only has 14k miles and the frame is so badly rusted? Was it stored by the ocean or something? Can you do anything with EBAY regarding false advertising on the frame condition?

Wish you luck on this matter.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/toyota-offers-to-buy-back-rusty-tacomas/

 

Dude! Not to be too critical but that looks like ass! At least it will get you down the road though. I would stay out of the woods and start looking for another frame......or truck.

 

That sucks too bad you don't live closer to Nampa, Idaho, I have a 91 4 x 4 frame that I would sell with axles ,5speed trannny and transfer case for 400 bucks.

 

BUmp frame is still holding up well, no cracks in any of the welds at all.

Im happy

But im also looking to upgrade to a 05 within the next week...

so my truck might be for sale, sucks the frame is so rotted the bed is mint and runs great..!

 

you should fish plate the frame with whole pieces.or like was suggested replace the frame.fish plating will require tearing down to the frame.

 

Trust me I would love to, worst part for me is I have no room were I live to do it....

 

I wouldn't sell it like that...actually i don't know who would buy it like that!! maybe you could wrap the axle in duct tape to draw attention from your angle iron band-aid?

seriously, why not go to a shop that does frame straightening or a certified welder and just have them look the job over. see if what you did helped or hurt the strength as others have mentioned. i call it a band aid because that's what it is, I don't see how it would add much strength, let alone 10 times the strength. what it does add is stiffness, stiffness on a part that usually has deflection and flex, which will now put "10 times" the stress on somewhere else.

 

I wouldn't sell it like that...actually i don't know who would buy it like that!! maybe you could wrap the axle in duct tape to draw attention from your angle iron band-aid?

seriously, why not go to a shop that does frame straightening or a certified welder and just have them look the job over. see if what you did helped or hurt the strength as others have mentioned. i call it a band aid because that's what it is, I don't see how it would add much strength, let alone 10 times the strength. what it does add is stiffness, stiffness on a part that usually has deflection and flex, which will now put "10 times" the stress on somewhere else.

Ya going to the shop sounds great, but the truck is really is only worth about 1000-1500 bucks with the milage and etc , so for a shop to fix it would cost me more then the truck is worth. Its lasted 6 months since welding, and if there was stress issues one of the welds would have cracked or broken off by now.


And some one would buy it for cheap just simply for the good body, bumpers, bed ...no rust on any of it and motor runs perfect. Would be a easy project for someone that has a good frame or just someone time and space..

I didnt say i was going to ask 5 grand I just said I was going to sell it.

 

yes and i never said have a shop 'do' any 'work'. re-read my post. i suggested that you see someone who has a certificate to tell you those welds are officially nasty, and make sure what you did is SAFE.

it might cost you $50, to ensure you're not driving a time bomb, no matter what the replacement value of the truck, i hope you have plenty of liability insurance.

 

yes and i never said have a shop 'do' any 'work'. re-read my post. i suggested that you see someone who has a certificate to tell you those welds are officially nasty, and make sure what you did is SAFE.

It might cost you $50 , to ensure you're not driving a time bomb, no matter what the replacement value of the truck, i hope you have plenty of liability insurance.

I don't need to pay a shop 50$ to tell me its unsafe . I know anytime you weld a rotted frame its not safe.

It's realy just a band aid . I'd like to buy a new truck but just cant seem to dish out the money yet....

When I do buy one I might do like marty said and take it wheelin to put it to the ultimate test ! ! !

 

Dude!!!!! Take that truck some serious off roading!!!!! That way you can test and if the frame snaps, oh well, no one got hurt! Ha! If not, it passed the test!

 

Someone WILL buy it if the rest is in good shape. I made one truck out of two for the same reason only i didn't bother with welding mine. Only because I found one with a good frame before I got to the welding.

I might be interested myself if the price is right. Let me know when you are ready and how much you want for it. If I can swing it I'll take a trip down to CONN.

 

I don't need to pay a shop 50$ to tell me its unsafe . I know anytime you weld a rotted frame its not safe.

Pfft, thats BS, welding a frame is just fine, provided you know what you're doing.

 

Agreed; I've repaired 2 trucks with rotted frames. The first one I cut the whole thing off under the cab, then welded the two halves together. The second one was an '83 4X4, and I made stiff paper patterns of the frame rails, each pattern was about 18" long sections. I cut out matching 12ga steel plates and basically "wrapped" the rear framework. Lots of work, but worth it.
The second truck was actually broken in half on one side, and the leaf spring hanger was touching the inside of the top the frame.