Another frame with a rust hole

Well after 8 years of ownership I finally found the first hole in the frame of my 06 access cab. It is on the passenger side behind the crossmember next to one of the muffler mounts. I was feeling around with my hands and my finger pushed right through the frame there, then I chased it poking with my pocket knife and opened up what I could. There is also a rust-caused crack that I’ve known about and slapped some rust converter on a while ago, on the driver side classic location next to the catalytic converter. The rest of the frame is still intact as far as I can tell so I’m pretty bummed since this has been such a great truck for me and a workhorse, beach rig, etc.

I posted some pics below, what do you guys think, should these areas be relatively easy to repair for a professional? Is it safe to drive still (to me it doesn’t seem like a critical area of the frame is compromised)? And finally, what should I expect to pay for repairs like this?

 

Bummer. You'll want to look into Saf-T-Caps - https://www.autorust.com/safe-t-cap-kits/ - and before you take it in to get welded, get in there and clean the rust holes out with a wire wheel and files to remove as much bad metal as possible. Pick up some cavity wax (SEM makes good stuff, others do too) and have your installer coat the frame under the Saf-T-Cap.

 

Thank you, I actually have seen that product on other threads here so I had looked into them years ago, hoping I would never need it, so thanks for the reminder. Do you think that will be the most cost effective route to go, as far as just capturing that whole section of frame instead of chasing multiple holes? Also, should I get it for the driver side as well where that crack has started, or do you think that would be able to be a smaller repair?

 

Where would you go to inquire to fix professionally if you dont mind me asking?

 

We have a couple welding/fabrication shops here locally that I am going to call and ask about it tomorrow. They do all kinds of stuff from making crab pots to building lumber racks for trucks, so I figure they could probably handle some frame repair.

 

Has your truck been a west coast truck all its life, @skee? Not common to see frame corrosion perforation and cracking out there like it is in the rust belt and the northeast.

 

It lived the first 10 years of its life in Alaska, which is where I’m guessing the rust started. I’ve also driven it on the beach and lived within a few miles of the ocean since I’ve had it so that definitely doesn’t help. I’ve wire wheeled the entire frame and repainted it twice though since I’ve had it and was hoping that would have helped.

 

The caps are the way to go if you aren't trying to just get by for a year or two with the truck. The rust starts on the inside, especially in the front boxed sections, and there's a very good chance there are other thinning spots in the same area. I had one small hole on the driver's side like yours and jumped right to capping both front sections. I paid a very good local welder to install both front sections for about $500, worth every penny.

Again, the rust starts inside. You might want to look at doing this since you're willing to put work in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykaW5Hzm4a8

Here's my experience with the Saf-T-Caps and frame preservation: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...s-and-saf-t-cap-install.663600/#post-23245602 and here's the part of the thread that deals specifically with the Saf-T-Caps: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...saf-t-cap-install.663600/page-3#post-26657124

 

...the surprising thing in those pics is that the frame, as a whole, looks pretty clean for the age....

 

Thank you I just read through the whole thing. How did you go about lifting the cab to access the top parts of the frame? Unfortunately I don’t have a garage so I do all my work in my driveway and I have a feeling I won’t be able to accomplish that.

 

Undo the cab mounts and jack it up - go carefully and replace the body mount bushings and hardware since you're there anyway.

 

So, after calling around to multiple fabrication shops and body shops in my area, most of them said they don't touch frames unless it's a full replacement because of the "liability" which I guess I understand, but also is kind of lame since there seems to be plenty of places in the rust belt/east coast that do this kind of work all the time. I did finally get in touch with a small auto restoration garage in town that mostly works on hot rods who said "yeah bring the truck down and let me take a look." After a few minutes of poking around he said no problem, plenty of good metal left to weld on one of those frame repair kits. Without me even suggesting anything, he said his process would be cut out the obvious cancerous rust, prep and patch the holes, treat the new frame repair pieces with a weld-through primer, install and weld them on, paint everything and cavity wax the inside areas. So sounds like he's suggesting basically everything @deanosaurus did in his post. The only difference being that he didn't think removing the cab or raising it off the frame would be necessary, and suggested just cutting the repair kit down an inch or two along the top if we needed to get it where he could weld the top section, which makes sense to me. He estimated about 8 hours of work and around $1000 or less in labor to do both sides.

I went ahead and ordered frame repair kits for both driver and passenger side and will update again after they come in and the work starts. For what it's worth, Rock Auto has the Dorman version of the frame repair kits for that specific section of the frame for $104 per side, so I went with those. I appreciate Saf-T caps being made in the USA and they are likely higher quality, but I didn't feel the limited damage on my frame justified spending more than twice as much ($239 per side) on the repair.

 

Let is know how it turns out. And for peaks sake Fluid Film the piss out of it once you get the frame fixed.

 

Already stocking up on more cans of fluid film for once it’s done haha

 

Dorman 999620 and 999621 frame repair kit just arrived from Rock auto. They have a black paint coating and some oil on them probably for rust prevention. We’ll see how they mount up and how they fit but look to be well made so far and have the same shape/cutouts that the frame has. The photos are just of one side.

 

Re: >>> "The rest of the frame is still intact as far as I can tell so I’m pretty bummed since this has been such a great truck for me and a workhorse, beach rig, etc."<<<

Don't lose sight of the fact that it is: still a good truck. We're just the victims of a flaw that's not our fault in any way, shape or form. (Myself included.) I have one of the 2nd gen frames that for some reason is good, and passes the annual Toyota inspections (and mine) as part of the "12 year plan" extended warranty every year, in spite of living it's life in New England for ten years. Go figure. I expected this to be my last vehicle as it only had 104,000 miles on it when it purchased it.

we shall see

FWIW, I have owned domestic trucks in the past. Never had an issue remotely close to a rotted frame in any of them. In a little more than 18 months, I'm on my own on a component that should last at least 20 years IMO.

 

Alright, so I just picked up my truck from the shop that was doing the work, and it looks great! I'm really glad I went with a pro to do the work, and highly recommend Lines Auto Restoration in Eureka, CA if anyone else on the North Coast needs a similar repair ever.

For just over $1000 ($810 labor, $210 parts from Rock Auto) he got the whole job done including prep, welding, paint, and cavity wax. The frame repair kit did require some modification to be able to weld it on while the cab was still mounted to the frame, as you can see in some of the pics he cut a little bit off the top. He also had to cut off some exhaust hangers, remove the mid pipe temporarily and reattach them to the new frame repair pieces, as well as pull the brake lines away from the frame on the driver side enough to safely do the work. All in it took 10 hours of labor. The cab mounts will probably be the next to rust out unfortunately, as he pointed out there are some pretty big chunks of rust that he pulled out from inside of them. They are still sound for now but definitely starting to go, so I will be fluid filming them heavily and keeping an eye on them from now on, along with the rest of the frame.

All in all, I am happy to have this repair done and can sleep at night knowing my frame doesn't have a large hole rusted in it anymore. I was always dreading what I would do if my frame rusted out like this, so I'm glad in my case I was able to get it repaired once it finally happened and I didn't have to scrap the truck for parts (at least not yet!).

 

That's a real nice job. Fluid Film it every year now and touch up any rust (welds or otherwise) with Rustoleum primer (or any zinc-rich primer) and Rustoleum satin black. I use a foam bushes because they don't leave any brush-stroke lines. Wire-brush any flaky rust areas you find. I also do the front and rear diffs and axle, but they don't need it every year. Finally: lower the spare and check the cross member and if you have a factory hitch, scrape and wire brush it every year, brush two coats of paint all over it and seal it with Fluid Film.

Every factory or OEM hitch I have had over the years have been terrible for rust. I don't know what is up with them, but I would swear that they start to rust right on the assembly line. The OEM Tacoma hitch is a complicated assembly with many bolts, nuts, plates and other component parts hooking it to the bumper that make it work and are just waiting to seize in place.

 

Looks good