Do you guys think this is too much rust?

I just bought this 97 Tacoma for a pretty cheap price. This truck looks great except for the undercarriage. My friend said that rust on the undercarriage is normal but I think this looks pretty bad. The previous owner said the frame was inspected and they said it was fine. I live in the Chicago area so we have salty roads in the winter time. I don't really know that much about trucks so I would greatly appreciate your advice. Will this truck be safe to drive for another 100,000 miles assuming I do the regular maintenance? If you open the link, the last picture in the album has the worst rust spot. https://imgur.com/a/3y2bA

Thanks

 

Beat on it with a hammer. if the hammer makes a hole, you have a problem... if not... get the frame treated to protect it for years to come. If you do have Frame Rot issues there are a few options still. Good luck!!!

 

youve already got it bought so just go through the frame yourself with a pick and check for any soft spots. if so then get it patched up. then get all that old rust off and paint it properly.

 

No no! No paint. Get a product called fluid film. Soak the frame and enjoy the Tacoma.

 

fluid film and other rust preventative coatings arent a substitute for properly getting the frame to bare metal and painting.

 

wait a second. Can't u take that to a dealer and get a rust coating applied to it?

 

Most of that frame seems to be in pretty good condition. The area near the spring mounts would be of concern. Tap it with a hammer and if it doesn't have a ping sound and more of a thud its probably rusted through. Do what others are saying and find those areas that are bad and patch them up, paint and protect.

 

Agreed on the no paint, normal paint is of little help on a frame and can make problems worse. Fluid film works as long as it is used properly and you can easily apply it your self. There are several other options for frame coatings do some research to determine what is best for you. If you are not a DIY'er then a body or paint shop should be able to help you get the frame properly treated.

To expand on what I said before, your frame is rusty but not too bad for a older truck in our area. Looks like it may only be surface rust, at least on most of the frame, but looks can be deceiving. The only way to be sure is to inspect it. I don't mean look at it more... You need to poke it, beat on it a little... you are hunting for soft spots or holes. The frame can be rusted from the inside out so check the entire frame, even spots that look really good. As you may have noticed the rear spring hangers are a common spot on these trucks for rusting. Since you said you are in the Chi area, jump on the Chicagoland Thread if you need help (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/chicagoland-area-members.46428/) I'm sure those guys would give you a hand. If you feel like visiting the Quad Cities, I might be able to help if needed.

 

The trouble with painting a frame that has rust is that you'll never get all the rust off. Definitely need fluid film or rust check. Painting is ok, but not on its own

 

POR15 then fluid film over it.

 

Thanks everyone. This advice is very helpful. I tapped some of the more heavily rusted areas with a hammer and the sound echoed through the frame. I'll have to inspect the rest later. And I'll definitely do some research on the fluid film

 

That's nothing to worry about. Not many 1st gens look that good.

Its 19 years old, how much longer should it last?

Spray it with used motor oil every year Ang get another 19.

 

What weight? Syn or dino? Amsoil, or is OTC stuff ok?

Just kidding. Sounds budget friendly for a 20 yo truck to me.

 

Used motor oil isn't good to use. Something about contaminated oil (acid) at for new oil would work. Walmart brand.

 

the rust in your picture just looks like surface rust which isn't that big of a deal but a lot of times these frames rust from the inside out like mine. I'd check the inside of the frame by sticking your finger in the holes and feeling around. If it feels flat and not flaky you're probably in good shape. If it feels all corroded you may have have to look into it more. See https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/massive-frame-rust-crack-i-need-your-help.446948/ to see what I mean by rusting from the inside out. The outside of my frame looked in better shape than yours but the inside was a different story after wheeling and flexing a few times. Goodluck

 

My leaky base pan and transfer case does this sufficiently

 

Hi OP (@rjk8119), Your frame actually looks way better than most i have seen. I looked at over 100 gen1 4 door tacos before finding a low mile and low rust taco last year.

The following was intended to be it's own thread, with photos of parts of my truck that i am worried about. I wanted feedback from other members about if my plan was wise. So i reserve the right to re-post it later. But still ask for feedback from any of you.

In regards to rust abatement on a surface rusted frame... I spent the last year researching different options and getting opinions from professionals and enthusiasts. I spot tested some products also before i invested in them. I am no expert but this is the cliff notes. Fluidfilm is lanolin (like removed from sheep wool), a sticky stinky oil. It is not permanent and needs to be reapplied every fall or spring and fall. It is highly recommended by those that have used it and an enigma to all others. It is hard to remove so painters hate it because painting over it is counterproductive. If you are going to paint or add some coating do it BEFORE using fluidfilm. Flidfilm can be used over a painted or other permanent coatings no problem. It also reaches inside the boxed parts of the frame and in dead spots of the cab and body work much better than blindly spraying rubber, urethane or paint. Painting with a hard (2 part) expoxy primer and then an automotive (black) paint is recommended by professional painters because they need to make boat payments... hahaha. Admittedly it likely is the BEST way to do it after some research. Less so is just a rust inhibiting paint like rustolium which is hands down the CHEAPEST way to do it and approved by many many county municipal truck maintenance men, red neck friends and farmers. Also some tractor/farm implement paint, oil based epoxy (is that right?) is great but it only comes in new holland blue, john deere green or RED. BUT, and this is the BIG BUT, with any paint above you have to strip all rust first. All of it. ALL. Wire bushing in those crevasse is hard. I am no slacker and i could not do it in hard to reach spots even after hording a quiver of different shaped brushes. Removing the cab and bed and sand blasting is too expensive. So I opted not to paint with paint. Phosphoric acid based chemical rust removers or a product like rust-reformer might have done the trick in the hard to reach spots enough to paint. But i can barely look in some spots so i doubt i can remove all rust. Also, some paints must be sprayed and that normally means doing it all in one day (if a 2 part epoxy) and lots of clean up time. keep that in mind.
I had very high remarks from users of Chassis Saver and por15. I opted for chassis saver, way cheaper, but both are good urethane coatings. urethane is apparently good at soaking into rust and cracks and curing into a durable rubbery coating. It, like paint, serves to deprived the steel of oxygen thus preventing ferrous iron of steel from turning to ferric iron oxides. The Chassis Saver manufacturer WANTS the user to to have a little surface rust on the vehicle when applied. This at first gave me heartburn as it is so not what i was taught by my dad working on cars and boats. But given how hard it is to remove surface rust off my frame... i opted for this product.
por15 chassis saver, and most any paint can be sprayed. The proper epoxy paints the pros use need to be sprayed all in one day. I do not have large chunks of time to prep and spray and clean. I am opting to brush. por15, chassis saver and rust inhibiting paints can be painted on by brush in small batches.

Here is my plan:
Phase 1:
My plan for the outside of the the boxed and C portions of the frame is as follows:
-choose small batches of frame. whatever i can do in an evening.
-wire brush, wire wheel rust. use a phosphoric acid based rust remover if i need. Naval jelly is the cheapest and a thin film over surface rust cleans it up real quick. spray inhibitor and debre of with water and dry with rags.
- put fans on it to dry it.
- tape off the body which is still well painted on my truck, but this is only for aesthetics and my fear that putting chassis saver on a body paint is not going to hold as well as repainting if i need to do that someday.
- apply chassis saver (not diluted) with disposable paint brushes. use rags to apply it in between the body and the frame (top of the frame) diluting with the proprietary thinner if needed.
-put heaters under the truck overnight because it gets cold in colorado at night.

My plans for inside the frame are poorly formed. In fact this should maybe be done before hitting the outside of the boxed frame segments but given i plan to weld on sliders, i should maybe wait.
-I will use a hand pumped pressure sprayer (like used to apply herbicide) to spray chemical rust remover like phosphoric acid or that ea$twood product... not sure. I will spray it in all the boxed frame segments.
-rinse with water (hose) and attempt to dry it quickly.
-Then spray thinned rustolium with the garden sprayer.
At this point the garden sprayer will be destroyed. I only opted for the garden sprayer method because i dont care what the inside because it has a long fond and I struggle to find a sprayer for my compressor that has this.

Body:
I have recorded and marked with sharpie locations where mud accumulates (i.e. next to wheels wells by the plastic flares). I also have noted where i see rust on other 4door gen 1 tacos. Mine is immaculate right now besides the inside of the chrome bumpers. I hope to find a paint that sticks to auto body paint and hit these areas VERY hard with many coats. But i do not know what to use. I am open to suggestions.

Phase 2:
I will invest in the spray applicator for fluid film and spray the truck liberally every fall. OR any time i drive within a 2 state radius of Wisconsin regardless of season.

I HOPE MEMBERS OF TACOMAWORLD GIVE ME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE OF THIS PLAN. THIS IS NOT MY AREA OF EXPERTISE.

NOTE: I should add Rust-Reformer was purchased by rustolium and the product has changed a great deal. it is now a paint. it used to be a ferric to ferrous converter that was not mixed in a paint.

 

@rjk8119
I should add, you have some pretty thick patches of rust. That are not "surface rust" So those will need to be ground off even if using por15 or chassis saver, even if you opt for chemical treatment. Maybe with just a wire wheel. But still, your rust is not bad. Visit Wisconsin and poke your head under any gen 1 tacoma and you will wonder if you are watching some scuba diver documentary where a ww2 battle ship has decayed into a ferric dust pile and you can not tell where coral begins and steel ends.

 

For those talking about fluid film...
Do you just apply it to the rust? Or do you sand it down some?

I have this spot of rust on outer body

I just want to sand it down and re paint it then add fluid film.

What kind of sanding do I use for this as well? I bout some sand paper (can't remember what grade) and didn't do anything. (Still learning here )

 

@Kibbler
If you are going to paint, paint before fluidfill, although that spot you show in the photos is easy to access to you can likely clean the fluidfilm off if that is your prefered quick fix.

In my opinion paint is way better for what you show in that photo. You need to repair that permanently. Fluid film would be temporary. Also the panel you show is easily assessed so painting will be easy and safe.

Imagine all those crevices and joints and brackets on the underside. Moving joints, brake cables and electrical contacts.... Fluid film can get in there and keep water and oxygen out while not glueing everything together. There is no damage if you spray to much, unlike paint. Additionally, the body has lots of dead spaces that you can weasel a flexible applicator tube into that allows fluid film to be sprayed. in both situations if you had sprayed paint and there was rust or dirt you would be causing more problems than good. But fluidfilm is happy to mix with dirt and still function, for a while. Also paint would glue together parts that should not be glued or possibly leak out into the exterior (wrong color) or into your upholstery... Not a problem with fluid film. Those are the major advantages of fluid film rust prevention over paint.

I am doing similar work on my wifes subaru and will be touching some issue on my taco this fall. I opted for this company for color match.
http://www.automotivetouchup.com/
and they have easy videos that made me feel like I knew enough to take on the project in <30 seconds even though i am really totally clueless, yeah videos.
http://www.automotivetouchup.com/how-to-videos/
But down where you are having issues you could likely be off in color and no one will notice.