Good Taco, bad frame bad Taco good frame. can we swap

A buddy has a pretty decent Taco w/ very bad frame, he also has another Taco with a good frame, but terrible ragged out, inside & out. He wants to know can we swap frames. Looks like a really big deal to me. How big of a deal, how much time, would it be worth it for us to attempt it? Rekon what a shop may charge? He has a shed with a concrete floor & a decent tool box. Looking for options & opinions. Thanks

 

“decent tool box and shed”


Leave this one to the pros.

 

86 pages. I'm all over that.... Not

 

The real question is, how much time are you willing to spend on it? You can do anything yourself. Its just that whatever time estimate you have in your head, triple it. Also, however many tools you think you have, theres at least $2000 worth of tools that you will wind up needing.

 

Very big deal, especially since you have to ask.

Probably lot's of hours.

If it makes one decent truck instead of 2 throw aways, it may be financially worth it. Assuming you consider your time free and a learning experience.

A shop will charge a big pile 'o bucks.



How big a shed? If not big enough for two trucks inside, is there clear space outside that you can 'store' the parts you'll ultimately throw away? And not have neighbor issues while the project goes on? Electricity, lighting, work bench(es)?

Nice he has a decent tool box. Anything in it? Full set of metric combo wrenches, deep and shallow 6 point metric, various ratchets/extensions, compressor, cut off tool/wheels, sawzall, MAP torch, drifts, brass hammer all quickly come to mind. Just at minimum. Many things having 2 of each might be needed. Jack stands, floor jack, creeper, portable lighting..............

Have either of you ever pulled an engine, changed a clutch, done a full on brake job, replaced U joints, replaced a full suspension? If so, there is some hope. If not, double your time to learn as you go. Do you have other friends who could help with specific parts of the job based on good experience? Enough friends to muscle the cabs off the frames, even sans fenders/hood/bumper and maybe doors? Or an overhead lift in that shed to pull it up? And not get killed?

It could be a great adventure. Or a major time waster. Think it through and set low expectations in terms of time/costs and bandaids.

@koditten, want to chime in here?

 

We've both grown up on farms. Grain trucks, pick-ups, farm tractors & equip., eng., trans., clutches, rear ends, springs, & brakes aren't a problem. This is different, Neither of us have ever pulled a cab off anything, not a clue how big of deal that is. We knew this would be a big project, we just didn't know how big. Thanks for the input, I didn't want to try it anyway.

 

If this shed has a two post lift to raise the body up it would be a good project. Here's a time lapse video with no commentary:

https://youtu.be/zuo9uC42RVw

 

Would you happen to have this document or something similar for a 1st gen? I'm working on a 2001 2.4l 5-speed extracab.

 

Thank you! I'm preparing for this project ATM. It will be my biggest automotive project I've attempted but I'm confident I can get it done. Probably make a fool of myself along the way at some point but I have to get this done if I want to continue driving this truck (I do).

I appreciate you finding these instructions it's a huge help!

 

I've swapped the frame on one of my other off road vehicle before because the PO did some questionable welds to the old frame. I had to get the vehicle inspected by highway patrol to see if the frame was not stolen(had a Bill of Sale but no title) and by the DMV so I could get my tags renewed. Highway patrol removed all the vin from the cab and affixed a new vin tag that matched the frame. My title ended up switching to match the vin on the new frame. This process to get the vehicle legal may vary from state to state.

 

Good to know thanks for the heads up. I'm in Brooklyn, NY. I haven't seen this rule enforced here but I'll find out.

 

What were some of the most unexpected obstacles you ran into during the swap? Did you keep track of how long it took and how often you worked on it?

 

Never done a frame swap but I have blown a truck apart down to a bare frame before.

Hardest part believe it or not was getting the damn heater core out.

Other then that, it isn't "hard" if you have the tools and the space. Most challenging parts are moving big, heavy bits around and staying organized. Well that and space. A blown apart truck takes up roughly 2.5 cars worth of space.

A lift would be a huge help but I did mine in a 2 car garage with an engine hoist and had a couple of buddies help pull the cab.

It probably wouldn't be worth it to pay a shop to do.

 

When the dealer does this I believe they order the frame based on your vin so registration and such is not an issue. Vin issues might be a concern.

Otherwise, two garbage trucks with little value, or a shot at one solid truck with decent value. I'd go for it. Seems like if you fail your mostly out a lot of time and sweat equity. If you have that to spare and don't mind putting it in, then why not.

A ship would charge a crap ton of money. No chance I'd go that route.

But what do I know I'm just some random dude on the internet and I can't see it from my house.

 

The tedious thing that took awhile was trying to remove all the rusted screws/bolts that broke in the process of disassembling the vehicle. Having a torch and welder helped out a lot. Try to document any screws you removed for an easier reassembly and hopefully you have a tub of miscellaneous screws/bolts to replace anything you don't have or misplaced.

Like Richie Rich said the most challenging part is moving large, heavy pieces and having enough space to maneuver them. We didn't have a lift so that made things interesting.

We had a time crunch, so it took about two full weekends and 6 people to complete the swap. And 3 visits each to the highway patrol and DMV to make it street legal. (Maybe less if you have all the documents they wanted to see...)

 

I got a few quotes from local shops and dealerships to do the swap and it was totally not worth it. Even the least expensive prices were as much as buying another running truck in good condition. The truck is definitely worth saving if I can find a donor frame.

I will definitely be documenting every step/bolt removed as I go. I'll be doing the swap in the commercial sign shop where I work, we have a small fleet of trucks and all the tools to work on them along with lots of scaffold equipment etc. that will make hoisting and maneuvering big parts possible. Also, parts store is just a couple blocks away. The only factor I'm worried about is time, I got the OK from my boss to use the shop as we are in the slow season right now but don't want to be taking up a ton of space for weeks on end. That's why I'm doing as much prep work as possible now before I start.

I'll be starting my own thread as soon as I find a frame and pull the trigger. If anybody knows of a parts truck for sale in the NYC area let me know!! Calling junkyards next week. I can travel within a days drive to pick up or would be willing to pay for delivery. Have a 2001 2.4l 5-speed manual trans extracab (as I said before)

My frame code is: RZN150L-CRMDKAB

Unfortunately I can't post in the buy/sell forums yet being a new member :/

Reading through technical instructions posted by whatstcp a couple more times in the meantime.

 

Enough been said, I didn't like the idea to begin with, but I told him I would ask. Thanks to all. My buddy can do what he wants, but I'm telling him straight up, I'm out.

 

When Toyota does this they do nothing related to the VIN whatsoever.

Now that I think about it, I’m curious if the Tacoma frame even has the VIN on it. I can look into it, but I don’t recall seeing it anywhere from memory like on some of the older 4Runners etc.

 

If you're in the NYC area - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/north-east-craigslist-finds.182657/page-1070#post-22234025 . @fatfurious2 is the CL parts finding expert. Tag him in that thread and tell him your wants/needs. Also @Lux , iirc, recently did a 1st gen home frame swap and might have some tips.

 

It’s not as bad as everyone’s making it out to be, me and my brother went back and forth with it so it wasn’t overwhelming. Pull the cab over the motor, it’s a lot easier than pulling the motor/trans first. We used an engine hoist to pull everything and the whole project cost us almost nothing. We also did it in a driveway.