Rusted Frame - Advice Appreciated

Hello. This will be a familiar story based on what I’ve read. Took it to a mechanic to get a brake line repair. He tells me the frame is so rusted that it’s completely unsafe to drive. This is a shock and big disappointment as it was bought from a dealership just 4 years ago, has just 135k on the odometer, and is otherwise in great shape. A frame replacement is out of my budget and probably not worth it anyway. I’ve read in some of the other posts on this issue that a welder can sometimes make it safe again, but I know that depends on the extent and location of the deterioration. I’m including some pics of where it looks the worst to me. I can take more if these are insufficient.

Questions:
1. Do you agree that it’s currently unsafe to drive?

2. Is there a solution, such as welding, that would cost no more than a couple thousand?

3. How much could I sell it for as is (disclosing the frame issue of course)?

Thank you for your help!

 

ouch, yeah she's done for.

it's probably safe for in town use but I wouldn't take it far from home

 

That is Rotten....

 

Toyota should really continue to honor frame replacements. I have a buddy whose truck is on its way to looking like this and because the recall deadline is past, his relatively low-mileage, clean body truck is going to be worthless.

 

Welcome to the forum. In my opinion that would require extensive repair and would be as costly or more to try and salvage then it would be to replace. The other option is perhaps one in the junk yard with minimal frame damage that can be repaired but the cost for that is mostly in the labor for the swap so it might be time to move on. Also worth noting that these are notorious for rotting from the inside out, so if this is what you are seeing. Pretty much nothing left to work with.

Perhaps you can find a solid truck with a bad motor and or trans that you could swap your driveline into.

 

That frame does not belong on the road, even if someone is willing to buy it and drive away with it.

 

That is pretty bad, at least you found out about it before it left you stranded somewhere. You need to start the search for a new ride. RIP old Tacoma.

 

Drive it till she breaks. Id stay off the highway and rough roads though. In Ohio I had to disclose the unibody on my mothers low mileage Chevy Venture minivan was coming apart when we sold it for her. When I first saw the van I thought $7500 but looking underneath said otherwise. Sold it for $2000.
My brother in law did a frame swap in his driveway on his 93 Hilux. He bought the beer and his 3 buddy's had it swapped in a weekend. 30 Ohio winters and it is still going.

 

I would not drive it until it breaks. It might kill you or someone else. If you have never seen a rear-end come detached or a front wheel. It can be an extremely bad scenario! It might not be as simple as you gently coming to a stop on the side of the road. Not to mention what that frame would do if you were in an accident. It's not able to do anything it is designed to for sure.

 

There's nothing left to weld to....

Best choice is to sell the entire truck as a parts truck but this basically a loss.

 

This is Ohio. Half the frames on the road are rusting. A lot of us learned how to drive in cars like that. I agree it shouldn't be on the highway but putting around town it will last until he can do something about his situation.

 

Thanks for the help, even if it’s not what I was hoping for. I’ll try to find a buyer who wants it for parts, rather than selling it for scrap metal. My mechanic says the 2.7 engine in it is fairly sought after, especially with the relatively low mileage. I’m thinking FB Marketplace, Craigslist. In the For Sale section of this forum. Any other suggestions on where to seek a buyer?

 

What burns me us that my brother bought this from a Toyota dealership four years ago. I can’t remember which state but it was definitely a cold, northern state. Since then the truck has been in eastern Kansas and we’ve had mild winters since then. Very few snows or anything that meant salting the roads here. That tells me it must have been in pretty bad shape when they sold it to him and definitely did not disclose this issue to him. Yes, he should have had someone check it out, but he didn’t and he’s now passed away. Bastards at that dealership definitely knew what they were doing.

 

dump it, dont waste you money.

 

Hate to say this but she’s toast and you really should have noticed sooner!
Truck is a 04 so she’s 19.
Bad frames on Tacoma’s are well noted they have made the news several times.
Again sorry you have a lawn ornament.

 

You've got a liability on your hands with that frame . Part out then sell for scrap .

 

I’m sure you’re right that I should have checked sooner. But pointing that out to me at this point is totally unnecessary and the complete opposite of helpful. The truck came to me when my brother died. I’ve had it less than two years. And sure, most people on a TACOMA ENTHUSIAST FORUM might know that this year Tacoma is known for quickly rotting frames, but I can assure you it’s not well known to your average car owner. I’d never heard of it on the news or anywhere else. Neither has anyone else I’ve talked to besides my mechanic and the nice folks on this forum. It’s lowish mileage and the rest of the body is in great shape. A different shop worked on the brake line less than a year ago and didn’t notice or didn’t mention it. If it’s unethical for me to sell to an unsuspecting buyer (and of course it would be) then it was wrong of the dealership to sell it four years ago. It hasn’t even been driven a lot since then, so it must have been almost as bad when they sold it. I appreciate the generous counsel provided me on this forum. I do not appreciate you rubbing salt into the wound. Hate to say this but it was an asinine comment and you really should have noticed before posting it!

 

I just bought a 2013 but I looked at a lot of trucks. The first thing I did was crawl under the truck and inspected the entire frame. I walked away from a few because of that. The 2013 I just bought I looked at every inch of the frame. Then everything else is second. Sorry this happened but just because it’s from a dealer doesn’t mean S$/t. Then even after you find a clean frame you still need to take care of it. I will be under my truck every 6months to do an oil change and inspection of the frame will be part of that maintenance.

 

It might not have mattered given the timeline, OP. The plan was 12 years from first date it was put into service, if it's been in your family 4 years that's 2019 so it would have been past that time most likely and if it was still solid then it wouldn't be predictable per se.