Hi all,

we caved and picked up a swagger wagon due to the three kids, which on the upside means our 2000 t4r is now all mine to do as I please. It only has 140k on it and most of that is highway, so the engine is in good shape.

but before I start dumping $$$ into new suspension/rims/tires/rear axel/muffler/tundra brakes/etc wanted to get some opinions on the frame condition. I'm in the northeast so its had the usual exposure -- the rear axle is shot and needs to be replaced, but can I assume the frame can be saved with some POR-15, or does it seem too far gone? I've included some bumper and spare tire shots also to get an idea of what the underside was like.

The frontside is slightly better off than the rear so I didn't include

Thanks for any thoughts

What I see here looks like typical rust for your area of the country but you didn't include pictures of the critical area - the inside frame rail beside the muffler on the passenger side along with the inside of the bracket for the rear strut arm on that same side. How does that area look? Can be welded if need be and likely does.

FYI...there will be folks that will say this level of rust is unacceptable but mine looks similar. Surface rust ok....perforations bad....probe with screwdriver.

Buckaroo

That thing is rough, rough, rough.

I don't know how you guys on the east coast deal with that madness.

Here in Colorado it would be considered scrap.

So sad with only 140K miles.

WOW! I was feeling bad about the rust on my 2000 from living at the beach in baja. I don't feel so bad now! is that caused from salt on the roads?

That looks pretty rough to me. If you want to resurrect it, you could spend a lot of time with a sand blaster and paint to get it back looking good. I second the probing with a screwdriver to see if there are any spots where it's eaten totally through. IMHO if you start needing to repair things on that truck be prepared for a lot of swearing and broken bolts. My bet is a lot of things are corroded together so you will be fighting every major bolt on the underside of that one. The small ones will probably just shear off.

And probably.some welding.work too.

your rear axle housing..

Have that thing sand blasted and coated with some undercoat. If u adventure south sure u could pick up a frame for cheap if your feeling frisky enough. I seen some in GA for about 400 bucks already stripped to the suspenion

Thanks for the responses everyone.

Is this the part you mean? I think the rust looks worse than it is (outside of that cooked axel housing) -- there is NO flaking, perforations, etc. Everything feels very solid when I give it a good whack with hammer/screwdriver. And the front as I mentioned is much better off (included a few pics below) -- I think trailering a few boats didn't help the back end.

Does POR-15 require sandblasting, or will it arrest any deterioration on its own? I have no access (or expertise) to equipment for sandblasting.

Again, just trying to guage how much I can/should put into this truck for a fun ride for a few years....

follow the lower links from your rear axle up to the hangars on the frame, then look on the inside of the frame rail where the hangars are welded on.
That's usually the worst spot. You got a lot of hard work and frustration ahead but It can be done. There are lots of good rust inhibitors and convertors on the market today, and they do a good job if you follow the instructions. You just want to make sure it's safe to drive, and make the decision weather to do the work or not before you get started. If it's saveable great, if it's not you won't have to waste a lot of time and money on a lost cause.

P.S.

Pending the aforementioned pictures, and with the exception of the rear axle housing and spare wheel, It looks saveable to me. If you decide to go for it, get access to a compressor and a scaler. looks like an air tool with lots of metal rods coming out the end. you'll be spending hours on your back knocking down rust scale before you convert and cover.

Its not good but its not bad. A good day with drill, grinder and wire brush wheels and 90% of that rust can be taken care of. Can definitely tell the truck was in salty conditions. Mine was no where near as that. Thank god. But I did have rust in some of the same areas as you do. And I took care of it with wire wheel, VHT CHASSY PAINT, and RUST CONVERTER and primer. I took my sweet time and it was very back breaking and pain in the ass but I was very happy with how I fixed everything. And after two winters. Its good. I do check under daily and have done touch ups here and there. I also covered the whole inside of the frame with Eastwood internal frame paint. I also have gallon of fluid film ready to be spraid on the frame. As I live in nj near beach. Salt is the problem plus humidity. Anyways, you can definitely fix this and you will have to keep up on it. Pm if you need help and tips. I can also give you input on products. Such as vht chassy paint, Eastwood, ext...

Not that bad, not that good. Mine is probly the same or worse than yours. The worst spot for rust in right in front of the passenger rear tire on the frame, where the control arm connects to the frame. It's like this triangle piece. Look at my build if you wanna see an ugly one hahaha

With some elbow grease, grinding and treatment, you won't have to worry about it.

The pictures don't show the spot. You need to get under the car below the muffler and look almost directly up towards the passenger side. It is on the inside of the frame rail and the point where the triangular control arm mount attaches to the rail as others have described.

Although I think this frame is likely serviceable for now, you may have only 5-7 years on it. Keep that in mind when you are considering how much money to put into the vehicle.

Buckaroo

Hahaha reviving my own thread -- holy crap what 5 years sideburnerd will do to rust. This thing was my 1/2 to the train station car due to the pumpkin, and now I have boat loads of time so I'm taking it apart piece by piece. Maybe this should be the build thread......

Who thinks I can save this thing? 154k on the clock. Rear bumper, spare hardware, and running boards are now deleted to get access. 1" lift on order mostly for practice and so I can get access to the frame...






That last one is the gas slid -- gotta go. Frame believe it or not I can't find any soft spots at all, including the usual spots....

I fixed alot worse then that. I could even rebuild that skid plate. Sure you can. Have any questions. Just let me know.

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