I deal with the rust and rot. Unless you want to spend alot of cutting welding and fabricating. Stay away from the rotted ones.
I saved 5 from the junk yards. But I am DIY and repair the rot myself. However, its my hobby and is not cost effective unless you do it yourself.
My builds thread is full of those adventures.
Now with that said, those who dont live in the rust belt most of the time see surface as extreme rot as they just do have alot of experience with it.
How I assess the rusty steel:
If the scaling got above 50% of the original Thinkness is starting to get questionable. the is going 75% gone its loosing structural integrity. It's going to rot through quickly and probably already is in places.
Being your a Jeep guy you understand what rotted steel looks like then surface scaling.
One thing to mention. The 3rd gen boxed frame is a thicker c channel with a thinner inside to make the box. Mostly these rot from the inside out and the inside frame rail goes first. Arch areas and the LCA are hot spots especially behind the tank.
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7 3rd gens listed in the build thread (2 are parts mobiles)
Build Thread:
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...os-builds.html
Brillo's Bucket Fluid Ex changer:
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...ml#post3358086
Sparks Plugs Wire and Coil Information:
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...on-5vz-fe.html