98 Rear end rusted out. Swap Advice?

[shahsmerdis]

I highly suspect you are going to find a frame hole. That frame looks worse than mine, but mine barely passed. and was enough where I could patch it and get a few more years. but I wouldn't get to heavily invested in the car.

Cars really need to be cleaned from salt/ liquid acid before they are stored. I bet this car sat for at least 6 months driven very few miles.

check by the front cross member by the cat that is another lucky target.

 

[Moonbandit]

Sure, we have all seen worse. But all most of us have said is it looks bad enough to check thoroughly how sound the frame is. If you think that is paranoid or bad advice, I don't want you working on my rig. You cannot say from those pics that all that rust is surface and can be treated as you suggest or that a small weld patch is the most it will need.

As I said, my frame looked better than that until THIS happened:

@ TheDurk

Yeah, I have had a control arm break off on me on the freeway! Runner bounced around so much I thought it would flip over! I let off the gas gently and eventually rolled to a stop so not to make any sudden moves. Got some large U clamps and drove it to the shop for a weld job. I have been there - rust can be a b|tch for sure. But it is just not the end of the world. I had my control arm reattached and it lasted another 6 years until the runner was totaled due to an accident. The weld job was still solid even after the accident. 265K miles and it was still going strong :cry2:

Just do not see the point of junking a perfectly good runner due to this - even with the control arm falling off.

But like I said - everything is relative.

Everything is worth testing and looking into further for safety reasons - then go from there to see if it is worth your time. What is worth one's time/money may not be worth someone else's.

 

[TheDurk]

@ TheDurk

Yeah, I have had a control arm break off on me on the freeway! Runner bounced around so much I thought it would flip over! I let off the gas gently and eventually rolled to a stop so not to make any sudden moves. Got some large U clamps and drove it to the shop for a weld job. I have been there - rust can be a b|tch for sure. But it is just not the end of the world. I had my control arm reattached and it lasted another 6 years until the runner was totaled due to an accident. The weld job was still solid even after the accident. 265K miles and it was still going strong :cry2:

Just do not see the point of junking a perfectly good runner due to this - even with the control arm falling off.

But like I said - everything is relative.

Everything is worth testing and looking into further for safety reasons - then go from there to see if it is worth your time. What is worth one's time/money may not be worth someone else's.

Actually, you can brake just fine. The thing would only go nuts if you tried to accelerate. At least if you break the left one. Right one may be the opposite, idk. Not fun, anyway. I managed to learn how to drive it that way for a few miles to get it to two shops who wouldn't touch it. Just go real easy on the skinny pedal.

I still didn't junk mine, I swapped in a solid frame I POR15'd and Eastwood Internal Coated myself. That way I don't have to worry about the other one falling off.

 

[Moonbandit]

^^ [MENTION=10169]TheDurk[/MENTION]

Congrats on the frame swap!

Yeah, lucky for me I was able to find large U clamps at Ace Hardware to hold the control arm in place so the runner was driveable until it could be welded.

I also got lucky on the welder. Welds held up great for 6 years until the runner was totaled ( again unrelated to rust).

 

[kolelt]

I'll have a different point of view!

It is NOT that bad. It is not great as everyone else has noted, but honestly you do not have giant holes as I have seen in the past.
Plus if there are areas that need a small weld patch, the welds are likely to outlive the darn body/engine/tranny to begin with.

People need to take a chill pill. :yo:

Sand, grind, wirebrush etc.. then paint plus oil spray the heck out of the undercarriage and it will be fine for another 10 years. People here are paranoid and get their panties in a bunch.:fencing:

Is it going to be purty and perfect for a build? probably not, but everyone is guessing you did not pay 10K for it:becky: so whatever, it will be fine.

Just noticed you're in Texas, so the rust may scare you. ... I'm in the midwest and I think it is fine. All relative - such is life.

Yeah, you can sand and grind. But you will not get to a lot of spots due to everything being on the frame. It will be impossible to sand the top of the frame, and lets not forget THE INSIDE!

 

[Moonbandit]

Yeah, you can sand and grind. But you will not get to a lot of spots due to everything being on the frame. It will be impossible to sand the top of the frame, and lets not forget THE INSIDE!

^^ Nice Runner by the way.

Ever since going to Canada many years ago and talking to folks about rust - I've had all my vehicle's undercarriage oil sprayed. Including the inside of the of the frame.
I don't worry anymore about the rusting frames.:dance:

Usually it is only the bottom portions of the frames that are shot to hell. But again, everything needs a safety inspection no matter what.

 

[shahsmerdis]

Yeah, you can sand and grind. But you will not get to a lot of spots due to everything being on the frame. It will be impossible to sand the top of the frame, and lets not forget THE INSIDE!

I saw someone take a drill (or was it an impact driver) and a long chain and stick it inside the frame vibrate some of the crap out. Maybe not perfect but at least it would get the top level off.

 

[amalik]

Damn. 126k miles... I feel for you.