Need advice! Another rusted frame...

Love the rusty pics - haha

I own 3 4Runners as well - and I call BS on those that say the OP will be breaking bolts left and right. Just scare mongering - spray penetrating oil and take it easy - all will be fine. You may break a few.

These machines can take a TON of abuse and a bunch of sissies in Cali cry about surface rust.... lol ... seriously ? :doh:

The man has a beast with only 110K - he's doing just fine.
 
Love the rusty pics - haha

I own 3 4Runners as well - and I call BS on those that say the OP will be breaking bolts left and right. Just scare mongering - spray penetrating oil and take it easy - all will be fine. You may break a few.

These machines can take a TON of abuse and a bunch of sissies in Cali cry about surface rust.... lol ... seriously ? :doh:

The man has a beast with only 110K - he's doing just fine.
I do auto repair for a living. The tool that gets me through the day working on New England rusted junk is the oxy-acetylene torch. Penetrating oil, vice grips and impact tools help a lot too.
 
Love the rusty pics - haha

I own 3 4Runners as well - and I call BS on those that say the OP will be breaking bolts left and right. Just scare mongering - spray penetrating oil and take it easy - all will be fine. You may break a few.

These machines can take a TON of abuse and a bunch of sissies in Cali cry about surface rust.... lol ... seriously ? :doh:

The man has a beast with only 110K - he's doing just fine.

I was thinking the same thing. My frame rust was so bad I had to swap it for a good one. That meant I had to undo every bolt under there to move everything over. I lost one rear shock plus a few small M6 bolts that snapped off--maybe three. The big ones all came apart with a little PB Blaster and an EarthQuake impact wrench. See thread in my sig.
 
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Haha okay okay, I’m not saying he’s going to break every bolt. It’s more the principle that the Cali mechanic is scared that jobs will take longer than he budgeted for - not that the truck isn’t worth fixing.

There are certain nuts/bolts though that he should be prepared to cut off - like that back nut for the front shocks...real mofo that one


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I was thinking the same thing. My frame rust was so bad I had to swap it for a good one. That meant I had to undo every bolt under there to move everything over. I lost one rear shock plus a few small M6 bolts that snapped off--maybe three. The big ones all came apart with a little PB Blaster and an EarthQuake impact wrench. See thread in my sig.
I find that no matter how rusty they are most of the 8mm and up bolts come out. The 6mm stuff definitely breaks off alot. The younger guys I've had work for me always tell me that the bolts are too rusty and they don't know how they're going to get them out. Then I look and see a rusty bolt with a perfect hex on it and am like what are you talking about? I have a set of those extractor sockets that work pretty well on bolts with rounded or rusted heads. I also have a little pair of channel lock pliers that I think are called battery pliers that seem to take out rounded bleeder screws, brake line fittings and other small bolts really well.
 
You guys have never had the privilege of working on a clean truck. Dont know what you're missing
I definitely know what I'm missing. We have a Navy Yard in town and I get pretty jealous and have dreams of moving to the southwest whenever I work on a sailor's vehicle from down south.
 
PB Blaster and repeat at least a few times before wrenching on any rusty nuts and bolts. When I took my running boards off a couple weeks ago, I pb blasted them once a day for three days and took a wire brush to get the rust of the nuts and bolts so I wouldn't strip them.

Also when I brought my 4runner into the mechanic to have my rear axle seal done, I PB blasted everything they would have to wrench on even down to the little breather vent on the rear diff.

Also remember we live on the west coast and there's a million used parts for these 4runners that are clean and rust free.
 
In Michigan it ain't rusted unless it's got holes lol!!! BUT usually mechanics wont touch stuff if they arent good with rust. I'm not saying mechanics in the rust belt are any better, but hey, at least we know how to add heat ;) trucks really nice btw. Congrats on the purchase.
 
You guys have never had the privilege of working on a clean truck. Dont know what you're missing

I have a non rusty 4Runner.. yeah it is a beautiful mall queen - but whatever.

No point in junking any good running 4Runner due to mild rust. I've seen rust buckets with 400,000+ miles on them... keep the workhorses alive.
 
I am not a specialist by any means but I think it will cost you same as your truck to get it rust free. I would consider buying a newer truck or driving it until it falls apart.
 

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