Nelsonmd
New member
Lets see some pics!
BTW, good to hear there is a welder around here. They are actually really close to my house.
Serious Frame Rust Questoin
- Thread starter PSUArcher
- Start date
Lets see some pics!
BTW, good to hear there is a welder around here. They are actually really close to my house.
[email protected]
New member
I finally got around to uploading some pictures.
Before:
Driver's side
Driver's side
Passenger's side
After:
Driver's side
Passenger's side
Rear axle cover (the drips are just water)
Before:
Driver's side
Driver's side
Passenger's side
After:
Driver's side
Passenger's side
Rear axle cover (the drips are just water)
Nelsonmd
New member
That's just the top of the axle housing
Nelsonmd
New member
HMMM.
I may be wrong but isn't this a hole?
No, it's not a hole, though I admit it really looks like one. I had to look at some pics of my axle to make sure.
The left edge of the "hole" is the upright for the UCA, the bottom of the "hole" is the top of the axle housing, and the right/upper side is a mounting ring around the parking brake cable. You can see the cable just left of the "hole", and the attachment for the mounting ring just to the lower right of the "hole.
You can see it a bit better in this photo of my pre-swap axle.
It's a little out of focus because I cropped it from a larger picture that was focused on something else.
Cruiser_Air
New member
toyota using thiner material on the frame and sheet metal everywhere, that's why 4runner's frame rusted out faster then other SUV frames.
If you check 4runner frame with ford explorer, then you will understand what's the difference on frame thickness between the 2 SUV.
If you check 4runner frame with ford explorer, then you will understand what's the difference on frame thickness between the 2 SUV.
The kind of welder he would need to properly fix that frame would cost him too much, best take it to someone who knows what they are doing.
AF808fighter
New member
I've shared my experience with rust on the forums before but I'd like to bring up so key factors about this rust problem. Rust needs to be eliminated 100%, which is near impossible. However, if you can get your 4runner frames down to bare metal and coat it properly at the onset of rust then this whole rotting through issue can be avoided.
After discovering shocking amounts of scaly rust on my frame, axle, and suspension linkage I did TONS of research last summer to fix the problem. First off, the spray can crap from the auto parts store does NOTHING! I sprayed over the rust for 2 years; its a waste of time and can be more detrimental.
Here's what I did:
1. Frame, rear axle and everything around it was sand blasted to clean, bare metal.
2. On a warm, sunny day spray down the new metal with soap and water to clean the surface as well as possible, then dry with fans or air hose to speed up the drying process so you can start painting same day before flash rust occurs.
3. Spray on "Rustbullet" stage one, the gray/silver base coat ($50/pint). Apply coat one, let dry, apply coat two which fills in all the pin holes from the first coat. The stuff is THICK. I used about 10 paint brushes, if I could go back I would pay someone to spray it on.
4. Apply the Rustbullet black top coat.
5. Run your truck through the car wash every week in the winter! Depending on where your hot water heater is in your house, you can run a hose out to the drive way and spray down the frame once a week. You can also spray the inside of your frame rails with grease or used motor oil as well as your entire undercarriage.
POR 15 works well too, but more so if you are trying to paint over rust, as POR stands for. For clean metal I believe Rustbullet works better. Even after all that work I did, surface rust does come back in small insignificant forms, but staying on top of it is the key. Rust is oxidation thus it has to be choked out and encapsulated to stop the spreading. It is unbelievable these frames rust so badly but I realized over the last couple winters that bad damage is some what avoidable.
After discovering shocking amounts of scaly rust on my frame, axle, and suspension linkage I did TONS of research last summer to fix the problem. First off, the spray can crap from the auto parts store does NOTHING! I sprayed over the rust for 2 years; its a waste of time and can be more detrimental.
Here's what I did:
1. Frame, rear axle and everything around it was sand blasted to clean, bare metal.
2. On a warm, sunny day spray down the new metal with soap and water to clean the surface as well as possible, then dry with fans or air hose to speed up the drying process so you can start painting same day before flash rust occurs.
3. Spray on "Rustbullet" stage one, the gray/silver base coat ($50/pint). Apply coat one, let dry, apply coat two which fills in all the pin holes from the first coat. The stuff is THICK. I used about 10 paint brushes, if I could go back I would pay someone to spray it on.
4. Apply the Rustbullet black top coat.
5. Run your truck through the car wash every week in the winter! Depending on where your hot water heater is in your house, you can run a hose out to the drive way and spray down the frame once a week. You can also spray the inside of your frame rails with grease or used motor oil as well as your entire undercarriage.
POR 15 works well too, but more so if you are trying to paint over rust, as POR stands for. For clean metal I believe Rustbullet works better. Even after all that work I did, surface rust does come back in small insignificant forms, but staying on top of it is the key. Rust is oxidation thus it has to be choked out and encapsulated to stop the spreading. It is unbelievable these frames rust so badly but I realized over the last couple winters that bad damage is some what avoidable.
AF808fighter
New member
The inside of the frame rails can be sand blasted too, as well as sprayed with rust inhibitor. I flush out the rails with hot water every week, the last 2 feet of my frame by the tow hitch is where my interior rust resides.
Nelsonmd
New member
Hmmm, That is an interesting product. I will probably order a few cans and try it out. I will have to wait until I get into my new apt so that I can hook up a hose and clean out the frame rails before applying it though.
And Wallace, if you land back in this thread, can you shrink your photos? They are so big they screw up the formatting so we have to scroll sideways to read posts.
[email protected]
New member
I took care of it. I have a large monitor so it looks normal on my screen and I assumed incorrectly that the forum software automatically re-sized images to fit the screen.
GB4Runne4
New member
Just noticed that my rear axle housing looks as though it has developed a small leak. Great. In the upstate NY area, so I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Almost made it to 200k miles without this happening.
Mechanic quoted about $2k for the fix. Cant really afford that, so I'm looking for a cheaper alternative. This thread has been great at outlining a few options.
How did the J-B Weld hold up? Was it such a short term solution that it's not worth the time?
Wallace - How has the actual weld held up on the axle housing area in the couple months since the work? Looks good, but I was worried that the weight would ultimately create larger holes in the unit. Is that a legit concern?
Thanks for your help.
Mechanic quoted about $2k for the fix. Cant really afford that, so I'm looking for a cheaper alternative. This thread has been great at outlining a few options.
How did the J-B Weld hold up? Was it such a short term solution that it's not worth the time?
Wallace - How has the actual weld held up on the axle housing area in the couple months since the work? Looks good, but I was worried that the weight would ultimately create larger holes in the unit. Is that a legit concern?
Thanks for your help.
Nelsonmd
New member
Sorry to hear you are having problems. Take a wire wheel to your axle to clean it up and confirm that there really are holes. My pastor's 4runner was leaking too and I found it was just some loose diff carrier bolts (mechanic told him the fix cost more than the truck was worth, wrong on so many levels).
The JB weld is certainly worth the time and effort. I applied mine in about 10 minutes (including refill time).
Weld fixes will be hold up as well as you decide they will. If you leave it uncovered, then it's going to rust again. If you coat with some POR-15 or the like, it will last a very long time.
Post some pics of your axle if you can. We like pics, even if it is of a rotting axle.
