Taking care of frame rust: body removal questions

[BriAntic]

Long story short, I bought a 2006 4Runner from Maryland, it has rust. It's not bad by any means, but its bad enough to do something about it and keep it from happening again. I plan on keeping this until Toyota finally brings out a diesel 5th/6th gen, then making it a devoted expedition and wheeling rig so this needs to be a lifetime solution..ish.

Game plan:

• Tackle the inside of the frame first with a combination of flue brushes, jetters and other goodies
  
• Sand the exterior with a ton of 220 grit
  
• Spray masterseries silver both inside and out followed by AG111 topcoat (makes por15 look like krylon)
  
• prosper

So heres the question(s):

How much of a PIA is it to pull the body off of the frame? I'm thinking of brake lines, steering coupler, radiator, and electrical connections but can't figure much else that would give me issues. I have access to a lift.

If its not worth it, how much room can I get by just lifting the body the same way you would when installing a body lift? Couple inches?

The first method would be a PIA but completely worth it for how much easier it would be to work on the isolated frame; I might even consider blasting it. The second method would equally be a pain but as long as I have some room in between the body for a angle grinder and flap wheel it would be fine by me.

Who has some first hand experience?

Mucho Gracias. :usa2: - Brian

 

[blackoutt]

If you're going to strip the frame, buy a new frame and save yourself a lot of prep and downtime. Then just swap frames.

I would think you could get enough room to get around most of the frame just lifting the body slightly off of it. I painted my frame before my body lift and got most of it but did find more places I could reach with a 1" body lift later, specifically the welds along the top of the frame behind the rear wheels.

 

[BriAntic]

Its not even close to warranting a frame swap, I'm just trying to preserve the current one.

Sounds like I can get away with lifting the body up an inch or two and that should give me what I am after. Thanks. :yo:

 

[j4run]

The 220 grit isn't likely to get you very far. Removing all that rust is a royal PITA (... ask me how I know ...). By far the fastest / easiest is to hit whatever you can with a wire brush on an angle grinder. You'll likely also want a pneumantic needle scaler. I got a cheap one from Harbor Freight and it was fine for this is. The needle scaler can get into nooks and crannies that other tools can't reach like the shock mounts, body mounts, etc. You're going to discover there are a lot of these places. If your frame is similar to mine, most of the welds will be rusted, including the ones that look OK. When you hit them with the scaler or wire brush, the paint will fall off and expose the rust.

When I fought with frame rust, I was _really_ glad I could spread the job out. It's time-consuming and tiring to do it well. Ditto for the final surface prep - a PITA, caustic chemical, etc. I used the KBS products and they are amazing - the rust seal paint is expensive, but the toughest coating I've ever seen.