What do I do? I have a 84 ext cab toy that I purchased for $500. The truck is pretty beat up, and the frame is rusty. I had hoped that it was just surface rust, but today I found some spots that were pretty bad. Right where the proportioning valve mounted to the frame there is a large hole, and where the frame makes the bend above the mounts for the rear springs seems pretty soft. I tapped it with a hammer and a hole began to form. At this time I don't know if there are any other bad spots in the frame, but that doesn't mean they're not there.

So should I part it out and use it for spare parts for my 92 toy or perhaps a future project? Or should I just try just to reinforce the frame and build the truck? I've been thinking of this, but I don't like putting more money into a vehicle that may break in half out on the trail.

Fix the frame then thrash the hell out of it.

sit on it and wait for a good deal on a frame in good shape.

sell me the tranny cheap:D

Here is another question. I plan to check the rest of the frame for bad spots, but are there any points I should really pay attention to? I know the spots I've found so far were caused by things like the gas tank and prop valve letting dirt and mud get stuck against the frame.

Could I just gusset the bad spots real well and hope it holds? Most of the bad spots seem to be on the inside part of the frame. The other sides seem to be okay. Or how difficult would it be to just cut off the frame in front of the bad spots, and build a new rear frame?

I could wait for a nice frame, but I honestly don't know if its worth it. As for the tranny, I'm not quite ready to part with it as I have a Marlin ultimate crawler that fits it quite nicely.

dont feel bad,Im in the same boat.I got an 87 that is doing the same thing and a 83 thats starting to look like swiss cheese!I was going to SAS the 87 and combine the two until I really checked it good.Ive been looking for a frame but its tough to find a good one in Ohio.Ive been hoping that BudR will get his frames into production soon.If not I may just look for a truck out west and go get it.Hell Ive even considered going to a Samarui with a Toy drivetrain:beer:

Oh geez. I know EXACTLY what you're going thru, believe me. I have the same truck, I have patched the frame 4 times now in the last 2-1/2 years. The last patch took me 2 days working non-stop to do, and I ended up in the ER getting metal shavings dug out of my eye. I gave up on finding a decent frame within a reasonable distance. And shipping a LWB frame from the west coast is just too expensive (~$700-800). So I'm parting mine out, I bought this yesterday:


http://www.yankeetoys.org/members/klf/Images/Newtaz/NewTaz1.jpg

The other places to look are along the inside of the rails just in front of the horsecollar crossmember. If you feel any crunchyness, it's rusted thru. Don't be wimpy with that hammer, give it some good whacks, but wear eye protection. Good luck.

I just scraped an 84 xtra cab. It was so rusted I ripped the rear spring hanger off the frame. The one on the pass side near the gas tank. I knew it was rusted and just wheeled it till it broke.

KLF thats a sweet lookin truck almost to good to wheel. ALMOST :D

I know were there's a good swb frame in a junk yard, but they want $200 for a bare frame. I think thats too much. and it's ifs :rolleyes:

Originally posted by KLF
Oh geez. I know EXACTLY what you're going thru, believe me. I have the same truck, I have patched the frame 4 times now in the last 2-1/2 years. The last patch took me 2 days working non-stop to do, and I ended up in the ER getting metal shavings dug out of my eye. I gave up on finding a decent frame within a reasonable distance. And shipping a LWB frame from the west coast is just too expensive (~$700-800). So I'm parting mine out, I bought this yesterday:


http://www.yankeetoys.org/members/klf/Images/Newtaz/NewTaz1.jpg

The other places to look are along the inside of the rails just in front of the horsecollar crossmember. If you feel any crunchyness, it's rusted thru. Don't be wimpy with that hammer, give it some good whacks, but wear eye protection. Good luck. That toy looks like its spent its life indoors!Did you find it in NH?My oldest boy lives in Mass and is always on the lookout for toys too.His words to quote"theyre all wicked trashed"

Originally posted by PJR
That toy looks like its spent its life indoors!Did you find it in NH?My oldest boy lives in Mass and is always on the lookout for toys too.His words to quote"theyre all wicked trashed"

OK, here's the story. 18 months ago I sold my pristine '92 4Runner to a guy in Bedford NH that used to be a Toyota technician. He was telling me about this mint '87 xcab he bought in '94 when he was living in CO. He drove it for 2 years, then they moved to NH. Since then, he's been driving it about 1000 miles a year, only in the summer, not even in the rain. Otherwise it's been in his garage under a big sheet. He knew I was looking for another truck, so he offered to sell it to me, since he's also buying a '98 T100 now. I couldn't say no.

This truck has 150K on it, not a speck of rust on it anywhere. NONE. It looks and drives like it's showroom brand new. Other than some damage repair on the bed, the paint is original. All it needs is a new exhaust (a new OEM exhaust is laying in the bed), and a battery (I have a spare Optima). The only problem with the thing is that it has an UGLY red interior. But I might swap in my gray interior from my '84.

Now I just hafta get the guts to wheel the thing.:eek:

Pull the bed and bob it. do the sas w/38's and then drive to the guy's house and give him a heart attack :D and almost forgot, half doors and cut the front fenders :eek: He'll be dead before he hits the ground.

Crap, yea that would give John a heart attack alright.. Damn ken.. I still can't believe you bought that.. For those of you not living in New England, you just can't apprceiate this truck enough... :eek:

i say wheel it, my last truck was a 500 dollar special, i threw in just enough money to make a basic rig, less than 2 G's i think, and definately got my moneys worth, had a blast, now i actually have a rig im going to try and keep lookin nice though so i hope my beater driving style will go away with the new rig

build it cheap, wheel it hard, and then part it out

Originally posted by flimmy
I know were there's a good swb frame in a junk yard, but they want $200 for a bare frame. I think thats too much. and it's ifs :rolleyes:
I'm builing him a full width hanger and frame outboards, so IFS is no big deal and that sounds like an ok price for a straight frame, which would seem hard to come by at a junkyard.

-texascruiser, if the front is fine, cut the back, 1/4 elipt. it and call it gravy!!!!!!! Or buy the $200 frame if it's near you.

scrap the frame & body... and buy a cheap tube bender...buy some 2"-.135 wall DOM tubing and make a buggy for the running gear.

You can't go wrong with this approach.

Budbuilt is in NY, and he is in the prototype stages of building replacement frames, right?

http://www.budbuilt.com/frames.htm

Got some good ideas here. I've talked to budbuilt, and he says he should have the frames ready for production by May. I had thought about just wheeling the hell out of it until it breaks, but it needs alot of little things that will add up fast. If I find a junkyard frame I will definitely jump on it.

Wilson, the 1/4 elipt. idea never crossed my mind. That would be sweet. Well, I'm going to go play with the hammer in a few minutes and see if I can find any more bad spots, which will help give me my answer.

BTW, just how much rust can a Toyota truck frame take before its shot?