slacker

iTrader: (1)

I have one at my shop right now .. sitting in the scrap pile .. welded and sealed 4 years previous .. I was looking for a pic , but cant seem to find it ... to put it mildly , he spent just about a grand(including paint) to repair the rust . and in 4 years , the skirts were falling off .

needles to say , and expencive lesson .

bottom line .. wether you buy a box from me or not , is NOT the point ... The point is , dont waist your money trying to fix the rusted one ..


EDIT :
you guys do know I sell "sides only" for the "do-it yourself'er " right ?



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95yoda

So you sell fiberglass side skirts? just the parts in front and behind the rear whell?
how do they attach anyway? how do the factory ones attach?

what do they run, just curious?

thanks.

foskco87

X2 on the side skirt questions

slacker

iTrader: (1)

I have sold the skirts before .. I dont have specific moulds , but use my complete bed side moulds , and build a lip for mounting . So they are a "custom" piece . they sell for $100.00 per corner. and MUST be prepaid .
I will build these pieces , but I do NOT recommend them .

heres the problem with the rust , and why you cant stop it on these beds .

as we all know , the beds are spot welded . Right where the skirts mount , there are 3 layers of "lap" jointed pieces of steel . first the bed floor , then the side comes down and "folds" around the floor ... and then the lower skirt is spot welded to that ..

this is the same proceedure for the floor to wheel well , the supports , heck even the floor itself is in 3 pieces ... all lap jointed . the seems are only the beginning , the floor will rust , sides to wheel wells will rust ect .. ect .

when I was at the dealer back in the day , we had NEW trucks rusting within a year . Toyota warrentied the repairs , and sent them out to body shops for repair ... even then , the repairs would only last "months" some times a year if you were luckey . Toyota soon dropped there box warrenty from 3 years to only 1 year , and would only repair the bed once . after that , customers were on there own .
Toyota even knew this was a bad design for North America , and in /89 got rid of the seam with a new design .





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95yoda

Good info on the way they are built. why put a kick azz powertrain in and cut corners with spot welds and such?

foskco87

Great info. I agree, it makes no sense to me why toyota would make such reliable vehicles but put so little effort into the bodys. Heck even when i touch the metal on my bed i can just feel how thin and cheap the metal is, not to mention the design flaw. And why would they continue with the seam knowing damn well it would rust (slacker having said they knew within a year that they were rusting). Not to mention all the FJ's, they must have been well aware of the problems to come. My only guess is, A) they just plain old didnt care or B) the japanese are custom to replacing their vehicles more frequently than us making it unnecessary to have long lasting bodys. But that doesnt really explain why in a sense that the rrest of the truck is built to last and the japanese were aiming for the north american market. I know all 80's vehicles are made with inferior metal but come on, If i bought a brand new truck and it started rusting uncontrollably within a year I would want to burn the dealership down.

okie81

Those sanded rust spots make your tailgate look like drive-by victim.

92 TOY

Slacker , I had no idea you were from the website, as you see I posted your address also. My truck is not to the point were I need to replace the bed. It's still very strong, no rust on the tailgate or tailights as I've seen on others. Actually it's on both sides of the truck at the 12 o'clock position abover ther wheelwells, I assume from water and salt etc accumulating there. I have a 6 inch x 4 inch hole from when my tailpipe fell off and I allowed it to exhaust BEHIND and INSIDE where it should have been and basically fried it from the inside.

92 TOY

I had posted a thread with 2 links for fiberglass sites.....don't know what hapened. But, Slacker's was one of them, the other I found in a search for fiberglass beds. Both were reasonable considering what it is. I had attempted to post that my 1992 truck was also suffering bad bed rust and will eventually need some serious atention. My truck is a 1992 22re 4x4, 1 owner (ME) and 189,000 miles. sitting in my garage with a blown head gasket since July.

95yoda

Probably a common sight in sac lmao!

okie81

Ha! No doubt. They don't even drive-by, they just stop and shoot.

slacker

iTrader: (1)

We have to be carefull on the blame here though .. it' NOT all design issues . Part of the problem is the metal itself ... and this is another part of the reason for NOT repairing a toyota METAL bed .

you'll notice even the USA style bed (fleetside/domestic) rusts ?? They we're NOT built in Japan , but in California ..

even if you look at chevs and fords of the same vintages , you'll notice bad rust on those as well .

in the late 70's / early 80's recycling metal was in it's infancy .. like any early industry , all the "formulas" had not been figured out .. back then , they never got all of the impurities out of the metal .. so it alread had "built in rust" .

funny ... makes me laugh .. my industry is the same .. fiberglass invented only in the early 40's .. with the 60's bringing it to automotive manufacturing .. back then they had problems with spider cracking , and shatering panels .. but like any other industry , it has come along way .. now pound for pound , as strong as steel , but with flexable properties .. with the introduction of kevlar , fiberglass can now be STRONGER then steel , and carbon fiber ... pfffff dont get me going . but people still think of the 60's fiberglass when fiberglass is mentioned ??





pretty common on the tail pipe ... rusty pipe breaks off from tire spray , and not replaced right away will easly "bake" the paint ... leaving the metal vunarable to the elements ...
be sure to check our web site as we sell SIDES ONLY as well .. just for the hands on guy (DIY)



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92 TOY

Slacker, yeah bodywork that intense is not for me. Honestly , I feel that what I see on the surface is only a small amount of what's really happening. Surface spots like were shown at the beginning of this post are very manageable if done right. But, deep rust that exists like that on my the bed of my truck are lethal. I know that to do it right I'd have to cut it all away.....not interested in that and will just keep chasing my tail for a while patching until it becomes a real issue, then I will probably invest in a fiberglass box. For now, gotta get the head gasket fixed and back on the road.

foskco87

Just a question, how strong are fiberglass beds? Aside from the material they are built with how does a fiberglass bed differ from a metal one (durability wise/ dent/chip/paint etc) Hope im not completely jacking this thread...

slacker

iTrader: (1)

for your year of truck (if it's the one picured) (89-95?) there are huge differences , OUR sides are super easy to install on those years ..


they are easly as strong as .. even stronger then the original steel .. I have some VIDS on the site .. here the metal one that is NOT
the steel crumples under a 2lb hit . http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j2...t=HPIM0017.flv
they will easly carry the same payload as the factory bed .. no problem .
They are safer as well , and will sustain less damage in a collision then steel , I have a couple of pics yet to be loaded on to the site .

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foskco87

Ouch, it hurt to watch that video, that bedside could have gone to good use.. I defenitely see your point though. Damnit slacker you are really making me want a fiberglass bed....and you live in the same province as me! aaahhh the temptation is too much. If only I had 2 grand.

slacker

iTrader: (1)

dont worry .. you have time to save your $$$$ .. currently were booking into SEPT./09 for the beds . (deposit required) we ship world wide !


although most of you guys think our pricing is to expencive ... lots and lots of people dont .. actually they think our pricing is to cheep ! as we really cant keep up with sales !

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foskco87

Im not saying they're too expensive. I totally respect the work that goes into them not to mention you are one of the only outfits that makes boxes for these trucks. I think its awesome that you guys make them. 2 grand is expensive but well worth it. unfortunately i only paid 1200 for my truck hah and i promised myself i would just use it as a beater and not a project but i can already see that plan failing haha. right now i am just trying to see if it is worth restoring or if it is too far gone. The frame is good but Im gonna wait till after winter and see how much further the corrosion has gone with the salt etc. So you never know you might be hearing from me in the future heheh.

PS.I know a guy here in Port Alberni who made a replica box out of aluminum for a 70's land cruiser pickup, tie hooks and all. Turned out really good, I couldnt tell the diff between the original. It must have cost a fortune I imagine though. Just thought u might find that interesting.

TheWedge

Off Subject for the paint/rust, but on subject about your truck. What kind, and what size are your tires. Also are your wheels 15",or 16"? Good job on the rust repair on the tailgate. Looks good. Thanks.

95yoda

Hi, the Tires are Nokian vatiiva m/t in 31x10.5 on the stock 15 inch wheels.