The Ruckus

I've searched around a bit- unfortunately, the terms rust, repair, estimate, and cost are all ridiculously common. Adding windshield to the search pretty much just gives me a bunch of threads where people (like me) bitch about A-pillar and windshield corner rust. What I'm after is other people's experiences in having this type of thing repaired- cost, estimates & actuals, timeline, etc.

Here's what I'm working with. You can see it starting at the base of the driver's side pillar and at the top corner, if you look real hard. cruddy pic I know, but I'm at work right now. The pic is from around Easter, so it's grown a touch since then. From what I understand, if it's bubbling out from the corners, the channel is probably trashed under the seal.



I know on a lot of the older trucks, some of the guys have just cut/swapped out A-pillars at home- I lack the three Ts of talent, tools, and time to accomplish this. However, it was the one apparent flaw on the vehicle when I purchased it, and went into it knowing that the money I was saving off bluebook price would be reverted into fixing this particular problem. I am prepared to drop some cash on this fix, and I'd like to get a baseline for when I start shopping the body shops.

Thanks for your help, gang.

akaphilly

lol.. clean 4 runner ya got there. i say dont waste your time.

The Ruckus

Na, it's gonna get fixed. The truck has years and years of life left, and I don't want to spend all those years regretting the appearance when I could have it correctly before it gets out of hand.

The Ruckus

Alright, took it in for estimates yesterday. At least now there will be some searchable info with prices attached for future inquiries.

#1 estimate, for "the right way", is $2,600. includes sandblasting & cutting out rot, fabbing patches for cut out sections, removal of head liner, sun roof, roof rack, painting from base of A-pillars all the way to the back end. $900 included in est for replacement of windshield if it breaks during removal. No warranties on rust repair.

#2 estimate, for "the not as right" way, is $800. Includes sandblasting the rot, over-coating with duraglas, painting from base of A-pillars to about halfway point of sunroof. #2 shop says there's no good way/place to weld in new metal, says this repair will hold for 2-3 years, then start to deteriorate again. In 5-6 years, it'll more than likely look like it does now, again. Apparently this is a fairly common way of dealing with the problem, as he was in the middle of doing the same thing to a customer's honda.


Thoughts?

ESQ

Do it the right way. Never pays to skimp out.

Lysmachia

Here is why you need to fix it and do it right. As that seal around the pillar corrodes water starts to seep in and will drain behind your instrument panel. It happened on my passenger side and corroded then shorted out the relay for my Heater core fan. I spent weeks trying to figure out if my heater core was bad, or my fan, and then a friend of ours (A toyota master tech) told me that this is a known issue with Toyota's that the A pillar rusts out a little, breaks the seal and water gets in. I would imagine that damage to the driver side (Instrument panel) would be more expensive than my relay. And going into the dash (using a tech) is as expensive as the repair you are looking at now...

theizzardking

x2 on do it right ,but see if you can find a crunched one some where and take a sawzall to it for a donor part that will net you as near as perfect as your gonna get, other wise they'll just patch it up with what ever scrap channel and plate they have laying around the shop.

i guess these aren't classics enough yet for after market frame parts huh? lol

fightman80

I would get it done the right way, but shop around at other shops and see if the prices vary. I was lucky with my winshield issues, I had just bought the truck from the Stealership, so they paid the bill! I don't remember exactly, but I think they did mine for about $400! They painted up to the roof, and blended the paint to match the rest of the truck.

turboboost

That first quote seems very reasonable for the amount of work required. You could always pull the windshield out yourself to make sure it won't break - it's really not that hard.

The Ruckus

You know, that might be the best bet. That "just in case" $900 is a big chunk, and something in my gut tells me that it's "just in case" somebody decides to take it out with the bottom of their boot. A guy at work offered to help me take it out using piano wire, but then am I on the hook to re-install it, too? My volunteer helper is our operations director at work, and he's in charge of putting the hockey glass up and taking it down- I trust he knows how to handle a heavy piece of glass, plus he's already got the tools. I just don't want to have to put it back in myself and end up with it leaking.

02_Limited

Donde esta the rust?

The Ruckus

She's in the shop! I went with option #1, the big $$ plan.

Dropped it off Monday morning, just got a call today that the windshield did, in fact.... break. That's the bad news.

However, the good news far outweighs the bad. They were able (I didn't ask them to, they just offered) to bring the cost down by blending the paint at the moon roof, rather than doing a full-roof job that would require removal of the rack and the full length of the head liner. Now all that labor is negated from the estimate. They also found a replacement windshield for considerably less money than the $900 expected. So, what was once estimated as $2600, is now down to $1400.

But wait, there's more! Initially we spoke about doing rust repair on the lip of the hood, too- but decided it was a lost cause that was better off just being replaced. Of course, with an original $2600 estimate NOT including any hood work, I was planning on doing the hood later. With the reduced costs outlined above, he was able to ship in a rust-free hood, and offered to throw that into the package with paint (existing fenders re-painted/blended, too) for a total of $2400.

It's a big chunk of change, but keeping in mind that I got the the truck at 3-4k under KBB value, I feel pretty good about it. Besides, it's like a bonus. I was expecting to pay $2600 any way, but now I'm paying less and getting more out of it. I'll get her back in my hands some time mid-next week. With my birthday coming up at the end of the month, I asked my wife to track me down a bug/rock deflector for the new hood. Gotta keep it nice!

Cal01

windshield should of been free.

The Ruckus

That's what you'd think, but I covered that with them in the initial estimate because I figured it would be covered by insurance. There is inherent risk in the activity of removing the glass. Because I personally initiated the act of removing the glass through approval of the work leading to the breaking of the glass, well.... it sucks, but it's on me.

akaphilly

any pictures of the rust your talkin about. seems like your spending alot. i paid less for my supercharged 96 4runner then u paid for a lil body work lol

The Ruckus

Don't think I have any specific pics, unless I managed to catch it in the background of a shot. It was all four corners and top center, bubbled up enough to break the paint apart and start flaking the metal. They're cutting that all out, sand blasting everything and fabricating new pillars. No duraglas junk. I wouldn't really call it "a little body work", though... not like we're buffing out a dent here.

As for getting your 96 SC runner for cheaper..... well shoot, some dude on craigslist got a house for a paperclip Point is, there's always a better deal somewhere.