chrisorbics

Ok I was talking to a buddy up mine and he told me he ran into a guy who has a 1986 4x4 pickup that is very clean. The guy did not care about how much he put into it. Three years ago right before he stopped using it he spend $4500 on some body work and a repaint. He also had a completely new bed put on. I am not sure if that was part of the $4500.

Now the right frame rail is rusted through. The rear spring hanger is out of place the back side of the frame rail is disintigrated.

So I talked to the guy and he said that the head mechanic at the toyota dealer he goes to said $6000-7000 to have him change out the frame rail. So he held off. Now the truck has been sitting for three years and he said since it is outside now it either has to go or he wants to pay me and my buddy $5000 to replace the frame rail. I would rather just buy the truck but he started meantioning $2000 if he was going to sell it and that is too much for something with is broken frame. After I talked to him and he realized that I was more concerned with saving what has to be the cleanest 1986 truck I have ever seen, he said one of two things is going to happen. Either I am going to pay you to fix the truck or I am going to give the truck to you.

Where can I get a new frame rail? Also Does the frame rail bolt on and off without any welding? Probably a dumb question but I do not have my 1988 truck at my house to look under. I hope I end up with the truck. It is so clean that you could bring it to shows. Help me save this old yota.

tried4x2signN

Not gonna say if it's a dumb question, but finding the answer yourself is as easy as going out and laying underneath you truck for a few minutes...


I'm sure we'll get some "sure, just get a donor and cut its frame in half and weld on the side you need" posts, but for my money I'd re-frame the whole thing.

WAY easier, WAY faster and you don't need a welder... 2 degrees off here could be inches by the time it gets to its outter most point...

So no, I wouldnt do just one frame rail...

Oh, and there is no place to buy one.

Find a wreck or roll over, or part out ect. and get its frame.

LWB or short you need to find out the differences in body mounts b/c you might wanna just get a solid axle frame and put under it.

Oh, and you will have to get under it to inspect.

tried4x2signN

Donor, or call this guy.

https://www.budbuilt.com/new/frames.html

1990yota-pickup

this is what you need to do.. buy a parts truck off craigs list and just change over the entire frame.. it will be a good challenge..

Swimmerboy2112

iTrader: (2)

Correct, if you weld a new side on and it doesn't line up right even if its off by a little bit could will have wheel wobble, it could pull to the side and/or wear your tires unevenly. I'd be very careful with welding on a new side of the frame.

Although it may be more work to swap frames it will be better overall.

Just my .02

streetlancer

iTrader: (1)

It'll be whole lot easier to just find a good donor frame than welding on a frame rail.Also make sure it's the right frame: xtra cab/shortbed, regular cab/short/long bed

Check out member drew303 for his frame swap.
Link: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...arning-122175/

Any pics of said clean rig?

MudHippy

Well let me tell ya, it's a hell of alot more cutting and welding than you might think. Been there, done that. I just finished welding the frame on my 88 back together. I had to cut it into 6 or 7 sections, do some serious bending and reshaping, then reweld it from front to back. It was snapped in two pieces and bent every which way after a self-recovery blunder while wheeling alone on a god-forsaken mountain top in north-western Oregon. Total time involved to fix it = well over 6 months. The margin for error isn't too bad though. If you can get everything within 1/8" of what the FSM says you'll be fine.

Do I recommend it? HELL NO!!! What a complete nightmare!!! I had to because there were/are no frames available on the cheap for an 88 long bed with the V6. ANYWHERE!!! Why? 88 was the first year with the V6, last year with the 86-88 long wheel base dimensions, long beds are alot more rare than extended cabs. And I wanted to save some money not having to purchase and then alter a different frame to match mine. Looking back on that decision now, DUMB, VERY DUMB!!! I should have just bought the cheapest straightest 86-88 long wheel base frame I could get, and moved/swapped the body mount brackets and moved/swapped out the engine mount brackets if need be. And saved myself A TON of headaches.

What should you do for a cheap fix? 4 words. Car-Part.com

And pray to god you can find one locally.

Good luck friend, you're gonna need it.

1990yota-pickup

i dont know.. i would do what ever was easier.. its not like you will see all the hookie welds unless you are looking for them.. under the truck

Blue 89 Runner

Have you ever heard of the phrase... "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread " ?

MudHippy

Point taken. And indeed I have.

There's another one that I can't seem to shake though. "Nothing worth doing is easy".

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I can understand why the Toyota Mechanic wanted so much.

I have serious doubts if you can find a decent frame of that vintage any where close if you are still in New Jersey.

Having a Frame shipped LTL from the Southwest wont be cheap then you need to have a way to unload or make plans to have it unloaded more $$$

With something like this pictures would be a big help.

I have a friend building a truck they had new frame rails bent from the cab back. Now of course you have to drill all the holes and mount all the hangers etc.

I can`t remember who made the frame rails but if you are interested P. M . me and I will get the information . You will need to know the length where the bend for the axle goes type of material etc.

I can understand your desire to save this truck I am saving to many

1990yota-pickup

if i were you i would get on craigs list and look up North carolina and click on parts or auto's for sale under Eastern NC or jacksonvile

in the town of kingstown a guy has 2 yes 2 1986 pickups that are selling both for 1500.00 dollars..

fyi they are rust free.

here is the link, one truck sales for 750.00 but have bothe for 1500.00 or best offer

http://eastnc.craigslist.org/pts/2119700917.html

like i said i would just buy something like this and just swap out cut out a section weld in a new section..

roll a entire new frame under that other truck...

it cant be that hard.. good planinng and a good work ethic and you will be right in there..

or just be lazy and pay some one to do it...

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Working harder and longer is not necessarily smarter and faster.

:wabbit2:

xxxtreme22r

Oil changes are very much worth doing and is very easy.

Magnusian

My shop does three types of work, fast, cheap, and good. Pick any two. (I find this applies to pretty-much everything.)

If it's fast and cheap, it will not be good.

If it's fast and good, it will not be cheap.

If it's good and cheap, it will not be fast.

chrisorbics

I checked out budbuilt for the replacement frame and they are not ready yet but it meantions that they will be making frame sections. Also I was thinking of talking with a guy I have helped out before that has a fabrication shop. I know he has build four link set ups so he should be able to fix this. Hopefully he won't want $5000 so I can either make money or have a nice clean truck.

Looking around on budbuilt gave me a lot of ideas for my 1988 which has a clean frame. I wish I had a garage to put it in so I could start ripping it apart. I thought those shock mounts were interesting with the exhaust clamp mounts. I am going to search the net for more cheap build up ideas.

1990yota-pickup

just buy some of those fancy saws you see on gearz and the power block ..

you could just cut out your on steel and weld it right in there...