Best way to repair roll damage to my '88 Pickup
 

I rolled my '88 pickup the other day on a steep, sandy descent.
Which would be best to get it back up and drivable?
Cab Swap? (I don't want to mess with the vin though)
Weld the upper portion of a donor cab onto mine?(potential weak points if I roll again)
Something else I haven't thought of?
I am open to suggestions as this is also my daily driver so I need to get it back up and drivable.
https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/...25288388_n.jpg
Please ignore the black'd out background, my friend doesn't like to leave clues to his house's location.

I would swap cabs, normally in a roll, the damage gets into the dash and pillars and just isn't worth the cost of repair and getting body lines and wind noise sealed up. Not sure how Florida is, but Missouri just goes by the VIN on the cab. As long as you don't turn it into insurance and get it totaled, it is just like registering another truck. If it is totaled, you take it to highway patrol and have to jump thru several hoops.

that picture is tripping me out.

Buy a good helmet your good to go.

With the way that picture is it is impossible to get a good idea of the damage to me it looks better then what I drive to work.



No doubt your friends house would be familiar from being seen on Cop`s almost every week!!!

Find a cab...she's done, you have to be able to trust your cab in a rollover....trying to fix that would make it pretty weak I think (wrong?) from metal fatigue.

Thanks for the advise guys, Cab Swap it is then!
No, my friend's house doesn't appear on cops, he works in security and is a bit of a prepper. His prepping has led to that particular quirk of not liking any photos of stuff that identify his yard... LOL if he appeared on cops, I wouldn't be allowed to associate with him by my employer.

:welder:If that cab was rebuilt or repaired in the correct way it is just as strong if not stronger then new.If one can do the work and not have to pay someone it can be done.

If your paying much cheaper to just swap a cab

then from the picture it is really hard to tell.

be nice to see pictures from the back looking front .

You think? I trust your opinion more than my own on things like this for sure. I was just wondering as far as metal fatigue on the a pillars....if they crushed easy in next roll....might be bad news. Would you lop the whole top off? Then weld on a donor? or actually try and straighten it out?

Cab swap sounds like it would be alot quicker.

Either way....sorry man. Be careful....the Toyota cab committee only allows one cab every ten years...we are rationing them now!!!

That's just cosmetic. I could fix 'er up good as new in no time flat. And that's exactly what I would do.

Get yourself one of them body repair kits( ). Teach yourself how to bang dents out. Might come in handy down the road too.
:great:

Seriously. I can and have fixed worse than that. WAY worse. I can't hardly believe you rolled it and got away that clean. Consider yourself lucky.

It would be a COMPLETE & TOTAL waste of good Yota to send that cab to the scrapper. I know guys, self included, that would give you good money for it. Even in that shape. That's so fixable it ain't even funny. Don't be ridiculous.

I dunno Mudhippy, my roof was crushed in 6-8" in the middle. I bent it back out using a hi lift so that it was comfortable to sit in to steer and brake while I was towed out of the trails.
Attachment 211579

From this last picture unless there is more damage on the other side we can`t see .

The support pillars don`t look crushed at all.

Then it all comes down to just how perfect you want it to look.

I have to agree with Mudhippy:wrench:

Just what did you do wrong that caused this little mishap ????

Doesn't look to bad to me. If you are too worried about looks you wouldn't be wheeling anyways. Bang it out so its as straight as possible and inspect the pillars for any weaknesses....restrengthen accordingly.

Then buy and weld in a real roll cage. Problem solved. Will cost less than buying a new cab.

Roll cage and bikini top it

ignore his ranting... you can't look at a pic on the 'net and make an accurate determination about the extent of the damage... no autobody pro would ever attempt do that.

the problem is that when a vehicle is in a wreck, the energy ripples throughout the body, so the damage isn't always limited to the impact area.

the first thing to look at is how well the doors line up... they should open and shut just like they did before the wreck, and the gap between the door and the frame should be equal all the way around the door... both doors should have about the same gap width.

i would also evaluate the gap distances between the cab and the bed.

if the cab is tweaked to one side, it'll probably have to be replaced, you can't bend that back.

I'm no expert by any means... But the pillars don't look hurt. I'd probably just bang the dents out enough to fit a windshield back in and then install a rollcage for safety and peace of mind.

:coffee:There is a real fine line here.

If your doing the work your self to drive yourself one can get away with things.

In this day and age with the over abundance of lawyers to meddle in every aspect body shops have to repair things back to factory specs .

if the doors line up, and it'll never be more than a work/offroad beater, i'd be inclined to drive it to a body shop and pay 'em to pound it back into shape, and install the windshield... then bondo/rattle can it yourself :-)

it looks like a nice truck tho... if it's a keeper, doing it right probably means cab replacement.

Yes, by all means, ignore my ranting. I'm not at all speaking from experience, and I have no idea what I'm talking about. Sure...whatever. Fact is...I am...and I do. But I'd rather keep that ace tucked up my sleeve for now anyways. I really don't give a rat's ass what you guys think. Bunch of sissified do-nothing losers. Roll over and beg for mercy at the first signs of trouble...

:facepalm:

Sooo...go ahead and haul it to the JY. Where that guy will give you nothing, or practically nothing, in return and thank you gladly for it. Why? Because he's going to turn around and sell it for hundreds of $$$ to some guy who'll be glad to take it off his hands. Who'll then take it home. Put a few weekends worth of work into it. And have a perfectly good cab to use on his project.

Swell idea! Less for you...and more for someone else!:great:

Thanks for the suggestion Mudhippy, I looked it over again and it looks like it is time for me to learn how to do bodywork... The absence of a clean cab for a reasonable price in my area helped push me in that direction too...