im planing on fixing up my frame on my 95 tacoma so i can put it on the road again this coming weekend or so. Any tips? My plan was just to weld some new bottom frame rails on and call it a day and possibly add some support/boxing in to the rear frame because my box is off anyways (finally rotted out) I was going to use some high quality steel from an old ford frame we just scraped out. just make up some patches using what i have. any ideas on this? better ways to do it?
thanks guys

 

why don't you take it to the dealer and have them to check it out. Here in WV toyota is still recalling the Tacoma's and there paying blue book and a half for the trucks. Sell it to them and buy another one for cheap. Or get ya a mini truck

 

well its not on the road and i believe the frame warrenty only lasts 15years meaning because it is a 95 it is not covered anymore (please someone else chime in if im wrong). also being a 95, it is like gold here in NY with stupid ob2 scan required to pass inspection for 96 and newer cars and truck so 95s especially ones with ob2 like my taco are like gold, all the diagnostic help with none of the bureaucratic BS .

 

Id still call a dealer and check.

 

Some fabricator needs to step up and make some frames for yotas.

I know Id give 2k for a brand new frame for the trekker. Maybe even a little more.
Wonder what it would take to make a frame time and material wise.

 

someone just needs to step up and make an awesome tube frame. id pay 4k for a tube frame thats stronger than stock and sealed so they dont rot out from the inside out... also i will call around to the toyota dealerships but i doubt theyll do anything. ill be pissed if they do give me something for it cuz i already ripped the box off it and theyll try and screw me on that.

 

i am going to use some old truck frames to fab some angle patches and flat pieces to basically make u channel to rebuild the bottom half or so of the frame

 

Why not use new steel and be done.

I get special pieces bent that are the size of the frame rails or else just weld in new steel rectangle tube.

Just watch and remember no vertical welds

I really don`t think there is enough of a market to build frames other then one of a kind for yourself .

One would get into a very expensive adventure just getting the insurance to put these on the road not to mention the shipping costs.

Sure one can market them for off road use only but all it takes is one accident someone getting killed In a mall parking lot on black Friday

.Way to many lawyers and your living under a bridge in a box with the wife and kids.

 

I am trying to do this for as little as possible and have tons of steel laying around so I figured id use what I got. Why no vertical welds?

 

Fish plates are what you need to do.

 

I'm confused as well? Why no vertical welds? While covering frame repair in tech school they said nothing about no vertical welds. There are certain ways to section a frame, but we heard nothing about no vertical welds.

 

A verticle weld would have weight pulling at the bottom and pushing at the top, eventually tearing the weld and putting you back at square one.

Had a friend who sectioned the frame on a 2wd dodge 3/4 diesel to make a standard cab short bed. He overlapped the frame rails and used diagonal cuts. The welds survived rear ending a dump truck at about 45 mph.

 

If your instructor at school saw your frame...he's prolly scrap it.

Lets be real here. Patching a frame is sketchy at best. If you are gonna do it.....do it as right as you can. No comprimise. Lives are in fact at risk.

I'd treat and plate over rather than section. I saw a car tv show last week with an old hotrod with a hacked up homeowner frame. THey whacked a vertical seam with a hammer...and the frame broke in half. Forgot name of show...one with older guy who works with younger gal to do cars for wounded warriors.

 

ok well the toyota frame buy back is long done in my area first off, second off i wan just going to go over what i have, its not too bad yet and i just want to add some steel so theres not issues down the road, i wasnt going to cut anything out.

 

mainly my issue is i dont want to go through crappy nys inspection with a hole in the bottom of my frame on the passenger side.

 

Check your laws....some are picky about frame patches as well.

Im taking my Taco for the rear tire carrier deal Thursday. They are going to look at frame too. I didnt see anything bad...but they can at least coat it for me.

 

yea well a patched frame is better in my book than a hole lol the guy that does all my inspections is a fellow toyota lover so he understands these things

 

make sure to kill all the old rust. I really like metal ready. Good stuff.....then prime with a good weld through primer....then plate over that....primer back sides of plate too....
make it a done forever job.

 

my boss gave me a whole case of permatex rust stop crap i was going to try and then use the weld through primer on it. then go over it all with permatex's heavy duty rubberized undercoating as well as the rest of my rear frame while my box is off before i throw my flat bed from my previous Tacoma on there

 

I have been fixing this stuff for 30 plus years .

i look at my time as labor it is just quicker to use new metal for me then to take the time to do the extra prep work using used stuff .

I have been there and I understand .

welding frames is the easy part the hard work is all the prep work.

If your welds are vertical and they have no real structural importance then you can get away with them.

Once a crack starts it just follows most often the heat effected zone perhaps right under the bottom a few more good bumps you now have two pieces.

One just has to work within there skills which should always be improving.