I recently bought a 86 4x4 pickup for cheap ($500) that was sitting on a ranch for sometime.. I have a question before I dig in to this project.. First of I have frame issues in the rear section from the forward leaf spring hangers back..Would it be better to swap with a rust free frame or have a buddy of mine that is pretty good welder do a rear section swap?

Any help would be great!!

 

 

I just got to post it.. It aint much to look at yet but soon it hopefully will

 

Here is a decent shot of it.. Im moving so i have crap in the back of it.. There are more in my albums

 

i had a similar problem on my 89 pickup when i bought it. The frame was rusted out on the passenger side where the leaf springs meet the frame. I had a shop cut out the bad part and weld about 14 inchs of frame in there to replace it. They told me they had fixed this on several older toyota pickups. they did a good job and its been solid ever since. i paid like 700$ for it, the most ive ever spent on the truck in one shot, but it was worth it. its been 8 yrs and no more probs.

 

Ok that's prob wat I'm gonna do.... Thanks for the advice

 

Depends on how far gone the frame is rusted.

:wabbit2:

 

Not to bad... Just a little bit on the rear section by the spring hangers

 

I got some pics on one of my projects, search "mascot".
It had rust in that same spot that I repaired.

:wabbit2:

 

Ok I will take a look... Thanks

 

This is a hard call to make without seeing It might be such a small area and no big deal to fix.

Then again I had one the owner brought me a truck It just kept getting worse .

Get it on jack stands take a junk screw driver go along both sides of the frame see how many places you can poke the screw driver through the frame.

Not a bad idea to have a metal marker or spray paint to mark all the areas you we hope don`t find.

If your friend knows what he is looking for he should be able to give a quick answer to how bad it really is.

 

Yea went thru it and the worst of it is at the tail end of the frame... From the front leaf hangers forward it is solid so I think I will try a repair or I have found a rear section of frame that is rust free to have welded in place... Or last resort the same guy has a full frame but I don't know if I wanna go thru all of that swapping for just a rear section

 

Whatever is cheapest or easier for you really. With steel, a welder and your time almost anything is possible.