Wondering if you guys can help me with this decision

I found this 03 tundra with 100k on it for a decent price, although these rust spots are my only hold up in buying it.. is this a show stopper or should I have it reinforced and ride it out? If not, about how much is a frame swap? I'm in ne fl if that helps.

 

If I or a member of my immediate family were a retired welder who could handle that in a few days for fun AND the price were excellent, then I'd maybe consider it. Otherwise I'd keep on truckin.*












*Away from that truck, riding in some other truck.

 

I'd pay $1k for it....

I'm not sure what you call a decent price...but I wouldn't pay more.

Isolated rust holes are easy to fix....systemic rust problems are a disaster.

It looks like someone painted the frame, which means it could have huge rust problems under the paint all over the place...rarely does a frame rust through in just one or two spots...usually those are just the worst spots of a frame that is rusted 80% as bad everywhere else.

Look for other place with even a hint of bubbling paint, and tap them with a chipping hammer, I'm guessing those are not the only holes.

 

That frame is toast. Even the lower control arms are in danger.

 

We see some vehicles like this from back East and refuse to work on them due to the liability. Run and don’t look back!

 

No, no no......

 

I would never drive or ride in it. Run Forrest, run.

 

Hell naw. The metal is literally flaking apart underneath whatever coating is there. You're basically buying a parts truck, unless by some stretch it's eligible for frame replacement.

But you'd need to do some legwork in the Toyota Owners area to see if it had previous inspection and coating under the frame recall stuff, and if it has, Toyota won't frame swap. If you have a donor frame and you're willing to do the work, you could get away with it for under $2k-3k assuming not too many parts are toast. If you have Toyota do it, you're looking north of $10k. Private shop, given the labor involved, will be somewhere in between.

If you're actively hunting a 1st Gen, I recommend you check this thread, or if you need to understand more about Toyota Owners signup -- https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

If you need to see what's involved with frame swap, check @t.mcginley.jr's post over here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/first-gen-frame-interchange.96760/

EDIT: I updated that 1st link, the newbie info thread to reflect the above info.

 

Throw some spackle on it, a coat of black paint and call it a day.




















Seriously, it's rusted from the inside out. Off the scrap heap it must go.

 

Nah, you can't put spackle on your boat anchor. It'll come off the first time you use it.

 

Rust issue is why it’s up for sale

 

No doubt.

But I suspect the reason for the rust is more nefarious than @Tzfied realizes. The only time you see that much green growth on rubber and steel is when something has been submerged, then sat without remediation.

The truck in question is undoubtedly victim of a flood situation, where it part of the truck was submerged, underwater, for at least a few days if not more. Given it's in FL, I'm not surprised by this.

That's also probably why it's being eaten from the inside out - water sat inside the frame for an extended period of time. Sadly, some stupid sucker will end up buying this, not knowing to look for frame problems.

 

This one is a hell no.

 

I've been on those mountains IRL.

 

That's a storm surge truck.

 

Exactly. All that green growth, it might've been sitting underwater a while.

 

Run.
Spent a lot of money replacing rusty shit

 

You spelled potato wrong.

 

What would Avery say?

 

I see no rust spots but I do see rust holes. That's gonna be a no from me dawg.

 

Avery wouldn't say anything. He would just release his Avery laugh.

 

He only laughs after he's done arguing with Mike.

 

I'd watch a show with just Avery and Gerald Cooper from Clarkson's Farm shooting the shit about cars and shit. That would be a hoot. LOL

 

A wiser man than me once said, "Potato, Potatoe"

 

I doubt that. Unless he didn't spell it as well.

 

There was definitely he as well, but I was referring to @bmf4069