Rust second opinion needed

Hey guys! I am looking at this truck in Virginia. I am not sure for the history but the frame looks decent. Can I get a second opinion?

 

@shifty`

 

Also I am new here so if there is a thread dedicated to second opinions kindly direct me that way.

 

I’ve definitely seen way worse, and I expect some of our New Englander folks would stab someone for a frame like that.

That said; I’m on mobile and it doesn’t look bad at all. I’d like to see more, the rear diff, shots at the frame stiffeners, and where the frame upturns beneath the master cylinder on driver’s side, and where the spare tire carrier meets the frame rails. Those are the worse spots.

more info here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

Make sure you shine a flashlight into the box portion of the frame up front. My frame is spotless on the outside but once I look into the abyss I can see a little rust.

 

Not bad at all. There's rust and you don't want it to spread, but I wouldn't shy away from it at all. It's certainly a point to bring up when negotiating the price.

 

As far as 20 year old Toyota trucks go, that must have been a garage queen.

 

surface rust, no holes and fairly minor at that. proceed without worry.

 

Rust, what rust? Around here we would call that "pristine"!

Seriously, there are plenty of much newer trucks on the road in my hometown with WAAAY worse rust than that. I'd say go for it, wash it up, maybe get a little fluid film on there, and count yourself lucky.

Cheers!

 

Coming from the rust belt, doesn't look bad at all. Looks like surface rust, don't see any delamination. As others have suggested, if you can look inside the frame rails that would complete the picture. As for preserving the frame, slowing future rust, annual treatments of fluid film, or every other year of wool wax would probably keep the frame solid for the rest of the trucks life. I went through an in depth rust treatment and undercoating process on my '21 using a mix of Cosmoline RP-342 and Woolwax. Get some clear lanolin based undercoating like fluid film or woolwax (same as fluid film but thicker, supposedly lasts a little longer) in spray cans for cheap peace of mind.

 

Holla from the rust belt. You find woolwax might last a bit longer than fluid film? That's interesting - I just fluid filmed my fairly rusty 2001 for the first time this fall, and have been wondering about how long the FF is going to last and whether or not it will come off when I wash the truck. The truck doesn't get driven a ton in the winter, so my plan has been to thoroughly wash the underside on a dry day in fall before roads are salted, fluid film it, drive it all winter with the fluid film on, then ??? Wash in the spring to get rid of salt, or leave it for a while so I don't blast all the FF off?

 

Very closely check this area with a hammer and screwdriver as well as the front portion inside the wheel wells and where all the crossmembers meet the frame.
Mine looked very similar to this and with wire brushing and hammering reveled it needed patched.

 

Looks good for what’s shown. It’s what you don’t show, you need to take a closer look at (areas others have suggested here).

 

Woolwax just seems to be a little thicker than fluid film, but both are lanolin based and are probably very similar. I used woolwax inside my bed cavities and frame rails, cosmoline for the rest. I’ve heard fluid films good for a winter and your plan to apply dry in the late summer/early fall so it creeps better is perfect, and then come spring if you run it through a wash between that and a winter of wet spray from driving it supposedly will be mostly gone.

 

Not sure what part of Virginia you're in. I'm in Northern VA and just finished my search for a Tundra about 2 weeks ago and the ones I looked at are way worse than this--night and day difference. I'd say frame wise this is a winner for the most part based on those pictures especially for being the original frame. Following what shifty pointed out is probably a good idea. What year is this? Access cab or double? is it 4WD?

 

I just had Woolwax applied to mine at a local Maaco and it does seem pretty thick (although I do not have a reference of using anything else so far to compare it to). I plan on supplementing the Woolwax application with Fluid Film on the insides of the frame box by sticking a hose attachment in the small hole openings throughout since it creeps better.

 

Frame looks decent to me. I also noticed what _Spencer_ said, and you should definitely check that out. Outside of that, more pictures are needed from areas like shifty mentioned.

 

I Found a different truck much closer than me. Truck was in California and Washington and looks great other than the fact that the dealership recently spray painted parts of the frame. She looks way too shiny. Let me know what you guys think.

Here is the link to a video to the frame if you are so inclined:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Ndqama8Kw&t=167s

 

Can't tell if they spray painted or coated it with a sealant or oil/grease.

 

That doesn't look like spray paint. Looks wet

 

Oil on frame to make it look newish and over-greased u-joints that are spewing grease everywhere. Typical dealers.

 

What does everybody think of this. Supposedly an Arizona truck and everything else looks great other than these sections. Very good deal other than this rust.

 

Doesn’t look as bad as it seems at least in the last pic (that can be treated). I can’t tell how bad the weld rust is due to the poorly focused picture. That’s typical if it’s surface rust only.

 

Signs of de-lam beginning here, and in 2nd pic, you can see things coming apart at the body pinchweld, some loooong and substantial bubbles forming up under the paint. Clearly it's been in salt before, I'd expect that's what something would look like after a season or two of salted roads, or in a place like Colorado. But none of these pics show the typically-bad spots which is obviously concerning to me, given it's never the long sides of the framerails that rot out, but it's usually about 75% of what gets shared on here. If you don't know what problem spots to look for, see the megathread.

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Again that picture shifty highlighted is exactly how mine looked and what I thought was just a small blister ended up being a fist sized hole that needed patching.