Thoughts on this amount of rust?

Hi all, what are your thoughts on this amount of rust on an 06 double cab 4x4? Shopping around right now... trying to understand what's acceptable vs what to 100% stay away from...

What do you think?

 

Looks fine for what you show. How's the back of the rear differential? Got any holes in the bed under the bed liner?

 

It sort of depends on how long you intend to keep it and wether or not you are willing to clean up some minor rust or not. Tell more details and you will get better advice.

 

I can tell it's lived in salt, but the photos are really not helpful because I can see the rear axle housing and rear brake/hub components are rusted to hell. Though clearly someone has done some stuff here to refresh things.

Need pics of the following spots:

• Where the X-shaped crossmember over the spare tire meets the frame
• Pics of the cab mounts, external to the framerail
• Where the leaf springs tie into the frame
• Inside the framerail, where Toyota riveted in frame stiffeners (there's at least one inside the framerail just under the cab)
• Back side of the pumpkin/diff

 

One other thing that jumped out at me also was this... Red circle, clearly the frame has been coated in the past and is chipping away, but ... with what? And blue circles, especially left one, I see metal delaminating and flaking away. And it's weird, I don't see similar on the long sides of the framerails. If I'm seeing this on non-consequential spots that usually aren't bad, along with the condition of the rear axle housing etc., that's why I'm skeptical and would dig deeper. This is about what I'd expect for, say, a Kentucky or Oklahoma truck.

​

 

Thanks for the insights yall. Unfortunately, these are the only photos of the frame/underside at the moment...

Goal would be to keep it for personal use for many years. Yes - willing to clean up minor rust / get it treated.

Thanks @shifty` I'll be sure to check these spots in person before I make a decision to buy on any 1st gen tundra. This one in particular is a bit far away from me, so I was determining if it was worth it to go see in person.

Your mega post I see get linked frequently has been super helpful, I appreciate the amount of detail.

 

I'm worried because it LOOKS like someone painted over rust. This may be wrong, just how it reads on my computer screen....which means it could be a lot worse than it looks.

If that isn't the case, I'd say its not too bad, but I'm suspicious that there may be something hiding underneath the paint.

 

I live in the rust belt and that does not look bad at all for an 06, I have seen much much worse on this fourm.

 

Doesn't look like something I'd walk way from for that reason alone. It's workable.

 

Agreed. My one caution would be surface rust alone that you plan to treat is probably okay, but surface rust plus a truck that needs a lot of wrenching probably isn’t unless you’re a rust belt mechanic and that’s your “normal”.

My truck has similar-but-different issues (Utah truck), and depending on the area you’re working on, nuts and bolts may be more excited about coming loose than not. This makes working on it more or less exciting depending on the job.

 

One thing I’ve learned from living in the South in the past is NEVER bring your rusted northern vehicle to a southern mechanic if it can be avoided. They have a habit of breaking every rusted bolt. Lack of exposure to dealing with rust will do that.

 

It really is all perspective. I used to get REALLY turned off by rust, but the truth is that a lot of the time (not always) it is just as workable as anything else my western ass is used to.

When I go hang with my FIL in the midwest, he will just casually cut away body panels and repair rusted out sections as casually as I would change out some axles or something. It's just part of the deal over there. My heart skipped a beat the first time I saw his 4 year old diesel (probably cost 70k) with rust all over it coming through the body. Business as usual there.

More to the point, is that 1) most of it tends to be workable depending on your skill and motivation and 2) there are some key points on these frames that are legitimately critical and that you CAN walk away from because there are other options to choose from if you're patient. Shifty outlined a few, but those didn't particularly stand out to me.

Anything that is factory welded in and/or supports weight (cannot be removed/replaced easily) should be checked closely.

 

I would be out. But I don't like the pain of working on rusted out vehicles. This one is a 5-6/10 currently. 10 being full swiss cheese. At this stage, delamination is occurring in some spots visibly and possibly others in more difficult to assess spots. Bolts are frozen together, thin metal like backing plates are getting more brittle by the day. It's an organic process that is still progressing. How much are you wanting to invest time and money wise to remedy this? And despite your efforts, you still have a rusty truck to deal with. If this is the deal of the century or an inherited truck and you want the pain, go for it, it's not too far gone. If not, there are still good rust free medium mile trucks to be had all over the south. They pop up near me in the $4-8k range often.

 

My rust level looks similar to that truck. And I’m in a 2012 from Oklahoma originally. It’s not bad enough to walk away from.

 

I appreciate the input yall. I opted to pass on the one above.

I wish was an ongoing thread in rusty frames and if they’re decent or not… hard for me to tell without a lot of experience with this type of stuff and I feel bad posting frame pics constantly.

If anyone still sees this, any thoughts on thieve pics of a new truck I’m looking at? Looks good to me?

 

More concerning than the rust, of which I'm sure there's some, I'm seeing white overspray in the rear, all over the trailer wiring receptacle, which tells me some repaint action has happened here, and it's been in some kind of accident. I can't tell if that's also overspray in the front or not, that looks a bit older. What's out back seems fresh to me. That's the downside to buying from dealers ... especially non-national-branded dealers. I try to avoid buying anything from dealerships unless it's an established brand. You're going to get a better deal and less lipstick-on-a-pig/cover-up shady ass shit.

 

Are we glossing over the wheels on the red FGT in the background?? Never seen any like that. Not sure how I feel about them. Still in the not-for-my truck bucket, but interesante

 

Yeah I’ll ask about it… but seems shady to me too. Maybe if the deal looks to good to be true it is.. thanks as always @shifty`

 

The 2nd one looks pretty good. Keep posting pictures. Don't rush

 

Found one that seems to be a great deal but it's far away from me ...

06 Double Cab 4x4 121,xxx miles for ~$15K from a Toyota dealership... Does this link work? https://imgur.com/a/n90cCoI

 

Linky no worky.

 

If it's the one in Spartanburg, SC then it's about 45 minutes away from me. Looks pretty clean.

 

That is the one! I'm way over in Southern California though

 

hmm, maybe this? imgur.com /a/n90cCoI#zcs0lKa

 

Nada.

 

Link assist: https://imgur.com/a/n90cCoI#zcs0lKa

 

And that's a damn near spotless frame IMHO. That's better than some of the trucks I typically see down here. When you can still see full stickers intact on the parts underneath ... it's a no-brainer. Check the maintenance history.

 

Much better pick.

 

Anybody buy that thing? Nice truck.