'05 trd rusty bed advice

First off, I'm super stoked to find this forum. Looks like a great community y'all have here!

I just bought this outwardly beautiful '05 trd with $150k.

I'm very eager to get it sorted for a family adventure vehicle. I am primarily interested in mountain biking and canoeing road trips, so my goal is to get a nice cap for it.

The truck is completely sound as is except for the rust around the bed and bed supports. The frame is in great condition amazingly, so I think it's worthwhile to invest in fixing the bed.


I'm seeking advice on the best way to do this. Is there a way to rebuild/replace the bed pan so the existing good condition paneling and paint can be salvaged? Should I just look for a donor bed?

I should mention, the body shop I went to thought it's still fine structurally for several years, so this doesn't need to be addressed immediately, but I'm sure looking for a donor bed (maybe even color matched ), will be a long process.

Thanks y'all!

 

You might have overpaid a bit.

Can you weld?

 

lol, oops. 150k miles. I was typing on my phone so I could drop the photos in.

I cannot weld, but I have a friend who can do *some* welding. Otherwise it'll be finding a shop that's capable.

 

You should update your location. A rusty bed is not usually where the worst rust is. Was the frame replaced?

 

Updated. The frame was not replaced, but it is somehow in much better condition than the bed.

 

Lookit upper rear shock mounts?

 

I would clean it up as best as you can with a wire brush and regularly apply some fluid film until you can source a color matched bed.

 

https://dicksautoparts.com/i-238993...access-cab-6-2ftburgundy-short-truck-bed.html

can you paint?

my bad, i just saw AC, but i thought the DC’s had 6.2’ beds.

 

Do ppl normally upload full images or thumbnails?

Driver's side

Passenger

Driver's side shock looks pretty bad.

 

For the right bed, I'm not opposed to getting the painting done! I kinda intend to get this thing as cherry as I can, within reason.

 

Welcome to the forum! Read through my rebuild thread and see what I did. I manufactured those angles that the bed sits on while bolted to the frame. It would entail pulling the bed off and cutting out the rusty support angles and then fabricating/welding the new ones on. You could also buy some Z angle and just bolt it to the bed floor in place of the original angles that were attached at the factory.

 

Holy crap. Yes a replacement bed is probably more my speed! I wish I had your skill set and drive, that's amazing work!

 

you dont get it by taking the easy route. If you replace the bed, fix the old one.

 

Your missing the bumpstops on your leaf springs too, replace those when you replace the rusted rear shocks.

 

Nice catch, I didn't notice that

 

Engine bay photo for reference on the rest of the truck's condition.

 

To each their own.

if i was in your shoes:

 

Not exactly subtle, hahah! Do they have utility beds that specialize in hauling bikes, camping gear, and/or canoes?

 

Ladder rack and ratchet straps.

 

Thanks much..
Like @Sirfive stated, keep the bed and practice, practice, practice...

 

Something doesn't look right there. It almost looks like the frame has more rust than it's showing and that someone covered it with something. I'd start poking around with a screwdriver on that frame. Drop the spare tire and look there too.

 

Run the VIN on your truck to see if it's a previous frame replacement. Wouldn't surprise me based on all of the delaminating rust you can see on other components. Surely you can find a replacement bed with a straight floor pan and frame section and have your bedsides and tailgate welded on. The replacement will be cheaper if there's existing panel damage. You won't need them if you use yours.

 

The Tundra version of the lady at the end of the dark bar at 12:30am....

 

Do you mean on the Toyota site or is there someplace else it might be recorded? I'm not seeing anything that would indicate a frame replacement had been done.

 

Any dealer should be able to take your VIN and tell you, or there's a website for recalls also. The alternative is that the frame has been coated and hasn't suffered like the rest of the parts. I just doubt that's the case. It's not important for your problem, but would be good to know.

 

If you go to https://www.toyota.com/owners you will be able to create an account. You can then enter your VIN and pull up any work ever done on that truck at a Toyota dealer.

 

It's apparently never been to a dealership.

 

That's possible....

 

The only time we've seen the rest of the truck more rusty than the frame is if the frame was replaced. Since you can't find any records, that concerns me. It looks like someone may have painted over the frame rust and you can see areas where it's starting to flake off. I'd be digging around a bit further.

 

Someone here said something along the lines of ‘look with a hammer’