Bed rusted through, what can I do with it?

Recently picked up a 2000 Access Cab, and took out the bed liner today. I found about 10 spots of bad rust (pictures). I tried to find steel underneath one of the worst looking ones, and it was rusted through completely (also in pictures). I'm also fairly certain several other spots are rusted through, but I haven't started digging through rust, seemed unnecessary.
I'm admittedly new to the world of rust repair, what are my options? Can a shop repair this or weld a patch (Linex over after), or am I looking at hunting down a new bed? Does anybody know what I can expect to pay for that (ballpark of give or take 100)

Thanks!

 

@Mnorris1206 may be able to help

 

My uncle was going through this in Michigan and I have been keeping my eyes peeled for a bed locally in Texas. You can find a used bed here for around 500 bucks but it’s that plus paint. I bet it would run 1000 by the time your done. I wonder if you could just cut out to clean steel and patch stuff in more reasonably. Then bedliner over it top and bottom.

 

Take it to welding and body shops (they know how to weld also) and get comparison prices. Wonder how rusted out the frame underneath is.

 

Looks like she is bubbling up from underneath. Might have some bigger issues with the cross supports below the bed. Investigate further.

 

He better start that VIN check for frame replacement availability.

 

A shop could definitely repair it. How much $? No idea. Depends on too many things.

Cheap DIY:

That needs to be cut out. I would lift the bed, drive out from under it, and cut those out and weld in some new pieces. You can cut them out with a reciprocating saw if you don't have plasma or oxy/acetyl. If you don't lift the bed, MAKE SURE THERE IS NOTHING UNDERNEATH THAT WILL BE CUT (fuel/brake lines, wire harness, x-members, shocks, ...) and don't use a torch or plasma.

If you don't have the equipment to weld in new pieces, you could just rough finish the new pieces in and put the liner back over it. On one of my trucks, since I was putting the liner back in, I cut out the old, temp placed a piece of sheet metal on the bottom side, and filled back in with fiberglass. Overlap onto some good metal to give the patch more strength. I sanded it down some and then rattle can painted. Been in there over 3 years.

 

Your best bet is to see if they make a hole bottom patch panel. The problem I had was they dont make one for the 08 tundra yet. Or take it to a local body shop but all they could do I'd patch metal in. I'm still dealing with mine. Someday I will get it all done. Have patches now need to take the bed off and flip it over and sand blast it then line it all underneath.

 

This. Not cheep https://parts.evanstoyota.com/p/Toy...Panel--Floor--Center/63446505/653110C010.html

 

ditch that rusted bed and put a flatbed on her.

 

That sucks man. I will have to save this thread for the next time someone wants to claim that plastic bedliners don't lead to rust

 

where about are you, im assuming east coast? I pulled my plastic liner out of my 96' Tacoma worried there was going to be holes like that and once I scraped out the 50lbs of rotting bark that had made its way under the liner over the years the paint was nicer then the paint on my fenders, but I live in the desert essentially.

 

Unfortunately with my truck that's not how it happened the rust started from the bottom along the cross brasses. .

 

Only 84k miles on my 08. Rust sucks.

 

ugh..I hate rust.

 

Looks like the OP's is from the top down to me?

 

It's hard to see really but any where there are bed bolts there is a brass all the way across and toyota doesn't have any kind of paint protection between the two parts.

 

But I agree 100% drop.in bed liners will cause rust for sur .

 

I too wanted to see if my plastic bed liner was causing rot and used some 2x4’s and a shovel to wedge the liner up for visual access. As best I could see nothing major except some surface marring from the underside of the liner. Used a hose to rinse out piles of mulch.

Can’t pull the liner completely off without removing side boxes, which will happen soon so I can fully do big box spray liner and then re-install the plastic liner for double protection. Might spray the plastic liner as well.

I’ve been under the truck and investigated the cross-members that only reveal slight surface rust where they meet the bed.

 

Sorry I'm late to reply, just getting back home. First off thanks for all the suggestions and replies! Wanted to offer some answers to those that have speculated a bit, at least from my limited experience.

1) Rust on the cross beams is virtually non-existent. I could see a couple of small spots underneath, but nothing that was remotely close to this. I was lucky enough to have a couple of more experienced friends suggest where to look for rust, and managed to avoid the problem with frame rot for now at least. Granted, I haven't pulled off the bed or any major parts to look for rust. I just went underneath with a flashlight and took my time looking around. No bubbles, no deep rust, only small amounts of surface rust.

2) I'm almost certain the rust came from underneath on the worst of it. The pain in the bed was bubbled, and the worst of wha I saw from underneath on my inspections was located on the other side. Mnorris1206 mentioned the lack of rust protection in between metal peices, and I'm guessing that's a big factor here. It seems to have started in the cracks between the bed and the support beams for the bed (not to be confused with the frame of the truck). Although some of it seems like it may have come from the top, the worst of it seems to be starting somewhere in the middle or from the bottom.

3) My hope right now is to try and patch the rough spots, and cover it over with a rubberized bed liner (linex maybe) after a thourough cleaning/patching. There are a couple of body shops in the little town nearby that I will probably talk to, but if anybody has more suggestions I'm absolutely open to them! Unfortunetly, money is going to play a heavy part. I paid 5k for the truck, and as much as I would love to dump money into it I'm hoping to keep it well under 1k in repairs. Wether that's a realistic hope or not we'll see.

Thanks again all!

 

Very good Wright up here you just described the underneath my truck amd same thing to a T . My truck looks brand new underneath it. Just amazing that the water gets in between the metal parts as you said and causes all this issue. It seems like they haven't figured it out yet eather because I know a guy local with a 2016 and he already has a very small spot in his bed als .

 

• Take bed off. Bang all the rust off. Next scrape and cut all rust off. Turn upside down and treat with Opsho. Spray paint with rust converter. Finish cost with Rustoleum. Turn back over and Re-install and drive it to welders and let them do any structural fixes. Finish coat painting after welders per above recco. Spray big box liner and reinstall plastic bed liner.
• Lots of work but thats the right process. Welders cost should stay well under your budget, but you’ll work your butt off in DIY sweat equity for a lifetime fix.

 

Quick Update, looking for opinions:
A local body shop (came highly recommended based on their work, not price) sat with me and walked through costs. Most beds for a replacement came in around $800-$3000. On top of that, his quote for the work to repaint and match the new bed came in at $2,900. The total is likely to be $4,000. I wish I could say I would pay that, but after just paying $5,000 for the truck, it's just not realistic.
Is this remotely reasonable for a bed replacement? Is there a cheaper way to replace the bed? I would like to get something new, simply because this seems to have a LOT of rust along the rails of the bed. Or is my best bet to try and have the holes repaired by an amateur welder?
Thanks again for all the help! The more I look at it the more I expect to wind up taking Professional Hand Mode's advice but want to make the most educated decision I can on this one.

 

Where are you located? Maybe check for a salvage yard replacement?

 

Use the salvage yard search engine car-part and you may get lucky and find one in decent condition that is the same color.

http://www.car-part.com/

 

Do everything I stated above except skip the welder until you can afford it. Remove the cancer and prevent further corrosion is the key for you.

Or, just drive it till it rusts off.

 

No way I'd pay $4k to repair a bed on a truck that cost $5k. Find a used bed front a junkyard and get some friends to help you swap it out. Worst case, pay a shop to do it.

 

Yep. Pretty much my thought. Since the rust areas are in-between ribs, and I already own a wire-feed welder, I would buy a big sack of bi-metal recip and hacksaw blades, and small sheet of steel to match the bed floor. Remove the bed, set it up on saw horses, cut out the rust areas in rectangles, cut a patch from the sheet to match a hole, weld in using with a hundred spot welds (until it's welded continuously), grind it smooth, repeat until all holes filled. Prime and paint with Rustoleum rattle cans. If you don't own a welder, buy one and sell it on CL after the project is done. Even better if you have a buddy that knows a little welding and has a machine.

Edit: If you find the bed support beams compromised beyond repair, then you abort the plan and find a used bed. Hopefully, it'll be the same color...or a color that goes with the cab.

 

I'm in this same boat as OP and @Mnorris1206. I have the plastic liner and can see from underneath the truck that I have at least two spots that the bed has rusted through. Both are along the sides right behind the wheel wells. I'm scared to remove the liner and see what else I've got going on under there but I checked that car-part link provided by @weadjust and found one in my city that is the same color as my truck! Maybe I should see what condition it's in...

 

Funny that you mention me my wife has been all over me about getting this completely taken care of but I'm so mad about it I have put it on the back burner I did get 2 of the 4 all done but still need to do those others then get under the truck and rust proof it then get a spray in bed liner