Tundra Shopping - Please check out these frame photos

I read the sticky on first gen purchasing. It's what's making me suspicious of this frame. Tell me what you think. Owner is being very upfront. I can't imagine a 23 year old vehicle having paint this clean, but they aren't mentioning a frame recall. Other parts of the frame are what I'd expect - dull, a little surface rust. But the frame and underside of truck around the the wheel wells looks freshly painted. What do you think?

These lower mileage, clean ones go so fast...I'm needing to travel to find one, so I'm being very cautious before committing to the expense of travel.

Thanks!

 

I'm in California.

The photos of the frame look like my 2005. Not much rust on mine, so depending on where the truck spent most of its life you could be fine

 

Looks a little suspect, but maybe they have a reason. Just straight up inquire about it. Maybe they paint or apply protectant to certain areas regularly and only those areas because they can easily reach it. Maybe they even reached in there with a wire brush regularly. Who knows! Just ask and let them answer.

 

Cool thanks. They've got somebody coming to look at it tonight, and in my experience so far, that means it'll be sold before I get a chance. But we'll see...

 

Good call, thanks. I asked how it was so clean, and he said he just had it detailed, but of course detailing only cleans up what you've got, it doesn't keep something that clean for two decades.

 

Maybe the detailer hit it with "tire shine" in some places. That will bring dull frame paint to "life" for a short time.

 

Nah, someone painted that. And it may've been with good intention. Clearly it's seen some rust, but nothing outlandish. And those splash aprons on either side of the strut tower are new.

 

That has been pressure washed and has been painted at some point in the not so distant past but it looks clean underneath it in comparison to what a real rusted frame looks like. It appears that it was also sprayed over with tire shine, hence the rubber splash mats being so "blingy"
The underside where there has not been any cover-ups dont look bad at all though. Sure its got a little surface rust around the welds but its not the whole crossmember rusted. Honestly i would rate that as an 8/10 in todays market, that is pretty clean honestly.

 

Great, thank you all. If the entire frame had the dull, 'a little rust around the edges' look like most of it does, I wouldn't have second guessed it. But those shiny new looking spots stood out to me. I feel pretty comfortable with it now, but if he doesn't sell it tonight and is willing to wait for me to get there, I'll talk to him on the phone ask about those spots specifically.

 

On the other end of the spectrum...Is this just very surface-rusty, or is it leaning toward rot? Second photo is the one that worries me. This one I could get to without flying...

 

Top of that diff is pretty ate up. You're gonna have a hell of a time popping bolts off anywhere on that thing.

 

I'm not convinced the first frame was painted. That's exactly how mine looks after fluid film.

 

Yeah, great point. It lived most of its life out west, but its first few years were midwest. It's significantly cheaper and closer, and as well maintained as the best ones I'm looking at. So I guess the call I need to make is: is it just rusty, and will cause more frustration with broken bolt heads etc.? Or is it the type frame rust that says "do not purchase, I'm a massive problem waiting to happen"?

 

That's great to hear, thanks. I hope to hear back tonight whether it's been sold.

 

Mr. Shiny Frame Tundra is sold. This is a recurring problem, which I'm sure surprises no one. Unless something pops up within a couple hour drive of me, I'm not sure I have any chance. The first person to look at these things always leaves with them.

 

that’s surface rust
That’s not rotted
Yeah the top of the diff has some scale but it’s not deep and it’s still got factory paint on 80% of the diff.
Main thing to look for that most overlook is the exhaust pipe and muffler hangers. Regardless of whether the frame is clean, rusty, rotted, or doctored and painted, one of the easiest ways to spot a problem is to look at all the hangers on the exhaust. They were mild steel, not coated, and rust thru pretty easily. Look at any of the pictures of the kinda bad and bad frames and you can always see the hangers are always hour glassed and as thin as a pencil due to the rust eating layers and layers off the surface of the hanger rods. The hanger will be solid, the normal diameter of the pin in the rubber isolator but behind it where the steel pin is exposed it will be thin and hour glassed as the layers of steel are shed making the pin thinner and thinner. I’ve seen plenty of the pins the diameter of a pencil and some rotted thru. This is a precursor at what the frame is going to be like. No matter how doctored the frame is to hide it, the pins of the hangers always show the exact life the frame has had and nobody ever thinks to doctor them or paint them or fix them.

 

Great advice, thanks. I know exactly the kind of rust you're talking about. Seen it with some bolts I've tried to get out.

I'm going to check out this frame...I mean truck tomorrow. Unless there's something big I'm missing, I'll be driving home with it. But it's good to know that if this one doesn't work out, the rustier one could still be an option.

Thanks for all the help! Will let you know whether I'm a real member here soon.

 

:thumbsup

 

I know it can be frustrating that good trucks are leaving right underneath your watchful eyes, but in reality, especially those 1st gen trucks are at least 20 years old or almost there, so you would want to be careful to not only jump on a deal because it looks like a deal but is a screaming rot hole 200 miles later.
Good thing, @shifty` is real good on spotting those from what he can see, but take your time, it will come, and you will be glad that you did.

 

I think @The Black Mamba has better peepers than me on it. That last one he posted doesn't look too bad. Just needs to be sure to look in the common problem areas for flaking/delamination.

 

These pics are a little harder to see anything noteworthy. The front caster nut doesn't look like it's ever been loosened or adjusted. That doesn't mean anything though. Just follow the advise for looking at the common rust areas.

 

Don’t forget to look for bed rot hiding under any liner, spray-in or otherwise. These trucks rust from the bottom of the bed up into it. Judging from your frame, it’s probably not an issue.

 

What year is this one?

 

2002. Photo from top of bed. Don't have any from under. The seller (and I) are pretty sure the original owner probably had a bedliner in there most of its life.

 

Oh sorry, getting my photos and posts mixed up. The above photo I just posted is of an '02 I'm looking at tomorrow. Rusty photos you're asking about are from an '04, but I just saw a message this afternoon that it sold. It was closer to me and cheaper, but all those bolts would have been a pain even if there wasn't any true rot.

Guy with the '02 from the photo of the bed above, and the latest clean frame, is holding off showing the truck until I make a choice, so it's mine to turn down or drive away, finally. Carfax shows all service records from the day it was bought, and it's clearly been treated very, very well.

 

That bed is clean AF
I like it

 

Do it!

 

It's always so exciting watching new members get the truck they've been waiting for.

 

Looks like a Bedrug if you ask me.

 

Well I did it. And drove it home 360 miles, nice and smooth the whole way. Of course I'm paranoid about a new-to-me truck, and I'm used to my 98 Tacoma 5 speed. So the noises and the feeling of it shifting on its own are things I'm going to get used to over time. For now, it's hard to tell what's normal and what to worry about. And it was really gusty wind the whole way so that didn't help. But everything seemed to go perfect. Backup cameras seem like a pretty common mod for these?

I've been towing a camper with my Tacoma for years. Will be great to use the Tundra. It's got a hitch and trailer brake. I assume even with beefier suspension than the Tacoma, I'll want airbags or something extra back there, but at least most of the tow-mod work is already done.

Thanks everyone for the advice.