How to Properly Repair Rusty Frame of Toyota Pickup Truck at Home

Today I'll show how I repair the rusty frame of my 1985 Toyota Pickup Truck/Hilux at home in my garage. I'll also explain why the frames of Toyota Pickup, 4Runner, Tacoma and T100 commonly rust out and how to prevent it.

Products used:

Some VERY rusty Toyotas I've owned:

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Here are some other Toyota videos you may find helpful:

[geekers]

I just bought a 94' Nissan pickup with about 10 years and 100 thousand miles worth of Ohio salt and rust. I keep watching videos of Californians/Southwesterners working on their 30 year old trucks with only the slightest surface rust. Then I look at my rust bucket and get discouraged when every bolt I try to remove is seized. Glad I found your channel!! Good to see someone with the same issues that has to use the same work arounds to even do the slightest repairs and maintenance! Thanks for these videos. Ive learned a lot

[mojorocketman]

Had there been YouTube videos like this back in the 90's I'd still have my Toyota Landcruiser. Toyotas from the 80's were notorious for rust.

[codecircle]

Glad to see you take your safety seriously. Very nice job on removing everything, and cleaning it out, and then oiling it down after you made your MIG welds. I've always believed in oiling up your iron afterward, It's got a great history of fighting the rust off.

[petedandrea]

Cover it in Fluid film or bar and chain oil If you cut it with Diesel fuel you could spray it out of a gun. Amazon even sells a kit with Fluid film.

[jflabeets]

Only because you asked here is some constructive criticism:

When using a smaller welder, you should grind angles into your plate to get more penetration.

Flux core wire will weld thicker metal than gas shielded. At least according to the chart on my 2 welders.

When you make a repair like that it is better to build a box from 2 pieces of angle and then place splicing plates on top of the repair. Those splicing plates should have plug welds at points along the plate. The reason for this method it that your frame could suddenly split in half along the welds because of cracking caused by road vibrations. The best example of how to do this was on 4wd 24/7’s channel when they modified the 80 series to extend the frame.

[glen]

Fellow Ohioan here, I feel your pain with the road salt. Nice work on the frame!

[X-Y-Z.]

It was entertaining to watch and since you asked here is some food for thought on welding
Setting up the machine is probably easiest by the sound of how its welding
it should be a very consistent fast paced buzz
Welding is the art of heat control, too much heat and the whole part becomes soft and on some metals like stainless it destroys its rust properties and makes it brittle
too little heat - thick base metal being cold and the weld being hot, rapidly cooling down induces massive stress in the molecules cristalizing which result in cracks
Cracks are the worst outcome of a weld because they will propagate into the base metal and split it apart
dealing with cracks - you never want to weld on top of a crack instead you want to cut into the crack with your grinder so you take the metal out and eliminate the possibility of crack spreading
if the part is of high importance or is under a load then you have to drill small holes at the ends of the crack on top of grinding it out
Use a mindset of Heat = Time
the more time your welding the more heat you input into the part therefore you can crank the wire speed up and weld on thin metal by moving fast and the base metal stays solid
same with thick metal, you may need to preheat it before welding
Welding Positions - you would weld differently looking from above than if you were to weld from below looking up as you did in this project
laws of gravity are at play and with heat the metal gains viscosity
opposite happens as it gets colder it becomes hard and brittle
to do it properly you must take into account your angle of torch relative to the weld
going 90* is gonna result the most penetration and most likely will burn quickly through your base metal
the optimal is 30* in either the way your welding (push/pull) to ensure the most control over your input of heat and metal
with horizontal welds angle your torch 30* to the direction your going and 30* aiming up since the metal is gonna drip downwards from gravity and you keep pushing it up
for now i suggest you to work on your consistency and straightness of your welds and ignore the weaving patterns
get those lines straight and consistent
for best penetration, adhesion and formation on the other side of your piece you have to bevel your edges
easiest way to do it is run your grinder between the two pieces so it cuts a line between them halfway into the metal thickness
Tacking the pieces together is important
i saw that you held the bottom with a clamp as you fully welded the top
heat warps metal and bends the whole piece upwards raising the gap between your plates making it stick at an angle
having a clamp hold it does the job but i would still tack it on the bottom to ensure it cant bend out of position
tack diagonally from tack to tack going fully around it to ensure it cannot change the shape and create gaps
welding builds tension and stress in the metal due to change of heat and cristalization speed of metal which in turn increases the risks of cracks
Therefore you have to weld at a 1 3 2 4 pattern with your welds ending into your previous starting points to spread the heat and stress evenly across the whole piece
Going vertically from top to bottom is unacceptable in load bearing structures because of insufficient metal volume and penetration, so do it only on pieces that dont hold more than your own body weight at most
going from bottom to top vertically is a hard achievement to learn for people learning the skill but thats the only way you will have the piece not fail on you
if there was no side rail adding strength and rigidity to your frame i would encourage you to redo the welds
a tip you can use is weld the thing in tacks. start welding each new tack on top of the previous one before the metal stops glowing from heat to ensure that no cracks form and it fuses properly, for this you may have to hold it for a while depending on the thickness of the metal, otherwise welding vertical the proper way needs you to do a weaving patter going form side to side and pausing for a while to add volume.
i saw you had problems with welding accuracy by having welds not getting between the plates and just welding on top of the plates not even connecting the pieces together due to having problems seeing.
Yeah it sucks and its understandable, but remember there are people who get to weld hanging upside down in very high heat claustrophobic places with their arms extended sweat pouring down their mask with a MMA electrode in one hand bent more than 90* while holding a mirror in the other hand with nearly no room for error with pressure to complete the job. i can tell you it sucks real hard but you get to look back on it with a sense of pride because not everyone can do that irrelevant how much they get paid.
So ABOVE anything else the 1st thing that separates a professional welder from amateur hobbyist is the prep work and planning before each and every weld they do
it is literary 80% of welding, making sure that when you pull the gun, nothing can go wrong.
Get as comfortable as you can, from a side it might look lazy when the welder is lying down on the ground as if they have no care in the world but they are actually making sure that their hand doesnt get tired while doing the weld, it doesnt ever snag on anything, nothing is obstructing their process from start to finish. before each weld glide your hand over as if you were welding to test if it is perfect, worst thing that can happen to you is you hit your gun against something and it ruins the whole thing. in a professional environment you will be expected to grind the whole thing out and do it from start, certain types of metal cannot be stress heated multiple times and may result in cutting the whole thing out and doing it from the start. often these specialized metals with certain properties cost thousands of $ per sq ft area so as you might imagine, do the mistake twice and your fired.
basically comfort is your #1 priority for fancy welds, there is no correct way to hold the torch, if its more comfortable for you wrap it around your neck, hold it upside down, whatever.
after you got comfortable the next priority is sight, you cannot weld what you cannot see. i personally dislike the fixed shade lenses but they provide the most safety for your eyes, some old timers just got used to them before the auto dark existed and just stayed that way, some cant afford them. remember that the more light you let them pass through the more you will see what your doing and whats around you and the more UV will get into your eyes and damage your eyesight. all you need to see is the puddle of your weld and and right around it to see if your still moving correctly.
generally your movements should not exceed the width 2x of your wire, so it is a very small surgical precision.
I think consistency is only achieved through reacting to what you observe, dont look what goes next, keep it in your peripheral vision. dont stare into the brightest spot of weld, instead look at your puddle as it is cooling down and forming the shape. react if you need to move slightly faster as its getting too liquid or you need to slow down to add volume and prevent welding defects like undercut.
to be a good welder follow these 3 golden rules:
1. prep work, make sure nothing can go wrong, your fit up is spot on, the bevels are even across the whole length, there will be no surprises.
2. comfort. Your hand is so tired its killing you, you find yourself to finish the last inch you have to extend your arms in a unnatural way, it will directly reflect on the quality of your work.
3. consistency, your line looks as if its one single continuous flow with no thin or fat sections and no deviation to the sides, robotic movement.
it all comes naturally by experience just laying down welds with the intention of the next one being better than the previous one, there was a time i couldnt do something no matter how i tried and how angry i was and now what i can do with nearly my eyes closed thinking about something completely unrelated.
Another thing i would like to point out is that you grinded down your welds to go over the parts with no visible fusion, remember that the shape of the weld matters in how stress travels across the metal. since you didnt have full penetration at certain points and you grinded it down, a lot of the metal didnt get inbetween the plates to fuse them together so in reality while you cant see it, there may be barely anything holding it together making it the absolute weakest point in the structure, arguably even worse than when it was held together by rusted metal as it may be thinner.
Welder and paint may make you the welder you aint, but in the end of the day its your health your risking if the structure fails on you at the point of highest stress when you dont want it to happen the least, in this context imagine you drive over a bigger pothole while going full speed down the highway, your frame splits, the car leans to a side and you get thrown into the opposite lane traffic. Bad welders cost lives.
So to finish this long rant i want to remind people that this is only the tip of the iceberg not even touching the water, you start in welding, dive into metallurgy, find yourself in chemistry and get lost in physics. i hope people who make it through this wall of text gain more knowledge and respect on the subject. nobody knows everything and nobody is too good to learn. having the skillset of gluing two pieces of metal together and have them stick is gonna give you the possibility to create anything that your imagination is capable of projecting and is gonna be valuable till the very last day you spend on this earth.
If anyone has anything to add, feel free.
To 6th Gear Garage, if you have any questions feel free to reach out, i feel like this channel is on a path to become big, good to observe it in this stage

[JardineiroRaizes]

Man, what dedication to your truck. I think most folks would have scrapped it a while ago. Nice work.

[gehringer]

Great video...Just so you know...When I done the rusted parts of the frame on my 95 Tacoma I used a big extendable magnet tool to get the big chunks of rust out of the frame. It was pretty easy that way. Then I put the shop vac on one end of the frame as I used compressed air on the other end to blow the smaller rust particles into the shop vac. It worked pretty well for me. Its just the way I done it... and another option. But good job bro!

[leehotspur]

One tip for you mate, You used hot rolled steel No probs Best though to grind of all the blue mill scale or usr cold rolled, then prime both sides with red oxide primer buff the edges before welding After welding dress welds and prime up you then have along lasting surface ready for final coating Internally you can, for existing metal use a phosphoric type oxidation arrester which goes black and chemically seals the surface and also can hold a primer for extra protection I am a retired Fitter welder and have done plenty of this work Your Video was well presented for an amateur, well done

[thechuckster]

This is great! I had a 1989 Toyota 4WD pickup that I bought new in May of 1989 for 12K. One of the first things that I did to the frame was to coat it with Karnak roofing tar. I've read stories on how you should never coat frames with Karnak, but that was years after I had already coated it. If it's good for a roof being exposed to 4 seasons of punishment, it must be good for the truck frame. I must say that when I sold the truck in 2016, there was not a bit of rust or corrosion on the frame, and I lived in the New York Tri-State area where they apply salt to the roads just for kicks. Body panels and doors were all loaded with rust, but the frame was the least rusted part of the truck. The center cross piece that held the spare tire carrier was rusted beyond recognition and that was because I never coated that. I now own two Tacomas. My older Tacoma that I bought used is showing signs of corrosion and I'm going to fix her up because that was the last good Tacoma engine and transmission wise. My other Tacoma is a 2021 which I'm not too crazy about, but I intend on keeping it for a long time. So, I plan to coat the frame with Karnak. Hey, if it worked the first time, it should do OK for my newer Tacoma.

[zoichikanoe]

That's the enormous advantage of the old style frame compared to modern car chassis. It's an immense advantage when you need to work on it. Not a perfect looking weld but as far as it contact the two pieces fully and as deep as possible, it's a good one.

[groundskeeper]

That was a great job. Looks like the previous guy who welded the rusty spots on my frame just patched over the rust like you said. Oh well. .. I'll try to make my repairs more like yours. Thanks for all the great advice. Excellent video. Subscribed!

[eerikkinuutinen]

The next coating: If You ar e willing to clean the whole frame very well, then clean it and brush a coat of zink in it first, attach some boating anodes and then coat it with any soft rock guard. After the zink and soft guard on top, it'll last a thousand years.

[boorhadly]

Did you consider descaler for the inside? On areas that you can reach with it anyway.. also, Eastwood has a great internal frame coating that reviews well.

[tommys]

For future reference you should use a 220 setup to weld stuff that thick if you want good penetration. Also remember higher amps isnt always more heat, more heat can be added by moving slower. Beveling your plates will help as well. Also flux core welds pretty good as long as you switch your polarity, most of the time they come out pretty decent with only a little spatter.

[mattgiorgi]

Hey man great video just a bit of advice unhook your battery terminals before welding or grounding the vehicle! This trucks older so not to many sensitive electronics! But good practice is to unhook the battery!

[BusterMcRib]

Your patience, attention span and attention to detail are very admirable

[Tropaxseli]

I did the same job on my Pajero/montero gen/mk 1 . I also used a naillscaler and air hammer outside of the frame. It really helped to losen and brake of the rust scaling on the inside and even pulverize it in smaller chunks for easyer vacuuming. I also blassed it with air/chock tank on the opposite ends.
Its also really important to jack up the frame and even brase it so it wont bend, twist or sagg were you have to cut big holes or litle left on the frame.
I filled it with fluid film and a diy redneck mix of geease, wax and oil inside after 2 weeks after the fluid film... Just for sh*ts and Giggles

[TheRoadhammer]

I rebuilt the frame on my F350 and used a product called Steel It. It's a spray on, looks like galvanized when dry. Been 8 yrs in upstate NY and no rust. It is pricey though but after spending 15k on a rebuild of the truck and the time invested, it was the best option.