This is my 93 which i threw on jack stands today pulled the rad and started cutting and grind out the frame rust damage.
I got the truck in 03 with 29,000 on the clock in great shape except this spot in the frame... it rotted through last year and now I am finally fixing it

would love some advice on how to prep and repair this... I have a 90 amp wire welder, hoping it will be enough to get penetration.

any suggestions on what to kill the rust with? por15?

 

you will definately want to por 15 that. Clean it real good and find out how far back that rott goes. I've never seen rust like that

 

I would find out how far back the rot goes, cut it out, wire wheel the crap out of what is left till it's nice and clean. Get some Osfo, wipe the clean bare metal down so it wont surface rust while you are working on it.

To fix,first make some templates for your patch panels then get some 1/8 thick plate steel, transfer the template on to the steel cut out patch panel and weld in. For the front crossmember get a peice of square tubing 1/8 thick should be fine, measure what length you need, cut, then weld into place.

O and for the radius rod brackets that bolt to the factory crossmember, line them up on the new one, drill hole straight through new crossmember, drop in new bolts and tighten down. I hope this makes sense, not the best at directions, and dont forget to por 15 it all after all the welding and grinding are done.

Hope that might get you going in the right direction

 

Good advice with the osfo! Thanks! I knew of similar products but that is what I need.


I will post more pics of it mostly cleaned up. the ds rail is the worst but I didn't have to go back very far and the steering box area is still solid.

I want to clean it up a bit more and I have some 2" strap steel 1/4 thick
which I plan to cut and patch in
I may buy some angle or square tube but the square I cant weld inside the ends if that makes sense...
anyway I want to por15 the inside of the rails before I weld in the pieces best I can without getting it on the welding spots

Is a 90 amp flux wire welder good enough for frame work?
any suggestions for what tool works good in a tight area like this to grind?

 

Rot

I see this all the time here in New England. You should sandblast until you have all of the areas of rust to near white. Than cut out the remaining thinner region of frame with either torches or a plasma cutter. Make some templates with cardboard or similar material. Cut metal plates and weld into place. Be sure to paint it back up.

 

Wish I had a sand blaster, plasma cutter and torch!!! Bring yours over and help a bro out man!!

Here is some progress
not to deep into the rails shouldn't be to bad to patch up...

 

holy crap batman! Just cut off and grind the rust away and fabricate another support to replace the old one. Make sure you paint it too or use some kind of protectant to keep that from happening in the future. Thats pretty nasty what you had.

 

Like he said cut all damage away,remake support & use the Por-15 on all!!

 

man i just gave away a front frame section to my neighbor, he's using it on a wrecked 4runner.. lol

i don't suggest using the 1/4" plate... when using a fish plate (load sheer gusset, brace, whatever you want to call it) you only want it to be as thick as the metal it's being welded to. if you go thicker the fish plate is now stronger than the frame and can potentially cause the frame to crack.

i'd imagine the 90amp welder will work fine as long as you use 1/8 material to do the repairs. the 1/8 will be plenty strong. the factory outer wall of the frame is about 1/8, and the inner is a hair over 1/16.

 

Update

Finished the frame repair, used 1/8 2" angle. worked well and I got some practice welding.

Also I am about halfway thru a 4runner headlight conversion without changing the rad support...

Here are some pics...

 

nice job!

 

looks pretty good compared to mine lol

 

looks good man. Nice job. Never be scared of fab work. Bolt ons are for rookies....