1997 Tacoma Frame rehab

[Dan B.]

This vehicle is neither fast or fancy, certainly does not fall under "Performance" but it is foreign.

Over the weekend I was given a 1997 Tacoma. It was from a retired friend that was dealt a poor hand with his health. I'd helped him a number of times and he was ready to get rid of the truck. He decided to pass it along to me since I like working on vehicles in need of repair. It's a SX (does that mean slow in Toyotese??), 2.7L, 4wd, 5 speed, 47k miles. This truck was missed in the frame recall....the original owner did not take it in. So, as expected the frame is toast.






Yesterday I started the frame rehab project. The bed is pulled, we hammered all over the frame to knock the scale loose and find the soft spots. Bed removal took about 45 minutes. None of the bolts fought me. Had this been a Ranger, ALL of them would have been broken off. Maybe this Toyota thing isn't so bad.





Oh....wait.....maybe this Toyota thing isn't so great.





Free Tacoma parts!!