Sway bar bracket separated from frame

Today I found where the sway bar has separated on the passenger side. The bracket came off and brought some of the frame with it.

Is the frame a loss? Can this section be repaired? I'm not keen to drive without the sway bar long-term.

This is an '02 Tundra with 175k; rest of the frame is rusty but no other serious holes or soft spots. It has a couple of soft spots in the bed though, and a transmission fluid leak, rack/pinion leak that need addressed. Basically trying to do the math on whether to fix this up or cut losses. Appreciate any thoughts!

 

How is the rest of the frame? Are there any other obvious holes? May have to get down there and take with a hammer. I am sure a latch could be welded there but have a hard time believing that is the only spot that looks like that……….might be a total loss depending on what you find.

 

Thanks for the response. The rest is not as bad, no holes but lots of surface rust and it's headed in the wrong direction for sure.

Do you think welding on a new bracket would hold the sway bar in place?

Some representative pictures of the rest of the frame:

 

Some would say I'm biased living in the south, but I wouldn't feel safe buying driving that truck.

Often, it's not the rust you can see that'll kill you. It's the rust you can't see. If that's what you're seeing visibly, I'd be worried about what you can't see.

Is your truck ineligible for the frame recall?! It's an '02, it should be eligible if it wasn't checked previously.

 

Sorry, meant DRIVING the truck, not BUYING it. Sheesh.

See here for frame recall info: https://www.tundras.com/threads/early-1st-gen-2000-2003-tundra-frame-replacement-faq.54331/

 

The second picture you posted concerns me…..that flaking is indicative of cancerous deep rust. Once it starts delaminating like that, it is likely much deeper than you realize. I would check in very bracket, joint, etc.

i honestly don’t know if you can patch that frame and hold a sway bar bracket. The first picture in your original post shows a crack creeping up the frame…..that looks like a catastrophic failure waiting to happen

 

Great minds think alike!

Also worth mentioning, you can't weld without clean metal. If it's flaking like that, you won't be able to go deep enough to reach clean metal until you get really far away from the problem area. I didn't notice the crack until you mentioned it. Yeesh.

@twvancamp if you go to https://www.toyota.com/owners you can setup an account, assign your truck's VIN to yourself, then review any dealership service records. If the frame was ever inspected or treated, you'll see it there.

If it was never treated as remediation for rusty frame, there's a strong possibility you may be eligible for frame replacement.

 

Thanks @shifty` and @shawn474 I appreciate your attention.

Unfortunately, the truck had the frame treatment at some point so I don't think it's eligible for any help from Toyota. Especially considering the other issues the truck has I feel like I need to let it go. Seems like it'll just turn into chasing problems and waiting for the frame to snap.

 

Sad if it's the case, but I understand. Your life isn't worth it.

If you're not driving at highway speeds, I guess you could wait for it to crack, then file a comp claim with insurance. If you have comprehensive on your truck, maybe you already can file a claim and collect due to the swaybar breaking? If no comp, maybe not. I don't know how insurance works very much.

https://www.autorust.com/product-category/toyota/tundra-2000-2006/

There are some frame parts out there, maybe you're aware of that link. Toyota actually has some frame parts available still too, I found this out last month helping another member find a specific towing pkg part.

 

That frame is toast. You can try to patch it up.. but it’s a bandaid on a bullet wound

 

Damn yeah think you're SOL. If only the initial recall notice would have been ignored. Stupid how that works.

 

That’s Toyota version of a sway bar quick connect (or disconnect).

 

Keep it off the highway and drive like a grandma, you don't want to get hit in that and have your frame split in two before it just naturally happens.

That truck looks like it NEVER had an undercarriage wash other than going through a deep puddle in the rain and I question if THAT ever happened.

Go to www.autorust.com and find some parts to weld on in it's place if you're determined in keeping that thing.

 

Is anything holding up that motor mount? Looks like it's going to collapse.

 

Lack of the sway bar is fine. First thing I do when I buy a vehicle is delete the sway bar.

But that is unfortunately the least of your worries. The frame is in seriously bad condition.