i know its my fault not getting to look at before the last bid ,with only 175k didnt think it was going to be bad with every thing else is good on the truck so i guess to see if i can find a frame from non rust belt area

for what year and model truck

How about some pictures of this CreamPuff ? Was it a Plow Truck , or haul a Sander in the back ?

Since we are guessing on what year this truck might be, most of the time miles has very little to do with the condition of the frame due to rust. Rust doesn't usually count miles, but it sure jumps at the chance to get to the metal over time. The rust starts the first day it rolled out of the factory doors, some worse the others. One of the big Japanese auto companies had to replace frames on 5 year old trucks because many had failed to the point of being unsafe well before the 5 years had already passed.

Most of us seem to loose time the longer we own a truck. We look at miles and think its not so old, or it doesn't seem we have had a truck THAT long. The hard truth is, a 2003 truck is 20 years old now, and a 2013 it 10 years old. That beloved 93 Dakota or the last of the old series Dodge trucks are 30 years old. No wonder I'm having a hard time finding good 1st gen Dakota frames to build my hot rods on top of...

Friend of mine, his 2005 Chevy Colorado pickup literally split in half after being lowered from a lift. Which lead me to thinking I'd better check my 2001 Dakota. So far, I've not found obvious evidence that my Dakota is on the way to parting way frame wise. But this also lead me to thinking of going ahead with a frame swap project. So unless the front half of the frame from my Dak is in really bad shape, it'll be spliced/welded to the back haf of the 56 Dodge C3 I bought.

Maybe it's one of those recalled Tacomas or Tundras that had the frames that rotted to pieces.

Depends on the rust. I've seen non rust belt guys freak out at some surface rust before.

how bad is the frame,we plate them all the time as long it not real bad.need pictures.

how many frames, rear rails, upper control arm mounts, spring mounts, torsion bar mounts, on and on and on, i have repaired by plating over, or cutting out and replacing with 12ga or 1/8" steel plate over the years.
as was said above, how bad is it ?
that answer will determine whether to plate or cut and replace.
cut and replace may sound like a lot of extra work, but is really not as bad [in most cases] as a guy would think.

My brother has an Isuzu NPR van body truck, been driving it for many years to service his rental properties. He brought it into the dealer for some fuel system work. Dealer parked it and told my brother they can't/won't work on it because of frame rust. Didn't tell WHERE the frame rust is or what EXTENT of frame rust caused them to react that way. They just said it has frame rust and he needs a two truck to haul it out. I have seen his Isuzu up close and I find it hard to beleive it is so severe that they want it off their property. He'll find out soon the extent of the rust.

Whites Auto Salvage... I drove down for a Dakota frame and came back with that and a Ramcharger... Disassembly was nice not the rust belt crap.. it's kind of like taking a step back in time! The place reminded me of a junkyard in the '80s when there was still cool stuff there!

https://www.whitesautosalvage.com/home

I did frame rust repair in my welding shop for 25+ years. Some of them really were bad enough I wouldn't touch them. Some didn't even make it onto my driveway before I stopped them and told them to leave! One guy brought in a truck with one side frame rail completely separated into two pieces, when the had it in gear and stepped on the gas, the frame lifted in the center, and one rear side lagged behind the other more then 6" when it moved.
70s -90 Chevy truck frames rotted out along side the fuel tank. Most Japanese trucks had the bottom 1/2 of the boxed frame rot away (both sides and the bottom was gone), and would start to split between the bed and the cab. The Ford trucks often rotted out near both ends of the rear spring shackle mounts. Often the boxed sections on the Ram front frames and and Dakota frames rotted out from the trans crossmember towards the rear to where the C channel was attached Those areas were the most common, but certainly not the only possible rust areas. All of them had issues, some repairable, some not.

I bought a 96 Dakota 4x4 with 44,000 miles on it from a different shop. it was the drive train donor for my 49. From the outside the truck looked great, had a little crusty look on the rockers, but the rest looked great. The guy I bought it from had bought it from an auction with no rear brakes. He expected the rear brake line was bad. He drove the truck home from the auction (over 100 miles), drove home great. When he had the time, he went to put it on his frame contact hoist to change the brake line. As soon as the lift started lifting the truck, chunks of frame started hitting the ground! Naturally he stopped and took a better look. The frame was so rotted, you could pretty much break off a piece from nearly anyplace on the frame and crush it between your fingers. Never would have guessed that by the way the truck looked. It was a great parts donor though.

Buying any truck? Take the time to really look under the truck to see what shape the frame is in. The newer stuff is not immune to rust either.

I still do not technically understand why sacrificial Zinc plates are not bolted to frames, and “problem spots” on body parts.

It works on pipelines, boats, water heaters, metal roofs......

When I lived in Northern England 1978-1980 owners of older sports cars repeatedly warned “stupid yank” about British laws that would send a vehicle to the junk yard if the frame had even “minor surface rust.”

my one buddy bought a really nice chevy pickup one time that only had 33k on it.
it was bright red, and there were no marks on the body or bed at all. super sharp looking truck !
until you looked under at the frame..............the part you couldn't see past the wheel wells that had undercoating and black paint...........
what a mess !
i spent a "few" hours under that truck fixing things that shouldn't have needed fixing, because of rust.

Why no sacrificial zinc plates? Easy, cost, and is it even effective? But you bring up an interesting point. Though I wonder how well it works if the chassis is not immersed in water (as a boat is), or does it still offer any benefits on a steel chassis randomly exposed to wet road spray which may or may not contain corrosive. I plan to use my 56 C3 pickup as a daily driver, even up here in Wisconsin. I will have to check into mounting sacrificial zinc plates on the chassis to focus corrosion to a easy maintenance item, if it really does work.

https://www.boatus.com/expert-advice/expert-advice-archive/2012/july/how-do-sacrificial-anodes-work

https://www.promain.co.uk/blog/resource-centre/protecting-classic-car-chassis-zinga/

https://www.autotrainingcentre.com/blog/truth-electronic-rust-protection/

I learned at an early age that many dealers from rust belts would launder rusty cars thru southern dry state auctions, don't just assume it is rust free because it is not in a state that build most USA made cars (also the same states that salt the roads really bad). When I was a kid we didn't have car fax, now that is my primary use for car fax, miles don't mean squat if a car spent it's life in a rust belt state. This summer I spent a lot of time looking for a handicap van for my ant and almost flew to phoenix to find a rust free car only to keep finding they had all come from green bay and chicago auctions.

It would be nice if the OP would post back the details. He was on here yesterday so he is an active member. Probably just a venting post.

Yup . We are all still waiting for Pictures of this CreamPuff . We can't wait to see the underside Pictures . Did someone say it was a Saltbelt Truck ?

At least these days we have all sorts of VIN search options to check the life history of a vehicle. So if it "did time" in the winter tundra of Green Bay it hopefully can be found out before a purchase is made.

The same is applicable for coastal states as well especially regarding trucks and suvs especially, if it's spent anytime on or near the beach it not only be rusted on top but, also on the bottom. Florida and Texas vehicles can have the same issues. Rust Belt cars suck and some places now that didn't use road chemicals in the winter now do from what I heard especially in some parts of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It also depends on the owner and how they tried to take care of it. I'll take a bad interior and paint for no rust if I can. I've had one exception with a NE car. Would you believe this car spent all it's 110k miles in New York and New Jersey from 1984 to 2015? Regardless of mileage that's why I ask for for pictures underneath and other things if it's a distance away. If the owner can't provide that to me then I just move on.
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