yeah the factory welded on it... when it was clean. thats the problem with cancer... once its there, its pretty much there to stay. theyre right about cutting it all out <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />, thats pretty much the only way to eraticate it. i sandblasted and treated mine before we put the sleave on, and it still came back. fyi, watch your heat when it gets welded up... you need alot of heat for good penetration, but to much heat can cause the metal to stress and become brittle. youll get cracks propagating out of the welds if the rust isnt completly removed, or if you use to much heat... in my case the rust was still inside the frame tube where i couldnt get to it. cuting it out wasnt an option... it had eated way to much of the frame, about 2/3's of it in a section about 14"'s long. that poor little truck will turn into a pile of dust in about 1000 years and that sleave will be all that remains...