Frame Damage opinions

[Geonovast]

Unfortunately during my 4wd trans swap, I discovered some frame rot under my 4.0. All I found was on the frame, none on the unibody. I think it looks fixable, but being unable to weld and having little to no fab skills and frame experience, I thought I'd ask the experts before I started deciding what to do for spring.

 

 

[Pete M]

it's all "fixable". cut out bad stuff - weld in good stuff. Since you won't be doing the work, the question becomes more of a "can I find someone that's willing to do it". Got any welding friends in your new neck of the woods yet? :brows:

[Eagle]

Where on the frame is this? Got a couple of views from a little farther back, to put the damage in perspective and give a better idea of the relative extent?

[Geonovast]

This is the best I could do without actually crawling under the truck... didn't want to risk getting snow on the camera.

 

It's on the passenger side, between the unibody and the leaf spring bracket. It's on the inner bottom corner, right next to where the exhaust runs.

[mythreesons]

I'll make sure that Lenard see's this. Maybe he can help.

 

Scott

[GreenF350]

Sounds like the same spot I just fixed. The 1st thing I would do is clean the area ( wire wheel ) to see just how far it actually goes. Mine got worse as I "poked" around. Its all fixable, and now you'd never know mine was rotted. The way these trucks are built though, I would make it a priority.

[Geonovast]

I can't do anything until spring (nowhere to work on it, etc). But the truck will not be going anywhere until then.

[500 MJ]

You just need to nail down a welder to help you out and it will fly along Correy. You might be surprised at how easily it can be fixed.

 

Before you get any work done on it you can start by getting your materials assembled and then you'll be ready to go. From what I remember seeing of it would think your best bet would be to get some Angle Iron that will cover over the rusted area. Make sure you get it to cover OVER the rust as the metal that seems to be "good" once you cut out all of the bad will still be thinner because of the damage. I think it will also be easier for you to lay steel on steel and weld it rather than do a butt weld with your thick angle and the thin truck steel. You CANNOT make a patch too big, you can always cut it down to fit. Adding on to a patch panel that is too small is not a good idea/practice.

 

Once you have the length of angle steel you need you can cut reliefs into it with your sawzall so it will be able to be bent to follow the contours of the frame. Having all of this work done when you take it in to get it welded will greatly decrease the time the welder needs to spend playing around with your truck - giving you a better price out the door and a happier welder. 90% of welding work is prepping the surface to get welded - the other 10% is actually burning it in.

 

So once you get the patch panel made up and get it to a welder, make sure that when they weld the truck up they support the frame of the truck directly under the patch by jacking the patch up into the frame and then welding it in. This will take all of the tension off of the bottom of the frame and transfer it to the top during the repair. This keeps the frame as close to "stock" as possible.

 

Like I said, it will be a fairly quick job when it comes down to actually welding it. You shouldn't stress out about it cause it really isn't that bad. 8)