When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Friends f150 decided to let go of its upper control arm mount this week.
I do alot of fabrication and took on the job for him. I've done a lot of jeep frames, and there are companies that make replacement frame sections, just curious if anyone knew of any that made them for the Fords.
This mounts placement seems very important for correct camber so I'm hesistant to box everything in with 1/8" myself.
My apologies...I was so flabbergasted by the photos I forgot to read the post.
Might be better to replace the whole sub-frame. I'm sure it can be done ...but by the time you get everything clamped down so it can't move & cut out the rotten area and fab up the plates and return it to some structural integrity. Not to mention getting the upper A arm mount in a correct location. YA could probably have the whole sub- frame swapped out with a descent donor from a salvage yard.
It beggs the question, what about the other side and the integrity of the engine mounts on the inside of the frame?
If your a decent welder, it can be done. I have done similar, but not on an F150. The "new" mount will need to have the holes within 1/8 inch of the original location so you can do a proper alignment. Note that the bolt thru the rubber mount needs room on each side for sockets to get to the head and nut. You loosen the bolt and push in or pull out the control arm to get proper caster / camber. If you know what your doing, it should work OK ...... watch out of the ABS wire / brake line / other elect cables in the area. Of course, your removing the inner fender and a variety of item for access for the welder....... I agree with the other posters, your going to replace or beef up a section of the frame also, in addition to the mount....... as mentioned, check motor mounts, etc and make sure this is worthwhile and an isolated problem.
Wow. Thats ugly and 1/2!! Does he live near a salt factory or something? We have a lot of salt on our roads in the winter but I've never seen something that bad on a truck this new before!!
Went for it yesterday. Tore it down and found a good 6" hole in the frame. Motor mounts were solid. Decided it was worth the fix as the rot seems to be isolated in the front half of the frame. Top is 1/4" sides are 3/16". Boxed the stock mount with 1/8" instead of fabbing one because of time/money concerns from the owner. Ran out of gas so had to use Innersheild but welds come out OK. Got the factory mount as close as possible and replaced the control arm while I was in there because of the operating angle of the ball joint when the mount broke.
Set the camber adjustment to around 50% to allow for stock adjustments. Only the alignment shop will tell the truth. If it's off, cutting the welds for the mount in order to relocate shouldn't be too hard.
