Looking for some advice and sympathy! I'm neck deep in a frame off resto of a 53 and noticed a crack in my beautifully powder coated frame. Ugh...just my luck. I noticed this a while ago but thought it was just a powder drip. After further inspection from the other side of the frame I'm pretty sure it's a crack. Based on some searches this doesn't look like a common crack location on these frames. Fixing this would be pretty involved as part of the crack looks to be under the cab mount and the center engine crossmember brace. Fun times.

You'll notice it right along the pin to the right of the cab mount.

 

If the truck will not be loaded down to capacity on a regular basis, or sold as a concourse "as-new" show truck, I would just leave as is and enjoy the truck as much as you can. Inspect it every 2-3 months to see if it grows considerably. You can also drill out the exposed ends which stops the crack from growing, generally.

 

Stop drill, paint the drilled area and enjoy the truck. Does not appear to be an area of high flex unless you're running multi hundred HP. JMHO.

 

It's a got a stock 292 in it. This old girl will be just for cruising locally.

 

I'd be surprised if that's really a crack. There are no real forces along the axis of the frame there. Usually cracks in this area are across the flange, where it is something you can't ignore.

 

Very common I see this about 1 in 7 trucks I look at. Almost always on the pass side too but I have seen them on the driver side though just not ver often

 

Stop drillled it...it's for sure a hairline crack.

 

Howdy,


I don't think hese old truck frames were heat treated like modern trucks are. That particular spot doesn't appear in a structural area and probably won't hurt a thing.

If it were mine, the frame was bare, and I was going to install a stroked/balanced/bluprinted/turbocharged 460, I would probably remove the rivets, drill/weld and patch-plate it.

Here's some good stuff on truck frame welding/drilling etc......
Tips on truck frames

If I was going to run a stock 292 and just drive it, I would probably drill it and call it good!

Cheers,

Rick

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Seems like the consensus is to drill it and leave it.

Bigwin, you ever see this spot develop into something major? Fixing this down the road once the truck is done would be a huge pain however fixing it now would be a pain as well.

 

Nope just a crack about 1-3" long

 

I vote drill and paint. if you want put a bolt in it so it looks like something.

 

Yep that's what I did. Thanks everyone!

 

now you've got ME looking for cracks!

 

That was my first thought as well.....

But Naaaa, I'm just gonna wait till my wheels fall off.

 

I know I have a crack but with where it is I'm going to weld it up.