HELP! FRONT LEFT FRAME HORN
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HELP! FRONT LEFT FRAME HORN
Hello everyone! so ive spent the last 3 mo working on semi-restoring the 2000 Super Duty 4x4 7.3 Supercab to be road worthy and now im at the last part the redhead steering box install, I knew the frame was in bad shape up there but when everything was striped away ugh its a lot worse than I thought more rot and cracks than expected all over both sides front to back especially on the inside by rad support where I cant get at it to weld and the section where the bottom bolt for the steering box is cracked and rotted also. I was going to fish pate on both sides but like I said its worse than I thought BUT I do have another good frame horn, should I repair or replace its cut right at the crossmember can I cut weld and fish plate will it withstand the stresses im stuck but I almost feel I have no choice at this point I looked around everywhere and could not find any info on this subject any help would be greatly appreciated thank you
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I had this problem in my truck. The frame comes as two sections from the factory. If you look behind the wheels just under the firewall, you’ll see a riveted and welded splice right in the frame rails.
I wound up up getting a clean front frame section from Texas shipped to me (the factory part is discontinued).
replacement isn’t that hard, either. Put the truck up on blocks behind the front springs, take the wheels off, drop the front spring hangers and let the axle sit on the ground, yank the front two body mounts under the core support, and pull the nuts off the engine mounts, then dangle the engine from a cherry picker.
grinding the welds and drill out the rivets. Takes about a weekend.
I wound up up getting a clean front frame section from Texas shipped to me (the factory part is discontinued).
replacement isn’t that hard, either. Put the truck up on blocks behind the front springs, take the wheels off, drop the front spring hangers and let the axle sit on the ground, yank the front two body mounts under the core support, and pull the nuts off the engine mounts, then dangle the engine from a cherry picker.
grinding the welds and drill out the rivets. Takes about a weekend.
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the frame horn supports the front spring mount. I would not mess with half measures on it, and rust rarely exists in just one spot. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can call around and get just a frame horn from a yard and cut fish plates from it for a better fit. There are no flat surfaces on the frame forward of the engine, so there’s not a lot of easy places to do a weld.
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rotted frame horn is it repairable?
outside view of front left frame horn / steering box mount holes one is not in view furthest from front of truck
inside frame horn at steering box lower mount hole other side of hole spacer is gone
front left inside frame horn rot next to rad support
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I took your advice and cut the fishplates out of a donor horn plasma cut fit grind ,grind some more weld it was some work but is the job is complete
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did the fish plate with a donor piece, it was some work like 16 hrs I had bought a new plasma cutter and it worked great it was a time saver better than using cutting discs anyway it came out nice also added the new red head steering box everything works ,so far so good thanks again will do the frame clip in april
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From the looks of the photos you posted of that frame, a pair of scissors would have worked just as well.
Heck, one swift kick might have done it.
So glad they don't salt the roads around here.
Heck, one swift kick might have done it.
So glad they don't salt the roads around here.
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