Owners Beware!!! Check Frame Here!!!
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Muskogee, Oklahoma
Owners Beware!!! Check Frame Here!!!
Hey, I just removed the passenger side spring cup on my 84 B2. I have to widen it for a D44 TTB, but anyways. When I finished removing the rivets and poped it off the frame, I had a hole the size of a nickel rusted through right above the center rivet. It also showed that it went all the way through the the spring cup as well. That whole area is rusted pretty bad. I have removed other brackets and seen nothing like this. I will have to plate the frame and the spring pocket to make them strong enough to be useable. That area acts like a bowl. You'd think that the water would just seep through and down around and between them and it would be ok. Nope. Once you get a little dirt in there the water sits and sits eating away at the frame. The dirt not only keeps it from seeping on down but holds the moisture for further destruction. Anyone who has a B2 needs to clean that area out and really look the spring cup over and the frame behind it. Thought I should say something, don't want anyone to get hurt by a broken frame.
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Joined: Apr 2003
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That is good advice
This afternoon I was cleaning up after last weeks wheeling. I had to gouge out large chunks of mud that was stuck in the cup. After reading your post, I think a little more thourough inspection is in order. Thanks, I had about 200 pounds of mud stuck under the truck.
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Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Muskogee, Oklahoma
Yea, definitely. I have been sick the last two days or I would have already got started on the plating. Before I finish the truck to wheel, I will have completely coated the underside with multiple layers of paint to help. I am also painting the frame inside and out. If it is damaged on your truck, removing the mounts and fixing the damage would be alot easier than having the frame break in half at that point and leave you stranded on a trail. That would suck. Good luck, hope yours don't look like mine.
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From: Muskogee, Oklahoma
Working alot, but got the passenger side fixed. Put a 5 inch tall 10 inch long 1/4 inch thick piece of plate over the offending area and welded into place. That along with 2 more inches of tube spacing and the mounts will be where I need them for my D44 TTB. Gonna work on it tonight, the weather has my work shut down. I work with cranes and when 4 inches of rain fall and its stormy well you can guess the lightning, but think about trying to get a 100,000 pound plus vehicle out of a muddy field, not nice. And no you can't use the winches on the crane for pulling itself out. You either have to have another big damn vehicle like a Dozer, loader, or something like several of those semi tow trucks. It gets expensive, thousands expensive.
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Muskogee, Oklahoma
Krahabors, thats a good idea, as long as you keep the mud and debris from clogging that hole up, plus the mud itself will be holding water that won't dribble out that hole, it will be with that mud till it dries into dirt. So if you keep it crap out after each outing and that hole ought to be able to control the damage. I finished welding the plate over my frame last night on the passenger side, and started on the spacer. I left 2 small areas unwelded on the bottom of the plate in case moisture gets in from the bolt holes or the hole in the frame on the other side, I will also use some of that expanding foam around the frame at places to keep moisture out. Just keep in mind if you guys do that, to not put it somewhere you might need to loosen a bolt or something, because it will suck.
