Howdy again,

THIS TIME IT'S REALLY BAD NEWS!

Well I guess I've gone and done it. My frame is cracked right in front of the steering gear box. I was having the rivet welded that holds the frame cross-member because it was worn and the frame was flexing - I didn't catch it in time and now the frame is cracked. The guys at the shop said they could weld it but I told them to hold off because I wanted to talk to some other folks first. My big concern about dumping more money into her is that there may be other parts of the frame that are weakened as well. ANy recomendations?

Thanks,

Bart

 

It all depends on the truck and what it's worth. I would guess it can't cost that much for you to have the frame welded so I would weld it up and keep driving it since it is a running and drivable truck.

 

Find a peice of metal same thickness as frame and weld it across crack kinda like a bandaid,1x4inches and weld crack.I take it you have a lift kit on this truck?

 

jut go ahead and have them weld it if you ever do weld a piece of metal over a crack make sure you spot weld

 

I had a cracked on one of my trucks. It happened before I owned it, but whoever repaired it did a good job and I never had a problem with it while I owned it. A hole was drilled at each end of the crack and the crack was welded from behind. Also on the back side of the frame, it was boxed with 1/4" plate, about 4" wide. Another 1/4" plate was welded under where the steering box mounted to the frame.

 

It is necessary to drill a hole at each end of the crack. If you simply weld it up, the crack will continue. The hole stops the crack from continuing and will fix the problem

 

WOW GUYS - Thanks a lot! I thought I was gonna have to get rid my truck, but you all have convinced me that welding it will be just fine. I appreciate the advice on how the weld should be done - it makes sense about drilling the holes and I'll be sure to talk to the welder about it.

Believe it or not there is no lift kit on it. My front springs are so compressed that there's only about a 1/2 inch of play between the top of the axle and the bump stop. Now when I look at where the bump stop hits the frame it turns out that it is about 2 inches behind the crack. I just replaced the steering gear box, the high pressure line, the drag link, the inner tie-rod and both outer tie-rod ends (the pump seems like it's in fine condition still). And the rotors and front pads are only 2 months old. SO, I'd really like to keep the truck, I've got lots on memories of hunting, fishing, climbing, and skiing trips in her. And my dog loves the truck too, whenever he hears a Ford diesel his years perk up and his tail starts wagging! So Homerdog thanks you all too!

 

Glad we could help.

My question is why are your front springs so compressed that you only have a 1/2" of upward axle travel? Do you have some equipment mounted on the front of the truck or did you do an engine swap to a heavier engine that is too much weight for the springs?

After fixing the crack, I would look into changing to some higher rate front springs and/or taking some weight off the frontend and make sure your shocks are stiff enough to control the suspension so you don't get excessive bouncing.
What kind of truck do you have?

 

My truck is a 1991 F250 XLT Lariat, extended cab, long box, 4x4, with the 7.3L diesel and a C4 tranny. I bought this truck in 1999 from a dealership in Longmont, Colorado. It was the owner of the dealership's truck and he used it to haul his race car and motorcycles. I don't have any extra equipment on the front, in fact I still have the OEM bumper (though if ranch hand made one for my truck I'd swap it out). As far as what happened to the springs, I use this truck off roading to get back to trail heads here in the Rockies. Off roading, though fun, is not my primary objective and I tend to be as gentle as I can with my truck just to save money. Off roading by it's nature is abusive to your vehicle and continues to cost me money. That's why I want a horse!

I called up Denver Spings to order a replacement for these springs and they had me grab a number off the sticker in the door. I forget the name of this number but it was basically the number that they needed to match up the OEM springs. This number was 94A, and apparently that was the heaviest duty OEM springs placed on the truck. I spoke to my Dad about this and he recomended having Denver Spings add another leaf. On another thread in this forum a guy recomended that I just leave the old springs there and add air bags to the front. I got to thinking about it and what I'm thinking is that I should just replace the springs and mount busings now, get the frame welded, and then also add the air bags when I have a little more money.

Does this sound like a good path?

Bart

 

Well my truck is going in tomorrow moring to have the frame welded. Wish her luck! I also got new front leaf springs/bushings and a set of Rancho 9000's. Any installation tips?

Once this is all done she'll have new front springs, 4 new shocks, a new stearing gear box, a new high pressure line, and a new drag link/inner tie-rod/outer-tie-rod-ends. She should be good for another 282,000!

 

Bart, that sounds like a good plan. The add-a-leaf may make the frontend too stiff, but it will raise it up a little.

I have the Rancho 9000's on mine in the rear only, running Bilsteins in the front. They should bolt up just fine. I run all my shocks with the boots down. Other than that, there isn't much to say about putting on the shocks, pretty easy.

Sounds like your truck will be ready for another few years of faithful service!

 

Thanks SoCalDesertRider,

I got the compressor and in-cab controller for the Rancho's - After all this work I figured I needed to treat myself. I've never installed anything in the cab that has to go through the fire wall - I imagine it's just a matter of finding where all the other wires go through and figuring out a way of getting the wires through there. Have you ever done something like this. I'm thinking anyone that's installed the controller for the brake system for a trailer has gone through this.

Thanks for all the help. One of these days maybe I'll have enough background to help other folks out.

bart

 

Bart,

Cruise down to the auto parts store and pick up a package of rubber grommets big enough to fit your wires through the middle of. Find a good spot on the firewall and drill the appropriate sized hole, stick the grommet in there, then run the wires through it. You can put some silicone seal caulking around the wires to eliminate leaks. On my truck all the wires go through the firewall via factory connectors, so there isn't much opportunity to sneak another wire in with them. You can use zip ties to keep the wires under control and cover them with some plastic split loom if they go through areas where they may be subject to heat, oil or abrasion.

I didn't get the Rancho controller for mine. It would be nice, but I heard they leak and lose air pressure, thus changing the settings on the shocks, plus I didn't want to spend the extra money or do the extra work to install the system. I don't mind adjusting them by hand. My neighbor has the controller for his Dodge and camper and says he likes it alot. Hope it works good for you.

 

Go into the 80-86 forum and read my post in the thread "FRAME CRACK PREVENTION" from back in october. this is a fairly common problem I dealt with it 3 times untill I fixed it fr good....

 

Thanks UglyTruck, that's a nice job you did - I'm not much of a welder (only ever welded rebarb for concrete forms) so I had the guys at the local 4x4 shop weld it. It looks like they drilled two holes to stop the crack and then laid a nice bead over the crack. I'm thinking I need to weld a patch over the section of frame this summer. - at the moment my truck is up on jack stands waiting for a u-bolt to come down from Montana. I snapped it trying to remove the bolt. Hopefully I'll have her back on the road by tomorrow night! And then I can start looking at the frame again.

I've scrapped and painted my frame each year that I've own her in the spring to keep the rust to a minimum. The outer frame is easy to keep clean, but the inner frame is hard to get a wire brush up in there, so there's a bit of rust there now. Any good ideas on how to deal with this?

Thanks,

Bart