Crack in frame??
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 850
Likes: 14
From: Fayetteville, NC
Crack in frame??
Hey all....I've been looking at buying a 77 F-150 4x4. I've been looking it over and aside from the usual rust in the cab corners and what apears to be just surface rust on the frame I found a crack on the pass. side frame right before the first crossmember. It's almost as if it was used to push/pull something and it bend the front portion of the frame by about 1/4" or so. Is this crack something that could be welded back and the the front portion of the frame straightened out or would it do no good? Also, would welding it back reduce the strength of the frame?? I'm looking for a 4x4 to plunk with in the woods and haul with. Nothing real fancy for right now. Any comments?? Thanks all!!!
Infidel
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,115
Likes: 2
From: Elkhorn WI
Cracks dont just "appear" from old age, they appear after a truck has been run hard....if theres 1 crack there might be more...how many miles are on it? Is it a good runner or somthing your gonna need to put in a few 100 bucks to get it going?
You can repair it but welding the crack really good, arc weld it unless you can get a big enough mig welder. Then you can box the frame with another peice of metal, weld it on the inside of the frame rail. Im currently boxing portions of my 74 F250 frame to add some strength.
You can repair it but welding the crack really good, arc weld it unless you can get a big enough mig welder. Then you can box the frame with another peice of metal, weld it on the inside of the frame rail. Im currently boxing portions of my 74 F250 frame to add some strength.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 850
Likes: 14
From: Fayetteville, NC
he's asking $400 for it plus extra parts. The crack looks like it came from trying to push or pull something with the front bumper as the front portion of the frame is bent to the side. I was thinking about welding it and then boxing the frame???
Junior User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 76
Likes: 0
From: south jersey
If the cracks before the front crossmember it might have hit somthing or if it has front tow hooks it could be from them. My broncos frame bent and cracked in about the same spot from getting pulled to hard from one of the tow hooks but it hasn't affected anything or gotten worse. If its real bad you could just straighten it out the best you can and maybe reinforce it by welding in some steel plate. It probably won't even matter unless your planning on pulling or pushing something heavy with the front of the truck.
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 172
Likes: 0
From: Milton Canada
My 78 had a dirty crack in the frame right inside the front spring hanger on the drivers side. I jacked the truck up to square the frame back up and welded the crack. I then supplemented that repair with a nice piece of 1/4 inch plate which I also welded on. Between that and the fact that the spring hanger holds it together there has been no problem with it since. I would recommend additional plating either over the crack or boxing the frame as has been mentioned to make sure.
Elder User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 828
Likes: 3
From: Baltimore
My 77 2wd F150 cracked in the same place. The only difference with mine is that the frame rails showed no sign of abuse. I had it MIG Welded and drove it over 100K miles with no problems with the weld or nearby frame.
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Tylus
1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks
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Jan 23, 2009 06:30 PM
