A question (or two or three or whatever) for Bigrigfixer and/or anyone else with experience with big rigs.

My boss is looking at buying a 10-wheel dump truck and transfer. A guy I know has a 1980 Freightliner that he's selling, well used as you can imagine. It has been used as a transfer in the past so it's all set up for that and it has a strong running Cat in it, and we took a good look at it yesterday. The one thing that's holding us back at this point is that the frame is cracked. It's the aluminum alloy frame, and it's cracked clear through on the right side, a little aft of the fuel tank. It's apparently been this way for years and was welded once, with the cracked area sandwiched between a piece of C-channel inside the frame and a piece of plate outside, bolted together through the frame.

A local welder looked at some months ago and says he wouldn't touch it himself, that particular alloy is difficult to weld and will crack again within two weeks, guaranteed. The owner/seller thinks it's no big deal (but then, he wants to sell the thing!) and I wanted to see what you guys thought. This truck hasn't been used as a transfer for years, it's been stickered for 45,000lbs. GVW but if we bought it and used it as a transfer again it would go up to 80,000lbs. GVW. With that cracked frame, even if we did a better job of plating and reinforcing it, it still makes me nervous to think of this thing going down the road hauling 80K GVW.

Is this common and no big deal, or should we run the opposite direction as fast as we can?

It's a shame really, 'cause it's actually a decent truck otherwise. I even took my CDL test in it (before I found the crack in the frame...it's not obvious the way it's plated over. I found it by crawling around underneath one time when I was hauling a load in it and heard a strange sound that I'd never heard in all the times I drove it empty.)

 

I would walk away from it. The welder is right, it'll just crack again, especially if you want to use it for 80k. Has it got a current safety inspection on it? When does it expire? I'd at least get a condition report, and a list of everything that could have it fail a DOT inspection. A halfway decent condition report should take about an hour to an hour and a half.

A cracked anything will fail inspection. Even a crack on the dump box up top where there isn't any dirt or gravel, or whatever it is you're gonna be hauling.

And by the way, up here, a cracked frame could get a truck condemned, never to be driven again. I've heard of some cases where a condemned truck has been repaired, but has to be recertified by an engineer.

Sorry to sound so negative, but this is serious stuff. It's not like a Honda Civic with a cracked frame and curb weight of under 3000 pounds. This is potentially 80000 pounds of whoopass.

 

Pretty much what I thought. My co-worker thinks he can just reinforce the frame with a better plate, but I'd rather not have anything to do with it. Especially at 80K...and I'm the one who'd be driving it, not him. It sounds like the only way to save this truck is to replace the frame.

Fortunately, my boss will do whatever I recommend on it.

 

I'd agree with bigrigfixer.....walk away. I've been working in heavy trucks/trailers for 21 years and one thing I never ignore is framework, especially cracked ones....wouldn't pass a yearly MOT inspection where I live and probably won't where you live either.....

 

Yeah, well let's not get into California vehicle inspections...

 

Aluminum has far less fatigue strength than steel, and that frame is beyond it's life expectancy. I would touch that thing either, it's already work-hardened and stressed until it cracked, was fixed, then cracked again. The other thing to keep in mind is that it will be stressed even worse at the ends of the plates used to gusset it, and will readily crack there.

 

I need to say bigrigfixer has it wrong, don't walk away from that truck, run, run as fast as you can and never look back. Had one guy around here with an alum framed Pete ran it for a several years until the frame cracked, welded it and made it from the shop to the sale barn were he was supposed to pick up a load of cattle before it cracked again (about 9 miles) rewelded it and braced it, well the bracing held but it cracked again within 100 miles the next I heard it was sitting on a scale after a DOT inspection with a red tag on it and not allowed to leave the scale under it's own power. the registration was also iimpounded at that time. So like I said run fast.

 

i agree run away as fast as you can.
the only thing that truck is good for is a drive line parts donor.

 

> should we run the opposite direction as fast as we can?

Yes.

Even on the steel frame trucks they have stickers all over the place about not drilling the frame flanges or welding the frames. Because you are suppose to know what you are doing when it comes to frame mods or repairs on class 7 and above trucks.

Never mind a hacking a crack, which is what this owner has done.

The only reason it has passed inspection is noone has noticed what you have. People inspecting it probably thought it was a cross member support that was bolted to the outside of the frame.

That aluminum frame truck is just a fatality waiting to happen. imo, There is no way you can repair an aluminum frame of that type by welding it, it is a special high strength forged alloy, not a cast piece of potted metal.

Unless every hole has been annealed, every plate bolted to that frame is just another stress riser waiting to crack under load.

You are 100% correct to be wary of this truck and to run from the deal. Imagine being in a fatal accident, even if your driver was not at fault and that crack/hack being found out during the inch by inch DOT inspection. Might as well hand the keys for the business to the survivor's family that day even if the other driver was drunk, crossed a 4 lane highway and hit the truck head-on.

Good thing you checked the noise out!

 

my suggestion would be to use it as parts for a glider kit. by the by every body is right about a dot inspection it would be red tagged and that would be the end of it.