Cracked frame
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 109
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From: Fayetteville, Ar
Cracked frame
Went to take the truck in for an alignment and have been informed of a crack in my frame. It's right where the gear box is mounted to the frame. Is this possible to be repaired with some fisher plates or repaired at all? Anyone know someone in the NW Arkansas area? At a loss of what to do.
More Turbo
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 641
Likes: 25
From: Port Charlotte, Florida
Im sure it can be fixed. Never dealt with it on a truck before but Ive had it fixed on a Jeep before. Its common for the Jeep frames to crack where the steering box is. I had it welded with steel plates over the crack and braced the steering box and its never been an issue since.
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 109
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From: Fayetteville, Ar
Mud,
You mean sandwich the frame with a plate on either side?
Ronzi,
Did you take it to a typical local body shop or did you have to ask a friend who knows a guy.... type thing.
You mean sandwich the frame with a plate on either side?
Ronzi,
Did you take it to a typical local body shop or did you have to ask a friend who knows a guy.... type thing.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 235
Likes: 1
From: Fayetteville, NC
My 78 cracked there too. It looked like a roadmap behind the gearbox, trackbar mount and upper coil bucket. I removed all three of those, drilled about 10 holes in the end of all the cracks, notched them, and welded them up. Then I cut a piece of 1/4" thick steel plate as wide as the frame is tall, and about 24" long and welded over the whole section of frame. Drilled the holes to mount the stuff first, of course. And just bolted everything back up. The axle is shifted 1/4" left this way, but thats really not noticable and most of these trucks dogtrack anyway.
I fixed mine about a year ago and it is holding up fine now and Im fixing to go up from 38s to 42s.
I fixed mine about a year ago and it is holding up fine now and Im fixing to go up from 38s to 42s.
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 592
Likes: 1
From: Tooele, UT
Sounds like them ones have been jumped or put through a tough truck competion to me.
Mine already has a 1/2 inch thich chunck of angle iron there where the box is mounted.
Mine already has a 1/2 inch thich chunck of angle iron there where the box is mounted.
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Fayetteville, Ar
Well, i guess my next step is find someone reliable. I keep you all updated. Does anyone have an idea of a cost?
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Freshman User
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 40
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From: Squamish, BC
Exactly. By fishplating, all you're really doing is weakening the spots where the new plate stops.
Post Fiend
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 5,181
Likes: 3
From: Across from the neighbors
Take this from a fabricator by trade. Drill out the ends of the crack and bevel both sides of it. Plug weld the holes and weld up both sides of the bevel. You can fish plate it if you wish and you shouldnt have any problems. But only do this if you are good at welding. Penetration is the key.
Postmaster
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,760
Likes: 8
From: Gadsden Purchase
Yeah what "crazy" said. ;)
BTW, the frame is already boxed-in at the steering gear.
Weld the fish plate only along the top and bottom, not on the ends!
My frame broke from lots of dirt-road miles and dual shocks. :)
Dual shocks went on before it was out of warranty. :)
Took ten years to break it, welded it up and took another fifteen to crack
it again. It's not a big deal. :)
Mine never broke at the steering gear and I run 235/85-16's.
Lifted trucks tend to have trouble with the frame at the steering gear.
Is your lifted?
Alvin in AZ
ps- at the time of the second-welding-job I used acetylene,
removed my dual-shock handy-work,
installed Rancho 5000s instead, (Sears traded me :)
put 322lbs of lead and hardware in the rear bumper,
re-arched the springs and installed grease zerks,
All that cured the pickup of wanting to dance sideways on dirt roads.
YMMV :)
BTW, the frame is already boxed-in at the steering gear.
Weld the fish plate only along the top and bottom, not on the ends!
My frame broke from lots of dirt-road miles and dual shocks. :)
Dual shocks went on before it was out of warranty. :)
Took ten years to break it, welded it up and took another fifteen to crack
it again. It's not a big deal. :)
Mine never broke at the steering gear and I run 235/85-16's.
Lifted trucks tend to have trouble with the frame at the steering gear.
Is your lifted?
Alvin in AZ
ps- at the time of the second-welding-job I used acetylene,
removed my dual-shock handy-work,
installed Rancho 5000s instead, (Sears traded me :)
put 322lbs of lead and hardware in the rear bumper,
re-arched the springs and installed grease zerks,
All that cured the pickup of wanting to dance sideways on dirt roads.
YMMV :)
Postmaster
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,760
Likes: 8
From: Gadsden Purchase
Could you take some nice-clear photos of the cracks after cleaning up the area? :)
(if it ain't clean enough already)
"what Crazy said"
I didn't drill holes tho. :/
But?
...since I used gas (felt like) I could find the very beginning of the cracks and
just started welding there. Used a large tip and "real" copper coated welding
rod instead of my usual coat-hanger. ;)
This ain't that big of a deal, it's fixable and isn't going to be expensive like a
new fender or something. It's just going to take time and effort and thought.
Think about the details before you begin, like...
"where are the fuel lines?"
Try not to catch the sucker on fire while you're at it, ok? ;)
Alvin in AZ
(if it ain't clean enough already)
"what Crazy said"
I didn't drill holes tho. :/
But?
...since I used gas (felt like) I could find the very beginning of the cracks and
just started welding there. Used a large tip and "real" copper coated welding
rod instead of my usual coat-hanger. ;)
This ain't that big of a deal, it's fixable and isn't going to be expensive like a
new fender or something. It's just going to take time and effort and thought.
Think about the details before you begin, like...
"where are the fuel lines?"
Try not to catch the sucker on fire while you're at it, ok? ;)
Alvin in AZ
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 899
Likes: 1
From: trenton ns canada
once you get it welded up the way you want make sure you replace the mounting bolts.9 times out of 10 the box is loose and that causes the cracking due to the amount of stress on that area of the frame.