I took my '80 F250 4x4 down to my friends shop today so he could look over my brake/soft pedal problem and find out why my front tires camber in so much when I back up.

It turns out the front crossmember where the IFS axle pivot brackets bolt onto is tearing in half. It looks like the whole truck has been through some sort of Dukes of Hazard fly-bye or something. Between the cab and bed you can tell where the frame is slightly bent and the front crossmember has been welded on once already.

The axle pivot bushing brackets are junk because the bushing bolt holes are buggered out. I think this is the major source of my excessive cambering as the axle droops down through the slop. I could replace the brackets easily enough but what about the crossmember that's falling apart? I can't ignore it but don't know all the options for resolving that one.

My problems are I live in an apartment complex and have no place to tear the truck down to replace the crossmember from a junker myself. I also didn't buy this truck for $1700 to then put another grand +/- into just to make it safe to put on the road. I don't have a problem spending that kind of money to make the truck nice but not to pay someone to fix the fricken frame. I'm thinking of just cutting my losses and parting it out.

Help!

 

Wow. Sounds like there is no hope for fixing it RIGHT without dumping cash into it. You will either have to find a suitable replacement frame, or take it to a reputable body/frame shop. The crossmember swap is easy enough, but if your frame is bent you will have nothing but tire problems. Call around to the wrecking yards and price a frame. Doing a frame swap isnt as bad as you may think. It can easily done in a weekend. Maybe your friend can help you out and do the swap at his shop.

 

I wouldn't worry about the bend in behind the cab as much as the slop in your front member. What you think may be a bend, may be a bad set of cab mounts. That is a real easy fix.
I have an 80 Bronco that is coming to my house very soon that I will be parting out. You could swap front members at a buddies place easy in a weekend. These type of members are notorious for being weak, I used to break them brand new on our plow trucks. Truck would have 500 maybe even 15,000 miles and we would have to replace the front members. Warranty didn't cover it because the plows weren't Ford equipment and they said the axle wasn't designed for that type of abuse. We bought up all the old 73 to 79 F-250's and 74 to 79 Chevy's we could find because they did take the extra weight and abuse of the plowing. I won't own anything newer than a 79 Ford ever. I used to drive a company rig, you got it a 2003 F-150 4x4. With less than 50,000 miles we replaced the rear axle, front axle, transmission, and the t-case. Warranty covered nothing because it was a fleet truck.

 

What are the good points about this truck as it sits right now?

 

I personally would not hesitate changing either the frame or the crossmember. It's a pretty straight forward process in theory.

What usually ends up happening is that nothing comes apart as planned and it ends up costing way more time and money than you think.

For instance when changing frames: Try removing just the cab bolts and when you see the condition of the body mounts, 9 times out of 10 they are shot. Same goes with exhaust systems, brake lines, fuel lines, etc.

It can be a real PITA and you have to decide how far you are willing to go.

 

Thanks guys for the info, ideas and support. The things I think are good about the truck are the interior is in great shape, the 351/C6 seems to run strong and solid, overall lack of rust or decay in the body and frame and the drivetrain appears fine.

I would not be against a frame replacement other than lacking the facilities to do it. So, what I think I'm going to do with this truck is get some axle pivot bushing brackets from the U-Pull-It place at my next opportunity and take mine off to see exactly how bad things really are under there. I ought to be able to shore it up somehow with a backing plate thingy until I have the time and place to fix it right.

I think I'll lose my butt if I try selling it as a parts truck right now because there are a few on craigslist going for under $1000. I might as well sit on it for a while and see what opportunities to fix it or sell it come up down the road. I don't have much in plans for this truck other than to move things around, tinker with and go camping a little bit during the summer. Its really more of a backup/secondary vehicle for me to give me something do work on when I don't have much else to do. IOW, a toy. An overpriced one it looks like now, lol.

 

There is nothing wrong with temporarily fixing it till your situation gets better and you have a place to work on it.

In the meantime I would start putting the word out to people and shops if they know anybody who would be willing to weld on the crossmember. My first thought would be a muffler shop, but those guys and many others would probably not want the liability. But once in awhile you will run across someone who is willing to do the work.

My Dad has a old 69 chevelle, and the frame started getting bad right behind the front wheel, to where they would not inspect it anymore. He hunted around and found a shop with a young guy there who was willing weld a patch on it. He did an excellent job and even used the welder to put to his initials in a small area of the patch. Once it awhile you will run across someone that is good at what they do, and take a little pride in doing it.

 

Doh! My son is in HS and talks all the time about how good a welder he is. I should have him take a look at it and see if he wants to take a stab at it. Add this idea to my list of what is good about the truck and why I have it: ways for a father and son to work together on something.

 

He may know this already, but tell him to try to avoid welding all the way around the patch if he uses one. It puts too much stress on the patch area, and it will tend to crack again.

 

Here's an update...

My kid and I spent a couple hours working on my truck this weekend and I think it will live on for a while longer. First, we went to the local U-Pull-it and snagged a like new steering shaft (the part that includes the rag joint) and a passenger side axle pivot bracket off some junkers for $9.50 total. My rag joint was toast so while we were looking for front axle stuff I grabbed one of those.

We disassembled the passenger side of the IFS as it connects to the subframe and removed the bracket. This gave me the opportunity to see how bad the subframe was. Basically, all that is bad is the part of the subframe is broken away for the bolt that comes straight down from under the oil pan at the center of the vehicle. Also some what looks like undersized to me hardware was used on the bracket to the back of the subframe and that caused the holes to get buggered out a little bit. Finally, the axle pivot bushing must have been in backwards because we pulled it out by hand. So, that was just floating around in there, too.

I bought some 1/2" Grade 8 hardware to bolt the bracket up to the subframe with minus the one bolt and put the bushing in as best I could with a BFH. It ought to be pretty dang solid now and should hold up for what I'm going to use the truck for. In time I'll get a new bushing and have it pressed in correctly.

My kid will check with his HS shop teacher and see about some welding. I think for now I'll just have him spot weld the 1/2" washers I used with the new bolts to the subframe to help reinforce those holes. That way this can all come apart in the future if the opportunity comes to do something more extensive.

Whew, I feel better about my rig. Now, I feel like I can put some money into freshening up some other stuff like tune-up, fluids, etc. and make it more fun to cruise around in like an obnoxious exhaust.

 

Obnoxious exhaust is always good.

 

nuff said
you got single pipe or true duals on that bad boy?

 

I'll second that thought...or can I second myself, lol.

It's a single exhaust that looks factory. No idea on size but too small and not near loud enough! I had my hands on an '85 460/4sp that I had the local exhaust shop put a single 3" with Flowmasters on and it was a great exhaust. Sounded awesome. I'll go with whatever that shop thinks would be "appropriate."

 

3" pipes and mandrel bent exhaust: Maremont part# M30001 for about $40: