I have a 1997 F350, 5.8 gasser.

This truck only has 80K miles on it. This is the truck I use for my lawn & landscaping / plowing business in NE Ohio.

Well it needs some tending to. So I schedule it to have the leaking exhaust manifold gaskets replaced along with a new complete exhaust system. Replaced patched tranny cooler lines, tune up, and fix drivers door lock.

The after Mike (the best most honest mechanic/auto shop owner I have ever known) calls and tells me that we need to do a tie rod, ball joints, and front u-joint. okay no big deal, lets do that work. Cost is around 2K.

Then Mike calls me back and tells me to come to the shop. I get there and he shows me where the frame is broke on both sides (pictures attached).


Well this is not supposed to happen to a F350!!

You will notice in the pictures that to me both breaks look to be exactly the same!!! Which seems funny.

This is a great truck. I know the truck.

Now do I move it on and replace? Do I do the repairs? Can it be safely fixed?

I bought this truck Aug 2008 for only $2800 from a local city fleet. Its a good truck and everything listed is all that is wrong with this truck, it would be as good as new if all fixed.

So what should I do?
What would you do?

I do not like making payments on my work truck and do not believe in using brand new trucks for work and hanging a plow off of them. Thats just me, not saying right or wrong.

Anybody else have any experience with a problem like this? What should I do?


Also the welder guy mentioned that it could be a tempered frame and that it should not be welded. Does anybody know if it is a tempered frame? or how I could find out?

 

That's a shame, I wonder how that could have happened, would have to have been one hell of an impact. I guess you could fix it and sell it, but with frame damage like that, I would have a guilty conscience. Get Rid of It.

 

It is a shame. Here are some pictures of the truck!!

Yes had to take a pretty hard hit, and I do not remember hitting anything that hard, besides normal plowing stuff!

 

That is a really nice looking rig. Looks like it's in really good shape too.

 

I'd patch weld the frame and keep using it.

 

I am not exactly clear on the location but is this break just under the radator support? I am not at all familar with how snow plows are attached to trucks, but if the plow is attached to the front of the frame and you go for welding it then reinforcing the frame forward of the front spring perches would be called for at this point.

I am not so sure on welding on these frames as some member on this board claimed that Ford used a hardening process on the frame that would later cause a crack in a different location. You would have to maintain the frame even more so by annually checking for any other cracking. Though this may have been something Ford started doing on the super duty frames...

 

If it's forward of the shock towers, I'd get it welded and reinforced. The plow probably did it based one where I think the break is, so it's not a huge safety concern for driving around if it's been braced up well and you keep an eye on it.

Or, if you were a hundred miles closer and I were a thousand dollars richer, I'd make you an offer and not use it to plow snow, or brace it up myself and have at it!

 

It looks like the cracks are in front of the shock towers. If thats the case, I would at least attempt to get it welded and reinforced. If the frame was cracked anywhere it would be a different. Its just a shame. Were the plow mounts correctly installed?

 

yes the plow mounts were professionally installed.

quite odd both of those breaks are exactly the same

 

You could just find a cheap f250 4x4 and swap everything over. Thats what I would do, but have all the parts sitting out in a field.

 

I would def. fix it and keep running it. If everything else on the truck is mint, there is no point in just dumping it off for something that could be even more of a mess.

How much is the welder going to charge you to do the job? I am sure its gonna be a couple hundred, like 3-400 maybe even more?

When all is said and done, maybe you dump 3000 into the truck, but it could last you another 10 years.

Dennis

 

The frame pictures weren't bright enough for me to give a step-by-step, but considering the overall condition of the truck as well as the low mileage, I'd patch the frame in a heartbeat. I've actually done this kind of work myself.

Patching is reaonably simple - cut out a flat for the top, a flat for the bottom, and a piece for the side that's contoured and shaped the same as the frame. Clamp it tightly and weld it all together. Make sure while you're clamping and welding that the suspension is either fully removed or removed enough that there is no tension or twisting forces on the frame - that will allow you to make the repair "tighter" thus not negatively impact suspension alignments.

The thickness of the added material should be at least as thick as the c-channel of the frame.

The side plate might have to be welded inside the c-channel if you are repairing an area that has suspension or body bracketry so the brackets can remain in the factory position, so everything lines up.

 

Weld it, then reinforce the 2 spots where you welded just to make sure its extra strong there. That truck is in too good of shape and has too much money into it to just toss aside.

 

here is the fix.

Pretty good weld job, looks like he just melted butter in it. He has skills.







everything seems real strong.

Goes in tomorrow for the rest of the repairs.


Cost = $500

 

do you plan to continue plowing with the truck?

nice clean repair, looks good.