when i got my truck inspected yesterday it passed but he said i got to watch the leaf spring shackles. i no they rust and usualy need replaced. but he said the frame was getting soft and if i went to change them i;d prob but a hole in the frame. is that fixable or will my truck just be junk if my frame starts to get holes. its flakeing pretty good now. i love my truck and everything else is great on it the rest of the frame is fine just normal surface rust its soild rather then the tips where the leaf springs are, i wanna start doing things to make my truck look pretty but its not worth it if i have to go and get a new one in less then a year

 

I have seen people weld plates to the inside of the frame for repair or to beef it up. I would definitely look into that; there are folks that have done that on here. Search for frame repair, suspension or something like that.

 

thanks man. im having my uncle look at it tm who has a been a macanic and restored cars i hope he gives me good news i love my truck and dont wanna have to lose it over this when every think else is still nice

 

Cut them off plate the frame and put new shackles in. Wouldn't be too hard and would be stronger.

 

Just make sure you have a knowledgeable welder to do the work.
Frame work is serious.

 

They make a replacement rear frame section, if it gets that bad, both sides at the same time.

Double check to get a good picture, sometimes the inspection guys are just drumming up business for the shop.

 

You've got a 98, and live in PA.
If your frame is soft at the hangers, I'm the queen of England.

Just cut the old hangers off and weld new ones in place.

 

my uncle checked it out. said the guy exagerated. its not as bad as the inspecting guy said it is. but the truck does need new frame mounts and shackle on both sides but the frame is fairly descent. thanks to everything one who replyed. i love my truck and even tho it is a crappy 3.0 its still my truck i didnt want a stupid inspection guy telling me my truck was heading towards a death sentence

 

My 94 still had a solid frame, and it was a michigan truck its whole life.
Frames very very rarely go "soft" and usually its because the car burned to the ground, or it was wrecked and the person who fixed it did it wrong.

 

My ’95 had both mounts replaced, tore a hole in the bed before I got it together.

My ’03 nothing yet but it WILL happen.

Good to hear the trans isn’t too bad.

 

when you replace the shackles, do the shackle hangers at the same time. They go bad faster than the shackles do. The 98 i had for a few months had bad hangers and shackles but i replaced both hangers and shackles before selling it.

 

^ Agreed. When one goes the rest isn't going to be far behind!