GO TO PAGE 2 FOR CURRENT UPDATE
GO TO PAGE 2 FOR CURRENT UPDATE
GO TO PAGE 2 FOR CURRENT UPDATE
GO TO PAGE 2 FOR CURRENT UPDATE
GO TO PAGE 2 FOR CURRENT UPDATE
GO TO PAGE 2 FOR CURRENT UPDATE
GO TO PAGE 2 FOR CURRENT UPDATE
GO TO PAGE 2 FOR CURRENT UPDATE
GO TO PAGE 2 FOR CURRENT UPDATE


I just got back from college today, and I was looking at how bad the undercarriage rusted out while i was away (not all THAT bad). anyway, on the rear passenger side, behind the rear tire.....there are 3 bolts on the frame. smack dab between the 3 bolts, it seems my frame is cracked...and BAD. i mean, the damn thing drives fine...but i dont know what to think, if the thing is even repairable or what. but this whole situation just hampered my plans for a lift and 33"s this summer. anything I can do? ride the thing til she dies and save for another truck? i promise i'll have pics up by tomorrow afternoon, i know threads w/o pics are worthless, but i wont be able to sleep w/o hearing someones opinion.

thanks guys!

-Steve

 

Well.....If it is not too bad you might be able to just clean the area around the crack, weld it up and then plate the section of the frame with a few grade 8 bolts on either side, and weld the plate to the frame. Pics will be needed to see what you need to do for sure.

 

That is really odd for the frame to crack with less than 10 years on it. My 1995 Explorer spent most of its life in PA and its frame was as solid as it could be (everything else rotted) when I sold it.

It is kind of possible to repair the frame. I have seen cracked frames repaired before, but just make sure you do the repair right. It will have to be welded, and you will have to add additional support there.

 

Thanks guys! I appreciate it.

 

r u in somerset county or pike county?

 

Pike County, right where NY/NJ/PA all connect into each other.

 

Here's two pics of the crack.....

 

That is scary! Id drive down south and pickup yourself a used frame without rust and swap everything.. or cut and replace that section.. rust is evil..

 

wow dude that really sucks!

 

Oh, baby! That is something. I jumped my truck and beat it to crap and it didn't crack. Not a happy situation -- but if you get it before it goes any further it should be repairable.

I wouldn't wait though. Good thing you noticed it.

 

Aye, you better get on that ASAP, it should be repairable. Don't wait, it will just get more ugly and more dangerous!

 

JUMP IT!!!!

J/J you need to get that fixed ASAP!

 

yeah. well, before i can get it fixed, i have to tell my dad the truck he gave me has a cracked frame. we'll so how that goes haha. how much you think it'll cost to have a shop do it? few hundred? if i cant get it fixed, which i really hope isnt the case, i'll part the truck out.

 

Those three rivets mount the PS upper shock bracket. You basically have only one rivet left holding it (barely). You need to get it fixed right away. I would drill the rivets, clean, plate and weld that area and reinstall the shock mount with metric Class 10.9 or Grade 8 SAE bolts. BTW, the Ford manual says "arc welding only" on frames.

Be sure to check the frame at the other upper mount - it is behind the axle on the driver side. And take a look at the forward spring hangers, the shackle hangers and the shackles themselves, all known rusters.

 

wow....thanks rwenzing. the whole undercarriage is rust. straight up rust. the frame, the spare tire, the leaf sprongs are getting there, everything. idk if it is worth fixing. if it is, thanks for that information....i didnt have a damn clue about all that.

 

That's disturbing. I mounted all my SAS brackets using MIG.

 

I'd classify that as arc welding.

 

Ah, good. I thought you meant "stick". I know the heat inputs are different in the different methods.

Well, it hasn't broken so far...

 

yeah, clean it up weld those cracks up and then plate it and weld that stuff. You might want to think about doing a cab and bed off thing if you have time or maybe think about getting a new truck. Rust is a hard thing to deal with. You have to go overboard on it when its bad like that or its going to get worse and worse no matter how many bands aids you put on it. I live in CT, I know rust lol.

 

dont part it!

 

scary indeed

 

My frame is really rusty too. I painted it with rustoleum, that helped it from getting worse in the winter. I think rust is what will eventually kill my truck, I didn't see any cracks like that, that makes me leary of using my hitch.

 

so as of today, three body shops have turned me down after i showed them the pictures of the crack. nobody wants the liability that comes with it. (what if it cracks again after the job is done, and i get injured......their a$$ is on the line) so if anybody knows of a wrecked ranger with a straight frame in the northeast (pa, nj, ny, ct, ma), let me know, or if anybody knows of someone whos willing to weld this beast, that'd be helpful too!



and it didnt help any today when i was at dunkin' on my break, and a tacoma with a 5" lift and a ranger with a 3" lift came in. kinda made me sad, driving my dads 02' explorer instead of the B4K.... :(

 

The rear frame section is riveted to the main frame rails at the forward leaf spring hangers. It would be a fairly big job to disassemble, drill out all the rivets and replace the rear part with a junkyard piece. Still, I think it would be easier than swapping the whole frame.

You'd have to take a long look at the rest of the frame and decide if you think it's worth saving.