I thought my truck had been feeling a little different while driving it lately. Yesterday i was driving it and i could feel the back end flopping around and you could see it shaking in the mirrors. it felt like a shock or one of the leaf springs were broke. so i got to my grandparents house and got out to check it out and found the crack in the frame just above the passenger tire. it runs the entire hight of the frame the part that is still connected is the top horizontal part. The frame dosent even have that much rust on it just some surface rust in most places, i cant think of anything i have done to it lately that could have cracked it. So i guess next time im home im going to take it to a welding shop and see if they think they can weld it up and reinforce it.

 

i would recommend having a thick piece of steel made up
both inside and outside
( that is a serious structural defect right now )
having a thick re-inforcing plate bolted to both front and back of that crack
welding will only soften the metal around the crack and it will fail again

 

I had the same problem I had a friend weld it and its okay for now but I was washing my undercarriage the other day and found a crack right behind my drivers door don't know what to do about this one there is no room for repair.

 

Check your cross members also. My last Ranger had a cracked frame in the same place on both sides but it wasn't that bad.

 

Dang, that looks bad. Chintzy frames.

 

Ouch. That sucks bad. I remember reading somewhere when I got my Ranger that there is a class action law suit against Ford for 98-99 frame defects.

Thank god I avoided that by a year lol

 

drill holes , then weld in sleeves
then you can bolt up reinforcing plates

 

I already fixed the gas tank cross memeber the passenger side was about rusted off so i fab up a peice and cut the cross member back to good metal and bolted it in to the frame

That is probably what i will end up doing. and add some plates to the other side so it dosent happen there too.

 

only seen this from people mobbing sickygnar in whoops thinking there in oem tt's. congrats on managing it on the road.

 

after double checking the photo , the crack is on the rear part of the frame
you do not need to weld in sleeves,
just take the weight off the rear axle and allow the crack to close
have plates made up ( good quality hardened steel is best
align the plates to the frame - mark the holes - and bolt the plates to the frame
( just make sure that the drilled holes are away from the crack
the further the better- and not short 1`s either .
you want plates made that follow the radius of the frame channel for more strength

 

Do you think 1/4 inch is enough or do i need to go 3/8?

 

Shoulda bought a chevy...

 

1/4 should be enough, when i fixed cracked frames, i usually got about 5"-8" away from the crack depending on how big, i would not recommend welding it, get at least 4 bolts.

 

So i shouldnt even weld the crack up?

 

No, Welding frames isn't the smartest thing, the weld may not be strong enough for the weight of the frame, there is some formula for how big the plate is supposed to be thats proportional to the size of the crack, but yours i'd go about 4" away from it on both sides.

 

i would weld it but thats just me. take it to a pro and ask them. like a professional welder.

 

it depends if you carry any weight in the box
3/8 should be the minimum - 1/2 would be better

 

I agree just make up some plates to bolt over the side. At work on some of our old concrete trucks they've had some cracks develop in the frame where the pan hard rods had worked loose causing cracks. They were just plated over the frame and have had not issues since repaired.

 

The only problem with plateing over it i see is that right there where it is cracked the verticle part of the frame isnt flat. the bottom part is bent in so its not like this [ Im sure there is a way to still plate over it i will just have to spend some time designing it.

 

I was going to try to get some C channel to bolt to it do i need to put in on both sides? I figured i would put it on the outside so it goes over the top and bottome of the frame. do i need it on the inside too or can i just use flat steel and just put it on the verticle part?

 

putting steel plate on both sides of the frame will re-strenghten that part of the frame
using c channel not work because you have to cut the c-channel anyway( weaken it )

 

How would i have to cut it? It would be cut to length just like the plate would be. i meant regular channel like this [ not actual C channel.

 

Noooo way, you do NOT need 1/2" plate back there. Weld the crack up, grind it smooth. Put piece of 1/4 plate on the outside of the frame and weld it in and you're done.

 

Thats what i was thinking to begin with. i dont see how welding it up can make it weaker than being cracked almost all the way through the frame. but everybody else says not to do it.

 

i say weld it i welded mine and mine was totaly gone were the spring purch was. I did it almost two years ago and no problems yet. you have to think they weld and rivet the frame together from the factory. theres welds all over a truck holding it together. i would say weld the crack and plate over it on both sides welding them in too. bolts can back loose over time weld if done by a good welder will work better than bolting it

if you look at my pic's i have pics of mine were i welded it i didnt even grind mine down just welded a plate on one side and bolted the new purch back on