What to do with truck

I bought a new truck, so I put the old one in a barn on the farm. There is a new frame crack. I could hear it make noises on bumps. It has good tags and good inspection (not sure how it passed) but will not pass inspection in April because of exhaust. I’m not sure if I should weld a reinforcement plate soon and use it for a hunting truck, until I can build it up for mudding, or let it sit how it is with cracked frame. I do not want to part it out and it won’t sell for pennies on the dollar. There is no insurance on the truck currently. I will be driving it home if mice are chewing on it as well. Do you think that letting it sit is better than welding it again and running for hunting? It is in the dry inside the barn and everything seems to run fine except the frame.

 

Depending on where you are and the condition of the body and running gear the trucks is probably worth more if you parted it out than if you sell it complete.


If you're able I'd weld it up and keep enjoying it as a hunting rig or toy.

 

I don’t have the know how to part it out, I think that using it as a hunting truck would be the best bet, but I’m a little worried that it might damage the frame more until I can REALLY reinforce it. Nobody will work on welding it except this guy that did it last time. He does good work, if I tried to do it I’d probably blast a hole in the frame. Getting it there it’s not far, but maybe I’d get state minimum insurance or something.

 

Find a welder and pay him cash on the side. Have a square section cut out around the crack and weld in a new piece. Then weld in a metal plate over that section.

 

So you think I should have a welder cut out the section and weld a new section in and then weld a plate overtop that?

 

That's what I had my buddy do when I bought my truck for $500 with a rotted frame. It had rot on the driver's side and a 2 inch crack. Cutting out the rust and replacing the metal with box tube is enough. However, for the crack we cut out a square around it, welded a new section in, and added a plate in case the metal was fatigued on the crack line.

 

I bought my first gen for 9k so I feel burned and have 18k into it. I hope the welder will be willing to do it. Not sure how much that would cost.

 

I scored a great deal and the previous owner was attached to the truck and didnt want to sell it to a junkyard.

I should note that the entire top horizontal surface of the frame is original. We didn't want to cut the frame into sections which would increase the likelihood of the frame ending up to not be straight.

Im not sure where your damage is but I cant forsee it being too expensive if you remove anything in the way beforehand such as the bed, fuel tank, etc.

 

I will probably pull the bed off again and then have it welded. The last weld was near the gas tank but this crack is on the other side. To be honest I was relieved when you all suggested keeping it running for hunting/etc
If he could do that for 500 or less that would be good but I couldn’t justify it for more than that.

 

If you receive multiple quotes for more than what you're willing to spend, this would be the ideal time to buy a cheap welder. Practice on scrap and then reinforce the frame yourself. If you're going to let it sit anyways it sounds like you have plenty of time

 

True. I have some buddies that can weld if I buy a welder. I’d like to learn as well. I have time to figure out the 2002, but not a lot of time to travel to WV hour and a half away. Good advice. I’ll probably try to update this thread as I go

 

What welder would you guys recommend for a repair like this?

 

Weld it and use it as hunting truck.Letting any vehicle sit is bad for them especially with the fuel today and fuel injection an all that good stuff

 

I would look for a used Miller/Hobart/Lincoln 140 setup. With flux core wire and regular 120v wall power a qualified welder should be able to patch things up without strength concerns.

 

One who has more experience, has plenty of recommendations, and mostly works on trucks with frames.

 

If you put it in the barn there should people around that can weld, if not might be fun to learn how to weld and do it yourself.
Just sayin’

 

Ok I’ll prob do that

 

I’ll be going to remove the bed Thursday and prep for the weld.