1998 Xtra Cab Broken Frame Rebuild

Broken frame, smacked every square inch with a ball peen hammer, not soft spots. I rolled it a couple years ago and did a cab swap, I think I cracked it then and it just now let go.

The plan is to box it out and then wrap it with 3/16" and two layers of 1/8" steel strap along the bottom (tension) side of the frame. Essentially I'm building rust eliminators if you know what those are. Preeeeetty glad I have that flatbed right now.

 

Dropped the tank (way easier than I thought) and cleaned it up, starting with welding the cracks. My welder settings are telling me that made these fuckin things out of 12 mil? What the fuck?

And so it begins:

 

Whoa! Some would shy away from a project like that, but if you have the time and know how, why not. It'll be cool to see when it's done.

 

ouch

 

We all have our own styles what ever gets the job done.

Settings on your machine are only a starting point.

Good luck .

 

Small update, welded up the crack in the other side of the frame last night.

Today I got the rough shapes cut. The key is to trace the shapes put on cardboard to then be traced onto thw 3/16 plate and cut. I've only worked with 1/4" plate before so I was pleasanty surprised at how much easier 3/16" is to weld.

Taking a break before I start grinding the weld edges, wire brushing surface rust on the interior of the frame, cutting out deep rust spots (holes to be rosette welded to the braces from the inside later), removing frame paint and making cuts for bolts & attachments that stop the plates from laying flush against the frame.

 

One can never have to many grinders !!

Many jobs I have 3 or more within reach all with different type discs .

It got old spending more time swapping discs then welding.

looking good!

 

Drilled holes at the corners of the cutouts, cut them out, cleaned up the frame and startrd welding it out
The welds arent super pretty but it'll hold.

 

I feel like I took out too much steel cutting those holes but thats ok, I can always weld the pieces back in haha

 

Same here with my 99 Taco also, ordered some soft T caps for mine to hopefully do in maybe fall when it cools down...

 

1" circles would have been enough.

 

88

it was 80 degrees out here yesterday and I was in a leather jacket melting steel haha I dont have any more sweat in my body

 

A damp 100% cotton long sleeved Tee Shirt works wonders.

Keeps you from getting burnt . I have not worn leathers in years.

 

I like that a lot.

 

Done and done. I'm glad I did the holes the way I did it because I found a few soft spots that would melt through quickly so now they're connected with a lattice of welds. Now its full welded, skip welded around the perimeter.

The truck rides about 1-1/2" higher and is solid. The slignment is straight and there is zero sag. This really wasnt a very hard project although my flat bed made it way way easier. The most technical part was dropping the tank which took an half hour with the haynes manual and no prior experience removing a tank.

2 layers of herculiner over 2 coars of gap/ crack filling primer. I'll post and update hen it's dry.

I didnt boc out the frame yet, that will have to come later because the weekend is coming to a close.The alignment is perfect and I believe it will run for another 100k.

Happy Fourth of July everyone.

 

The safe-t caps are

Nice but with shitting t was like 1800 shipped to Alaska. I think ill but their shackle mounts though.