Crap, I just scrapped my 2500 frame last week, cut it into pieces so it so it would fit in the bed...

 

my luck, thanks anyway

 

I hadbeen hearing an ocasional poppy on a trailer thayi am relatively unfamiliar with. I know its a heavy duty tilt bed, so when i picked up a load and the rear tires were rubbing i thought just overloaded it.

Checked the tires and one was rubbing on the outside edge, shit, slowly made it the 2miles to the jobs site and got to get a good look at it.... Broke the rear leaf mounts off the frame and the axle shifted and the spring were on the sides of frame rails. :homer:

 

Scary stuff, I had just finished a long trip with my family hauling a camper and pulling the car trailer. I never want to get that close to utter disaster again. My stomach literally flopped over when I realized the extent of the crack.

 

just use plate and c clamps and a cardboard temp?.. you shouldnt need a frame to do this.

 

There is a nice sharp 1/2" horizontal crease about 2 inches up from the bottom. I want the fish plate to conform to that so I don't get any stress risers nesting another piece of frame would fit up perfectly

 

eh idunno man. im sure it can be done with some 3/16-1/4" plate, c clamps and some heat. unless you got a frame or can get one for free... i wouldnt bother cutting up a frame for a patch. just grind out the crack and weld it. put a plate over the repair with perimeter and rosette welds, strap the top and bottom if your that worried about it. the thing you got to realize its probably not just that one spot the other side is probably cracked too. if a plate over it gives you a greater cross section its likely stronger even if its hollow.

 

I am going to hold out for a piece of frame for a while if I don't find one then I will fit up some plate

 

This is what I get for searching for hours

 

This is what I get for searching for hours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbPrDyiliXA

**** all that, just weld it, and put a big plate that covers the weld, and has hols cut out to rosette weld. bigish holes like 1"

somone likes to cut and grinde plate. i mean if you were that involved just go with a bit square tube. like a 8 by 2 .250w or something.. ****.

 

Sounds like it broke at the frame splice? They built the front section all the same length and then based on wheelbase stuck on the rear section.

I've never seen one break but I know of some retro-fit companies that won't use a Dodge 1 ton to build a service truck, small wrecker, amberlamps, etc because of the weak frame.

 

I had a broken '95 3500 frame - it was a dumptruck with the wide pickup DRW axle... rusted/cracked right at the splice. I've seen some 2ndgen cab & chassis that have a 1-piece frame though. Not sure if its a wheelbase thing or a year thing.

Regardless, I'd fix the frame with fresh steel. Or find one of these cab n chassis frames. 2-piece 2ndgen frames are crap. (had 3 of 'em)

 

One of the guys on a local forum cut his frame off at the splice (it was broken somewhere), and rebuilt it with 3x5 HSS (IIRC). People gave him a hard time about what he did with the truck after that, so I think he deleted the thread...

If it was my truck and I was planning on keeping it a long time I would consider doing that, as it would be a more permanent repair.

 

got 2 parts trucks up here in wa

a 98 cab and chassis and 98.5 qcsb

 

PM in bound

I was just up in northwest wash last week, raised in Aberdeen

 

I am going to back 18-24" of the vertical inside of the frame welding the perimeter, except as was pointed out not along the base of the radius bends (top and bottom). the fish plate will taper out in height as it gets away from the crack. Adjacent to the crack I will have 3 rosette holes either side then step down to two holes either side and down to one hole at the farthest end of the plate. I will rip some square tube to overlap onto the fish plate and fit into the upper and lower horizontal legs of the "C" these will, overlap onto the fish plate far enough to weld them making a complete fill plate on the inside of the frame.

Then deep "V" the crack and full pen weld the frame from the outside using the fish plate as a backer.

I will feel safe with my family hauling and towing.

 

3/16" plate that you go out and buy is probably better steel than what dodge that and its not "seasoned" but hey it sounds like your dead set on using a part of the frame to do this so oh well...

 

OK Pics

Crack, look closely along the right side of the bed mount

 

79 chevy

I don't know for sure if the C&C frames are the same or not. The piece I need is the 32"s of the frame starting at the front of the last cab mount of a quad cab and going to the second bed mount right before the spring hanger.

Unfortunately I don't think the short bed quad cab will have that much frame there. In the pic you can see the "crease" 2" up from the bottom of the frame essentially I need 32"s of frame with the crease in it. 9-1/2" tall.