Can this be fixed, or does she need a new one?

[dpuckett]

THis picture is of Mom's 92 D350, 245K. I was greasing my pickup, and she pulled hers up next to it, and I asked if she wanted me to do hers, too. She said, "well, if it aint too much trouble. " So I got to looking, and noticed the big crack. I asked her if the people at Crow Tire had seen it earlier this morning, and she said nope. HHMmmmm... ..... no real surprise, from my experience.



Question: Can it be welded, or does it need a new piece? (read, hen's tooth found at a junkyard ) I guess you would call this the front axle. It is the part that goes under the frame, and out to the other side. The bolt at the top of the pic is the shock bolt, passenger side.



Daniel

 

[Greenleaf]

I'd take the shock out and weld it up. Don't think it would be much different than welding anything else.



Scott

 

[sparks57]

If you're going to weld it, weld a plate, not just a straight weld. When I cracked my frame, I tried to just weld the crack, but as you know, welding weakens the area around the weld... so it split again. I then welded a plate down over top of another fresh weld and it hasn't budged since.

 

[JLEONARD]

Daniel,

Yes weld it but as CB suggested. Make a plate to follow the size and contour as close as reasonable and weld. Make sure to clean things up as good as you can prior to welding.

You might consider first welding the crack... . grind a V then weld, then grind the weld flat, install the plate, then weld the plate to the frame part.

If you can make the plate a little smaller than the frame member so the attachment weld can go around the corner a bit, that might help resist future cracking.

The repair will be as strong as the original so mom needn't worry.

Jay

 

[Paychk]

Above suggestions are good, add stop drilling the ends of the crack with a 1/8" bit then weld. Make sure who ever welds it, knows what they are doing. That also holds the front spring and those get ugly fast if they get loose.

 

[sparks57]

Wow, JLEONARD agreed with me!



Sorry about forgeting to mention drilling the ends. When you drill the ends of the crack, it stops it so the crack does not just continue on through the end of the weld.

 

[1stgen4evr]

Weld it

I ran a welding and repair shop for about thirteen years before I got on to a really neat product that has allowed me to do other things. I can tell you that it definitely can be welded succesfully. I can't tell you who can do it in your area.



The suggestions from J are on target. V it out and weld the crack. You may need to do something to pull everything in place better. Then after welding, make a plate that is about the thickness of the original part. A lot of shops go way over board on the thickness of the plate. Grind the weld area flat then fit the plate onto the welded area and weld that in place. (Maybe a little heat on the plate and form it against the original. )



Do some skip welding rather than solid welding around the plate. This will keep from generating a heat affected line that will be very suceptable to cracking. You would benefit from some preheating at the weld area as well. If you have TIG, that is best. Properly adjusted and applied MIG is within a fraction of just as good. The right person using a 7018 low hydrogen rod is nearly good. If the person doing the welding is good enough, there is no need to grind the weld over the crack. In aircraft welding, you are not allowed to grind the finished weld. This leaves the finished product for proof of quality welding. I would want the weld on the front of my or my moms truck to ge as good as anything I would fly in.



Does your Mom ride on really rough roads or does she drive like Evel Kinevel. That is an unusual break it seems to me. But then I have had some unusual cracks happen in my 92 cab. So who is to say.



1stgen4evr



James

 

[dpuckett]

Thanks, guys. There are some real crackerjack welders in this area, so that shouldnt be too big an issue. 1stgen4ever, the blacktop roads here are rougher than the gravel in El Paso Co COLO. The gravel roads are all "maintained" by middle school dropouts that cant run the grader any less than 20mph. THey are the reason my pickup needs a new bed, and hence, Mom's pickup needs the work it needs. THere is a similar crack on her driver's side. And driving on these wonderful autobans with bad shocks for a year did nothing to help things. That's why my pickup is getting treated to new ones after this paycheck.



Daniel

 

[JLEONARD]

Wow, JLEONARD agreed with me

Well, don't get used to it

Jay