Cracked Frame, and 2WD vs 4WD steering box?

[RBurleson]

Been a while since I posted here -- I missed this place but have been too danged busy to visit!



I noticed an odd sound when I parked a few nights back -- I had the wheels right next to a curb, and moving the wheel a quarter-turn yielded an odd popping noise from the left front corner. I had my wife move the wheel whilst I crawled under with a flashlight, and noticed that my steering box is doing more twisting on the frame than steering.



Upon closer inspection, I have a crack in the top of the frame channel, and it appears that the steering box itself may have one of the threaded ears cracked off. On the inside of the frame, where four bolt-heads generally sandwich four thick-and-square washers to the frame, there are three -- one of the bolt heads has sheared off and the square washer has made its escape. There may be only two bolts holding the box to the frame!



I'll pull the box over the holiday weekend to verify whether the casting really is broken. Obviously I need a new bolt (I'll replace all four) and thick washer, and there are frame repairs to be made, as well. Sigh. Any tips on how to make cracks more visible in the frame? I've 'fluxed parts in the shop, is there a kit (mebbe a dye?) to do this in the field? Grinding the frame rails clean of paint would probably hide any cracks.



The other oddity about my truck is that the previous owner installed cross-over steering in place of the stock Dodge push-pull fore-aft steering setup. From searching and examining some pictures from the gallery, I can see that my frame/box is different that most folks' 4WD frame/box -- I don't have the steering plate that stock W-trucks have. Research shows that a 4WD box is often moved to the 2WD position for crossover. Mine looks highly similar to this one:

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/displayimage.php?&photoid=15375&width=0

... discussed in this thread: https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113214

Has anyone braced/reinforced the junction between the 2WD steering box, and frame?



I found this picture of a reinforcement, but am hoping for more specifics:

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/displayimage.php?&photoid=13018&width=0



Thanks,



Randii

 

[MMiller]

Glad my pics have been seen! All you had to do is PM me and I would have helped you much as possible!



With the crack, I would wire brush the back of the frame, then have somebody rock the steering back and forth while you have your head under the truck. Find all the cracks, then I would pull the box. Are you any good at welding? I believe I would drill a small hole at the end of all the cracks, v-notch the cracks, and then weld them back up, to repair the frame. I have not had any problems with the frame behind my crossover setup, however it probably only has 200 miles on the setup, although it is steering a offroad truck with swampers and a front locker.



After repairing the cracks I would probably figure out how to get an additional plate welded into the channel of the frame, then drill the holes through the plate. I know for the older chivveys there is a bracket made to support the back side, but I have never seen one of these.



I do hope this helps good luck with the repair. Maybe go to www.pavementsucks.com or www.ramchargercentral.com and post this question there. They are more offroad driven dodge webcites. Let me know if I can be anymore assistance.



Michael

 

[desertrat1]

randii

My frame was flexing bad too. I made a brace for mine out of 1 1/4" box tubing bolted to where the stock sway bar used to be. Frame flex is gone. I'll try to post some pics of what I've done.



Check your frame rivits around the box mounting area. If your frame is moving that much they're probably loose(I know mine were). Cut them off and replace them with grade 8 bolts.