Frame Repair on 92 4x4 , steering gear box mount

[DVolk]

Heres what i did I didnt do no pics ,i would know how to transfer from

kodak easy share system to here any how ,



What i did was remove the steering gear box .



Then i welded up all the cracks plus added flat bar on top of frame and bottom and a small amount on side were it wont interfear with the mounting plate ,installed new bolts and nuts ,made shure to install small washers in the indentations of the frame then larger flat washers .



Then for an added brace I added a peice of 1/4" cabel with a eye loop at both ends then used a turn buckel ,with closed eyes , and attached that to an exsisting whole on the passenger side of the frame and tightend it up

makeing shure to keep the cabel from the pitman arm travel area .



So far so good ,need to re center steering wheel though

 

[mysteryman]

frame crack/ steering

What causes the frame to break is using wide tires and deep offset rims...

The rivets come loose on the cross member allowing the frame to twist back and forth. .

I hope you used a mig welder and not a stick welder ... . most general stick welding rod makes for a much too brittle weld. Welding on frames is a real bad idea in the first place but in a case like yours you have no choice. . We made a bracket to reinforce the frame at the steering box in 79. You can find them on some of the 80's ramchargers... Replace the rivets on the front cross member ahead of the gear box with 1/2" fine thread bolts and use heavy gauge flat washers. Do NOT use split lock washers... . Heat just the rivet head with a torch to red . Then hit it with an air chisel to get the old rivets. Do NOT cut the rivets out with a cutting torch !



To fix the problem of breaking frames at the gear box . Here is what else you can do to keep it from happening again.



1) find a gear box reinforcement bracket in the junk yard and put it on.

There are no more new ones left at Chrysler...



2) replace your gear box and drag link with one off of any 72 to 77 4wd

W100, W200 or W300 . It is a totally different system and loads the frame differently... The sector shaft runs horizontally instead of vertically as yours does now.



3) Use stock wheels and tires and keep the truck at stock ride height !!!!!



This is no new problem on these trucks. . The diesel 4x4 is the worst for having this trouble... . Follow the above and you have a chance of not breaking it again... Ignore them and I guarantee you it will ! The next time it breaks you will have a real mess to fix. .



Upon occasion this used to happen under warrantee. . When it did we would replace the frame. . We would never weld a frame because they were made from high carbon steel which work hardens and becomes brittle when welded! If the customer had the wrong size wheels or tires on the truck we would void the warrantee and give them a bill for the repair !

Heres what i did I didnt do no pics ,i would know how to transfer from

kodak easy share system to here any how ,



What i did was remove the steering gear box .



Then i welded up all the cracks plus added flat bar on top of frame and bottom and a small amount on side were it wont interfear with the mounting plate ,installed new bolts and nuts ,made shure to install small washers in the indentations of the frame then larger flat washers .



Then for an added brace I added a peice of 1/4" cabel with a eye loop at both ends then used a turn buckel ,with closed eyes , and attached that to an exsisting whole on the passenger side of the frame and tightend it up

makeing shure to keep the cabel from the pitman arm travel area .



So far so good ,need to re center steering wheel though

 

[Niki]

Mysteryman,

I've seen the box brackets cracked on a whole bunch of trucks w/ stock size or 265 75-16 tires, and saw a frame and bracket cracked on a truck that always had stock tires. Large wheels/tires are not the only thing that causes this, like you have said in other posts its a 2wd steering box w/ a different pitman arm, this loads the frame. Have you ever seen a 4WD frame crack w/ the old style box/pitman arm/draglink? Is the ratio the same on these older boxes and are they compatible w/ the pressure of our p/s pumps? I'm putting 285 75-16 tires on 15x8 wheels on my truck and don't want any problems. I'm leveling the front, no insane lift. There should be no reason a stock setup can't handle a small increase in tire size, 38's or something, yes I could see that being a problem, but a 285 is only 1. 1" taller than a 235/85, maybe 2" wider, and they ride so much nicer. Would that ramcharger brace help just as much as the old style box/pitman arm? Thanks-Nick

 

[AKimmel]

I don't think its the design I think its the newer frames. I had an 89 that had 38's on it for over 50,000 miles, it never cracked. My 87 had 33's on it since new and never cracked. When I bought my 93 for my conversion it had stock tires and was a one owner truck, and the frame and steering box bracket were both cracked. I ended up using the 93 frame because of it being a taller c channel, but sleeved and boxed the frame in the steering box area. The 93's frame is a slightly thinner guage metal, than my old ones, so I hope I didn't make a mistake letting the old ones go. Hey Mysteryman, stick welding doesn't produce a brittle weld, your either using the wrong rod or quenching it as soon as you finish welding. Stick welding in general is stronger than MIG, because you get more penetration with stick than you do MIG.

 

[Niki]

OK, I talked to my local Dodge expert today(he has tons of them) and he said he thought the bracket only came on 2wd ramchargers, but it would still fit, same box of course. He said he's seen the reinforcing brackets crack too. He has a couple of the old boxes, I'm debating buying one, I'm so glad I just put a $120 moog drag link on my truck . So what's the best method to weld a frame? I could have my fab guy mig, tig or stick weld gussets on it, I just absolutely do not want my frame to crack!

 

[AKimmel]

I'll try and post some pics of mine this afternoon. I have a 92 2wd short bed parts truck that has a factory brace on it. So, it might be more than just ramchargers that had them.

 

[AKimmel]

Here's what I did. Any of the three welding processes would be sufficient as long as there done right. I used MIG, because thats what I was most comfortable with at the time. I would probably TIG it if I were to do it now, because you have more control over the penetration and size of the weld. Just make sure you don't leave any sharp corners, or sharp edges to give cracks a place to start and make sure everything stays tight in the steering area and it should be fine.

 

[CLiberty]

Nice work there AKimmel!! I think the frames crack because the bracket cracks first allowing the frame to flex more than "normal". I guess I caught mine in time, new bracket but no frame cracks... yet.

 

[AKimmel]

I agree, my bracket was cracked also.

 

[DVolk]

92 Dodge steering gear box repair

Wha Orginally messed my frame up was that i jackknifed the truck doing about 30mph on a farm road because somebody dumped or lost oil on the road , I was also pulling anouther truck ,the insurance company wouldnt pay for the break age because it happend after wards by 6months ,plus for the first 102500 miles of my trucks life it was a loggers truck so it was used hard on logging roads , my tires were 12. 50x33x16. 5s .



But i know guys whom beat the crap out of there trucks with 44s on them and never had the problems at all



Id like to have a pic of this renforcement bracket ,if any one has one for sale or plans on building some message me ,or call me because ill buy one Oo.



on the earliers steering boxes most of those leaked like a sive which means no brakes!!!!!!!!!!! :--)

 

[DVolk]

Frame Repair on 92 Dodge 4x4

I orderd a non related part from The Dodge Dealer in Woodburn,Ore. Miles Dodge ,the parts manager said the cracking problem was really quite comon

issue and it didnt matter what wheels were on it . So to blame it on aftermarket tires and wheels is all BS ,sorry to stop on any feet .



I also inquired about the Socalled frame reenforcement for the Steering gear box ,that the manager Ken whom has been there a long time 17 years has never seen one ,so did some aftermarket place build one ?????



Why was there never a recall on this issue from Dodge ????????????????????

 

[Niki]

I orderd a non related part from The Dodge Dealer in Woodburn,Ore. Miles Dodge ,the parts manager said the cracking problem was really quite comon

issue and it didnt matter what wheels were on it . So to blame it on aftermarket tires and wheels is all BS ,sorry to stop on any feet .



I also inquired about the Socalled frame reenforcement for the Steering gear box ,that the manager Ken whom has been there a long time 17 years has never seen one ,so did some aftermarket place build one ?????



Why was there never a recall on this issue from Dodge ????????????????????

I believe the reinforcing bracket exists, I think its from the early 80's, more than 17 years ago, Mysteryman and my local guy have been around Dodges much longer than that.

As far as a recall, most of the cracks probably came much later in these trucks' lives and the dealer never saw them. They were probably wondering why peope kept going through steering box brackets though. I know just in the Chicagoland area there are 14 brackets in stock among Dodge dealers. Just think of all the problems in these trucks: The ABS system, door hinges, cowl cracks, a fusebox you have to unscrew a dash piece to get to, then it hangs by its wires, etc. Then you can talk about the second gens even more: Track bar/frontend problems(my 95 had 69K on it, no snowplow and the frontend was wasted), throttle cables/linkage that breaks, starter contacts that stick, frying starter/shutdown solenoid, 5th gear nut, poor front brake pad life, etc...

 

[CLiberty]

See http://board. moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2424517&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1 it has the part #`s for the bracket. I ck`ed and it`s N/A... bummer. Heres a pic of it.

#ad

 

[AKimmel]

Here's another angle for ya! This is on a 92, 1/2 ton, 2wd.

 

[DVolk]

Frame Repair on 92 Dodge4x4 steering gear boxmount

I wonder if flameing river has built these ? So whom has one to use as a sample ???? I know of a few fab shop that build some if there was a sample to use then possibly use thicker material and run a peice to the passenger side of the truck ,then the stupid thing wont break .



Ive been a Dodge guy for ever ,but i mut admit ,Ma Mopar has definately produced some crappy bodies ,buthave always came up with the best power plants , such as the the early 70's trucks fuse boxes were in the convient glove box location then they come up with that ignorant area it is in the gen 1 trucks :-{} how stupid and the bad track arms that thank god somebody has built a aftermaket piece to fix Oo.



peresonally id build pickups like class 8 trucks avalible with any power plant

and any compents fit ,