Frame welding / drilling pros and cons -

["Mad Max"]

Okay, in order to make my little science project work I need to do some serious frame surgery. A little nip here, little tuck there, little ssstttrrreeetttccchhh right in the middle... . y'know, the usual :-laf

Anyone know of any problems with welding/drilling one of our 1st gen frames? Any problems with crystalizing the metal, making it brittle, making it prone to crack near welds? Inquiring, slightly warped minds (like mine) want to know.



I have heard really nasty stories about the new hydroformed frames but no issues about the earlier ones. Thoughts?



Thanks amigos,

- S

 

[Paychk]

here is the FSM suggestions for frame welding:



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1018283#post1018283

 

[tugboatphil]

Bed Repair?

On the welding topic, how about sheet metal? The front corners of my bed, where the side metal meets the front, on the outside have cracked. I noticed it before my last trip. Was driving in Trpoical Storm Gaston and lost sight of the road edge. Went onto the berm and hit a BIG hole. The weight of my side rail toolboxes opened the crack on the right side. I now have a gap about 3/4" wide. If I push up on the box the gap closes. The edges are rusty (from the inside) and there was a weld on the bed front that cracked.



My idea is to take the boxes off and at least weld the front area to hold the gap closed. Forgetting about whether this repair will look all that good, can it be done? I can't afford the time or effort to replace the side panel or the entire bed. Also, I am not a welder, but my stepdad is. He's a pipeline welder, so I wanted to know if this is do-able before I approached him with it.

 

[1stgen4evr]

welding

Sam

You can definitely weld the frame. There are techniques that will make for a better job. If you are interested in my suggestion, PM and we will go further in detail. Are you making a four door Ramcharger?



Tugboat

You can weld that for sure. Or someone can. It won't be pretty but can be cleaned up to look alright. I would suggest tig welding. It would help if you put a stiff leg on the inside of the bed to take some of the tool box weight. The stiff leg will need a foot or it will punch through the floor. Probably help to put something from side to side that would tie the tool boxes to each other.



1stgen4evr

James

 

[Steve Graham]

Here is a good site on welding truck frames, from Australia. I used this as a reference for the Willys project, shortening the frame 25". Section H is probably what you want.



http://www.dotrs.gov.au/transreg/vsb/vsb_06.htm

Steve

 

["Mad Max"]

That's great info fellas - thanks for the links and advice. Those websites have a ton of info - great reading. For the project I'm doing I definitely want to make sure to only have to do it once.

James, I thought about making a 'suburban', and a guy did just that and made it also a dually a few years ago. I think he called it the SubRam - I saw that rig in Van Nuys last April at Spring Fling show and swap meet, near Pomona - what a show. Was a pretty sweet converison. But I just gotta have the 8' bed, and the cab is going to be, well, just a bit different. Not too outrageous, but definitely user-friendly, especially for the back seaters.

Thanks again fellas - I'll definitely post lots of pics once the project gets fully underway - probably within one month. Which reminds me... I gotta call PDR and place a couple orders... :-laf

- Sam

 

[JLEONARD]

Sam,

Maybe a little late on this reply but...

The first gen frames CAN be successfully welded. . The donor truck my son had was an 89 dually that had the frame added on to by about 12 inches. It was a construction truck that had a welder mounted. The added section had similar rust as the rest so I assume it spent the major part of it's life as a loooong bed.

It looks like they cut the frame and used a C shaped cross section similar to the original frame but large enough to fit over it... . and welded that all around. There was perhaps a 6 inch overlap on each end.

Hope that's enough of a description to help you out... can't take a pic as the truck is gonzo.

Jay

 

[MikeO]

Yup... the frame can be welded.



We took 20 something inches out of mine. Just cut it square using a Stihl cutoff saw, beveled the edge and welded it from the outside. After that we used a 1/2" plate that fits inside the C-Channel (it was 18" long) and seam welded that all the way around.



We just stick welded it (none of that fancy MIG stuff here). Last year, we loaded the bed with stone and it weighed on the scale at just a pinch of 12,000. If it didn't break then, it's not going to.



Mike O.