2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Replace Frame?

[icman95]

So what's a treatment with that stuff cost?

 

[CRodi]

S. Morris - I remember when Rust Check and Krown split. Big court battle over patent and licensing infringement, suing and countersuing. It played out like a soap opera. I also started off with Rust check. I uesd to go to their original shop in Mississauga(west end suburb of Toronto). A friend of mine talked me into using Krown. It was $10. 00 cheaper and they washed your vehicle for you. They stuff you get at Canadian Tire comes in aerosol cans. Krown is also available at auto parts store. You would have a hard time doing an entire vehicle with them. I keep a can in the garage alongside the WD40 and antiseize. I use it on electrical connections,touch ups, snowblower, lawn equipment etc. etc. Rust Check is still going strong in Mississauga. Both shops get it delivered in 45 gallon drums and it's applied with air pressure. You're bang on with the electrical side benefit. I quit chasing electrical gremlins due to corroded ground connections. I also quit having issues with fuel and brake lines, and quit losing fuel tanks due to corroded tank straps. It's happened to me before - not pretty.



Ken - Ball park figures range from $110. 00(subcompacts) to $150. 00 plus for large pickups, suvs and commercial vehicles. The website should have up dated prices. I just had mine done - 97 2500 ext. cab. Price $124. 95 plus 13% taxes. Four doors are $10. 00 more. They -also have what they call LIP (locked in price). They won't increase the price if you get your vehicle retreated 11-13 months. Skip a year and you pay the increase. Prices went up $5. 00 across the board this year. They also have multi vehicle discounts. $10. 00 off on second and any subsequent vehicle.

 

[Ken55]

Ken55



When you finished with your 'Burban project everything went back together ok? No long term problems that might make me rethink doing this?

I am actually still driving the 2wd. I figured to drive it till a mechanical problem took it off the road, then I'd do the switch. But the darn thing is still running at almost 200K miles.



On the other hahd plowing with my '95 CTD is such a big difference compared to the old 3/4 ton sub that I'm not in any hurry to do the switch over. So the frame is just sitting and waiting to get back on the road.

 

[icman95]

Ken - Ball park figures range from $110. 00(subcompacts) to $150. 00 plus for large pickups, suvs and commercial vehicles. The website should have up dated prices. I just had mine done - 97 2500 ext. cab. Price $124. 95 plus 13% taxes. Four doors are $10. 00 more. They -also have what they call LIP (locked in price). They won't increase the price if you get your vehicle retreated 11-13 months. Skip a year and you pay the increase. Prices went up $5. 00 across the board this year. They also have multi vehicle discounts. $10. 00 off on second and any subsequent vehicle.

That's not bad at all. Don't know why, but I was expecting you to say something like $400-$500. Reason I ask is that even though the nearest place to me is about 5 hours away in Syracuse, maybe it would be worth the once a year trip. Get the whole project done, even painted with POR-15, then as almost an overkill, get it rustproofed with that stuff. Something to think about anyway. I've never been to Syracuse and I always like to see new places. Would be a good excuse.

 

[CRodi]

Too bad you're not close to the border. I guess you don't have relatives or vacation in Canada? Other than talking a local shop into picking up a franchise, it doesn't look too promising. The good thing about this product is that it will maintain the present condition of your vehicle. These companies have a captive market. It requires an annual application and I quess that's how they make their money.



I had a quick look at the frame website. It's amazing you could get a brand new late model frame for your truck. We could only dream about a place like that in Caanada. It just doesn't exist.



Good luck with your project. I'll keep on this forum to see how you make out.



All the best.

 

[CurtLee]

I don't know if it would work, but have you thought about a frame from a v10 truck? I imagine that the only difference is the engine mounts.



My $0. 02

 

[icman95]

Haven't searched using V10 info, maybe they are the same. What I did find are the same, though, are the 2500 and 3500 frames. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The only difference between the two when I ordered mine was $400 for the dually axle and bed fenders.



I've been searching everywhere on the web for a frame found some listings, but have to be careful to get one in good shape and not with rust on it. Found a listing in Ohio last Monday that said very good condition and to email for more info. Took 4 days for them to get back to me and they said it had been scrapped. Why the heck spend the effort to advertise it, then? There's a local junkyard near me that only deals in truck part and I have him looking for one. He took me on a tour of his place last week and he has one section of the yard with just bare truck frames stacked up like pallets. Amazing. Just doesn't have one for me. He's trying to find one from a bit further down South so it doesn't have salt issues. He showed me a Chevy truck with the bed off from NC and the frame looked almost new. I told him I'll be patient and wait for him to find one. He said he had friends and family down there that look for trucks for him all the time and that's how he gets a lot of them.



I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[JFought]

3/4 ton frame and axels
just saw this here in dfw tx craigslist

 

[icman95]

Hey that's awesome! Thanks for the info. Will check it out more when I get home.

 

[icman95]

JF,



Texted the guy in the ad yesterday. The frame is a regular cab and I need a quad cab. So then he offered me a quad cab frame but only 2wd and I need 4wd. So close, but so far... ...



Thanks for trying, though.

 

[JFought]

lol i might even be headed that way in a month or so. . oh well. .

 

[icman95]

Just an update. I called a junkyard in NC about a frame that I saw on their website. They have exactly what I need and will be sending me pics next week. They say they don't have much rust problems there like we do in CT and that the frame should be ok. Can't wait to see the pics. Thanks for all the advice and leads to frames, everyone. Hopefully this one will work out and I'll get the project started sooner rather than later. If possible, I'll post some pics while it's in progress.

 

[icman95]

I'm reviving this thread because although it took a while, the project is well under way. It was much more difficult to get it started than I anticipated. So here's what happened since January:



Couldn't get too many junkyards to help me with getting a frame. Two of them in NC said they had one. They first one said they'd email pics and never did. Second one said they didn't have email to send pics. I asked them to do it with a cell phone camera and text them to me. They said no problem but never did. Lovely...



There is a yard here in CT about an hour away from my house that had one listed, but I wasn't sure about using one that came from this area figuring that it would have been exposed to road salt like mine, so I never took a look at it. After the NC ones fell through, I took a look at the CT one as a last resort and found that it was actually in really good shape. It had a bit of clay-like dirt on it that doesn't come from around here, so I'm guessing it wasn't a northeastern vehicle. I know they bought it from an auction in Boston, so it could have come from anywhere. I took some pics and brought them to the body shop for his opinion. He liked the frame and even went to see it in person as he was going to be in the area anyway. I got the ok from him and the yard delivered it to his shop. Great!



I started buying parts. Got new and much stronger trailer hitch, new coil springs, new shocks, and new Road Armor bumper. Shop told me they could have it done by late Arpil/early May as I needed it for Memorial Day Weekend and a June vacation. Bumper was delivered to the shop where it took up a lot of room, so he hung it from the rafters until he needed it. Time ticked away and the shop never even started to work on sandblasting the replacement frame, let alone repainting it. Late April came around and I told the guy we'd have to do it in July and August since I now needed the truck. He said no problem and to come see him as soon as I was done with June vacation.



Started calling him last week of June. Left messages but he wouldn't call me back. Went over there after hours once and left a note on his door to call me. Never did. Of course I'm getting the unspoken message that he doesn't want to do the work, so I contacted another place. This place is a body shop as well, but they are well known in the area for restorations, and I've seen some of their work. Top notch, show quality stuff. Spelled another way-more expensive than the first guy. It's a 1/2 mile from work, so it is easy to get in touch with them and stop by if need be. Two weeks after I first talked to them, the sent a flatbed over to get my frame from the first guy. The bumper was still hanging from the ceiling above his frame machine and there was a car on the machine so it couldn't be taken down. The new place sent a pickup truck over about a week later to get the bumper so that I wouldn't have to do it. What a great place to deal with!



They disassembled my truck and painted the replacement frame last week. I stopped by Friday to check it out and was able to get some pics-posted below. What a great job they're doing and I can't wait to see it all back together. Just hurts to see my truck in a zillion different pieces. Also posting some links to cell phone video I took while there:



Old frame http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9Pc0FeNDHs



New frame before cleaned up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc2naZB3ykw



New frame after cleaned up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wenXgIEXY_Y

 

[HBarlow]

That's the kind of work custom restoration shops do all the time on classic cars and trucks. It looks like they're doing a nice job for you. It probably won't be cheap but new trucks are surely not cheap either.

 

[Extreme1]

Wow, that old frame looks great compared to mine, is it still around or did it get scrapped?

 

[icman95]

Funny you should mention it. I made a half-a**ed attempt at selling it on Craig's List last year and traded a few emails with a guy, but I guess he wasn't interested in the end. Didn't do much with it since then and was just thinking this week of getting going on selling it again. It is definately useable, but should be refinished before using. I didn't scrap it because it would be a shame to waste it. It's still good to use and I know someone out there needs it. I was thankful that the junkyard I bought my replacement one from thought the same thing and didn't scrap it. In fact, it was just about the last part left from the whole truck they had. PM me if you have any further ideas about it.



It will fit 2000-2002 154"WB 4x4 quad cab longbed.



Thanks.

 

[yenga80]

Good info on this thread. Made me think that when I'm ready to fix or replace my body/frame what if I could just buy a third gen body and drop my 12 valve in it I'm sure someone on here has done this?? Prob need engine mounts redone and wiring of course

 

[icman95]

I'll tell ya, I was really scared to do the project at first. After all, I was asking a complete stranger to take apart my baby like a puzzle and hope that they could put it back together without any problems. I spent many hours researching it here on TDR and other places and found that it probably wasn't as dire a situation as I thought it would be. The key was to know exactly what you are asking for and what is involved. Know what parts will be required and get them ahead of time so there's no scrambling around to fix screwups last minute. The more I researched and got into it, the better I felt about it. Of course it helps that the place was close enough to work to be able to take a peek at it during the different stages on the way home. In the end, they did a stellar job and now a year later I have absolutely no regrets. My truck will be good for many years to come and I'm thrilled with the results. The paint they used is much better than the factory frame paint. If anyone who lives in the area needs any work done, I highly recommend the people who did it-Bundy Motors in Tolland, CT.