What to do with a bent frame.

[quilbilly]

I new to TDR and posted this in the conversions section and didn't get much response so maybe I should have tried it here first. The forums are great. My tale of woe began a month and a half ago when we checked our message machine while we were on vacation on my boat. It included several messages from our insurance company about the “totaled vehicle” which gave us pause. It turned out my daughter had fallen asleep at the wheel of my 93 Dodge diesel towing a horse trailer, crossed the centerline sideswiped an oncoming car, and slid along in the ditch for about 100 feet. Miraculously no one was injured, there was no horse on board and that is the important part. But in the end it left all three vehicles totaled. After a month of insurance company purgatory I ended up with the my totaled truck and not a whole bunch of money. The horse trailer was borrowed and only partially insured. Some of the money went to paying off the boat which I built and launched in July. My truck was truly a thing of beauty. I bought it a year and a half ago with 85K on it. The original owner absolutely adored it, I haven’t had the nerve to tell him the story. So I want to rebuild it.

It was hit hard on the left front wheel. The fender is toast, the left part of the core support crunched ( which I pounded on a long time and is now functional), the radiators and intercooler are fine, the left door sort of crunched and the cab twisted so the door wouldn’t close. I decided that if I could get the cab back in shape it would be a message from the Dodge gods that I should continue. So jacks and timbers in hand I have muscled the cab almost back to normal. The worst part is that the frame is bent in about 4 inches toward the engine and two inches up, right at the supports for the upper control arm. The control arms are are bent but the knuckle appears fine and rotates easily. The left hand frame rail is pushed aft about two inches. Which leads me to my questions, sorry that it took so long to get there.

1. I took a mess of pictures and took them to a body guy recommended to me. He felt for about $1000. 00 he could straighten the frame. But being that this is now my hobby, my boat being done and me being poorer, is it absolute insanity for me to straighten it myself? I don’t mind paying the money but on the other hand it would buy me a TIG welder I covet.



2. I have lots of heavy equipment, beams, jacks, welders and a flat place to work. So if you all don’t think it is totally nuts. About how many tons of pull would I need to pull the frame length wise? I would also be pulling in certain spots sideways. I am just curious about a ballpark figure.



3. Being a 93 what does heating/ welding do to the strength of that type of frame.



FYI I am a competent welder/ metal worker and having lots of boat work experience so I am good a layout and measuring things that aren’t straight. If you want to see my boat, in its early stages look at my web site. http://www.olympus.net/personal/viv...ilerSailer.html

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Todd Miller

 

[Hemiless]

Pay the $1000

If you plan to keep the truck and drive it on the Highway a bunch then pay the $1000. But if the truck is to be used on the farm or as a hunting buggy then buy the tig and have some fun. My reasoning behind paying the 1000 dollars is that the body shop probably has a laser frame jig. Which will allow them to get it set just perfect. If you are unable to get the frame back to stock specs you could have premature tire ware and failure which could easily justify the $1000 plus the truck might have erratic handling problems as well. Another option is to look for a donor truck to take the frame and fenders off. Either way I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Philip]

I saw your post in the other forum you listed it in. Seeing as how no one has jumped on it yet. Here goes.





The biggest concern I would see is where are you going to get the spec's to use to make sure you are straightening it to stock spec's. Even the Dodge dealers or aftermarket shops do not have the frame spec's. The one ton series is a forgotten beast in the automotive world. If they have frame damage they are totaled.





The reason I know about the spec's is I have a 93 W350. When I bought it I suspected a bent frame from the way the truck was wearing tires and was a hand full on wet or slick roads. I took it to two good shops in my area to have the frame checked to see if it was out. Both shops could not find any spec's for any 1st gen one tons trucks. Eather 2 W or $X$. One was a Dodge body shop also.



Now to the jack size. A 20 ton should fill the bill. You going to have some mechanical leverage from the pulling setup. If you have never seen a frame puller. Just think of a long "L" shaped section of pipe. Make the long side around 15' long. The short side around 4'. Anchor the jack on the long side and push to the short side. Be sure to weld some good grade chain hooks to the long "L" side at varis places. Or weld tabs to it and use a clevis to hook to.



P. S. Make the short side of the puller from I Beam. Pipe will bend.

 

[JDMills]

I have seen some numbers in the service manual about the distance between this point and that point on the truck's frame. It does not mean a whole lot to me, but If you choose to try it yourself , the numbers may come in handy. good luck!

 

[SMorneau]

Glad everyone is ok. Now beat your daughter for me!



We had a local hockey coach die here recently when he fell asleep at the wheel. Nobody could say enough good things about him. People erected a little shrine along busy I35. Bull****. He could have killed someone because he had to make a flight out after a golf tournament weekend and he gets the hero treatment. He was retired and could have just taken the next flight.



Seriously, people need to quit driving when they are tired it's no better than getting dead drunk and getting behind the wheel.



Seriously, don't beat your daughter, I'm glad everyone is ok.

 

[RHancock]

If I rememeber right the specks on older trucks is really wide on frames like + or - 1/8 or a 1/4 inch some places, Tape measure torch and some massive leverage. easier said than done... then you have the body work and the A piller in the cab to fix so the door works right...





About 10 years ago I fixed a 1 ton chevy that had about the same bend and body damage you talk about, but it took alot of time. Looking back on it, It would have been easier and quicker to change the frame or swap the motor and trans into another truck. 1st gen parts are fairly easy and cheep to find as long as the cummins word isn't mixed in,



Look for a really clean gas truck and swap the motor you will be time and headake ahead... heck you could even do a dual cab swap... IMHO...





Good luck which ever way you go it will be a lot of work either way