Frame brackets new aftermarket or cleaned up used Ford.

[laserjock]

So I pulled the frame out of the garage and pressure washed it good. No surprise, I found more ugly. Going to need some spring hangers and there are holes in a couple crossmembers.

All of the hangers and such are available from on place or another but my parts truck also has them and all in good shape. Question is this. Do I take the time to remove and clean/paint the used parts or buy the new aftermarket stuff. Having time is always an issue for me but free is good too. Any other wisdom the collective would like to add would be appreciated.

Thanks!


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[franklin2]

It's a lot of work. Several hours of drilling and punching out rivets. I have done one before, did all the cross-members all the way back from the cab to the rear. So of course you have to drill out all the rivets on your frame, but you have to do it on the donor frame too. I like saving money though.

I also had a thin place on the pass side rear frame rail. I took a section of the donor frame and cut it, and then cut the top of the donor piece off to make it look like a "L". I then slipped it inside the trucks' frame, and by the time I bolted in the rear spring hanger and the hitch up through the bottom, I didn't even have to weld it in. And you could not hardly tell it was in there.

 

[PackRat239]

The factory parts will almost always be better quality than the chinese replacements.

 

[brokeasajoke]

Air chisel

 

[laserjock]

Oh yeah. Air hammer is a must. Grind the head off then put a little dimple in the rivet and drive it out with the air hammer. It's not too bad but it's not so great either.


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[franklin2]

Oh yeah. Air hammer is a must. Grind the head off then put a little dimple in the rivet and drive it out with the air hammer. It's not too bad but it's not so great either. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You have got the theory, remove as much metal as possible out of the head of the rivet, and then remove it. But it's much quicker to center punch and drill the head of the rivet. The drill bit removes a lot of metal without all the sparks and does it quicker also. Then you are left with the head that is like a little donut that is very easy to remove with a regular hammer and chisel with only a couple of blows. You only have to drill the hole so the depth is even with the frame.

 

[Oog]

I speak from experience. I have done way too many rust belt spring hangers and x members. My preferred method is used OE parts/new OE parts. And last is Dorman. Reason is new OE is starting to be forged from thinner metal. I use use a torch to burn rivets off

 

[riotwarrior]

IMHE and this is if I have a donor truck...I burn the rivets off and same with the truck needing work.

Good torch action and hammer is all that's required. I've never had much issue doing it this way, Then you can take and sandblast and paint parts and bake em in the oven..YES BAKE THEM IN THE OVEN...just don't let wife catch you! and make sure paint sticks!

It works amazingly well to paint and bake!

Then blast the frame, paint it and get some good Gr8 bolts and nuts and bolt it together, using a tri lock nut that has been pinched in 3 places like a factory locking nut. These DON"T come loose. No need for lock washers no need for nylocks.

JM2CW

Al

 

[laserjock]

You have got the theory, remove as much metal as possible out of the head of the rivet, and then remove it. But it's much quicker to center punch and drill the head of the rivet. The drill bit removes a lot of metal without all the sparks and does it quicker also. Then you are left with the head that is like a little donut that is very easy to remove with a regular hammer and chisel with only a couple of blows. You only have to drill the hole so the depth is even with the frame.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to try the center punch and drill method. Given I spent most of the last 24 hrs in misery with a hot spark in my eye, fewer sparks is not a bad thing. And yes I had my ANSI safety glasses on when it happened. It's a nice day so I may go out and crib the old truck up and start cutting. We shall see. Maybe not. Eyeball is still a little fuzzy.


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[laserjock]

Well, an evening of grinding cutting beating and cussing yielded...

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Still need to pull the spring hangers if I'm going to. It was too nice today to not get some stuff done outside sore eye or not.



The overloads on this other truck had a spacer between them and the spring pack. Hadn't really seen that before.


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