Worth patching this frame?

Should I save it?

  • Junk it, not worth saving.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

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chillman88

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Hey all,

So since I got the bed off the frame I got from Wes and was planning on using for my 4wd swap I've come across a dilemma.

Apparently they beat the tar out of this truck and at one point tried welding the bed to the frame!

On each side the bed wore into the frame, might be 1/8" deep. These are directly under the front of the bed, pretty much in the middle of the frame. It's a Texas frame, no rot just some light surface rust.

Drivers side
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Passenger side
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Passenger side next back from the front has a wear mark too although not near as bad
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The rest of the frame looks fine to me. I'll include pictures of the homemade gooseneck mount in the next post.

Question is should I bother getting it patched or plated or just not bother with this frame?

Plan was to get this all ready and just swap my body onto this frame. If I DON'T use this, I'll probably just put a reverse shackle kit on my current frame, but I won't be tearing it down and painting it all nice either.
 

chillman88

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Here's pictures of the questionable gooseneck hitch. Welds don't look too terrible. Will this be something to worry about as far as stress cracking or will it be fine?

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Nero

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Looks fine to me, the goose neck welds. Might hit it with some rustoleum then primer at least.
 

nj_m715

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it's just the top, I'd be waaay moar worried about the sides
I'd run it
 

chillman88

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Looks fine to me, the goose neck welds. Might hit it with some rustoleum then primer at least.

Let me clarify, if I use this frame it will definitely be painted, most likely sandblasted. It would get hot dip galvanized if I could scrounge up the extra money!

I'm primarily concerned with the wear areas and longevity. My concern with the gooseneck is just potential stress areas that could possibly cause an issue later.
 

chillman88

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What would you be pulling?

Not as much what I would be pulling, but the way the gooseneck is attached pulling against the natural flex these frames have. Whenever I get a gooseneck trailer it will probably be a 14k trailer loaded close to it's GWR though.
 

Jesus Freak

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Baced on the wear that's there and the fact that it's all pretty much intact, I still think you're legit. The previous owner did all the stress test work for you.
 

chillman88

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Baced on the wear that's there and the fact that it's all pretty much intact, I still think you're legit. The previous owner did all the stress test work for you.

I kinda felt that way too but I'm always paranoid and overthinking lol
 

Nero

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Let me clarify, if I use this frame it will definitely be painted, most likely sandblasted. It would get hot dip galvanized if I could scrounge up the extra money!

I'm primarily concerned with the wear areas and longevity. My concern with the gooseneck is just potential stress areas that could possibly cause an issue later.
If you're sand blasting it, you'll be able to really see the integrity of the welds and any cracks that may be occurring. Sounds like you're on the right path.
 

franklin2

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You are not supposed to mess with the top and bottom areas of the frame. Believe it or not, that is where all the strength is. If you notice, all official gooseneck hitches you buy fasten to the vertical sides of the frame. That being said, my truck had this exact same type of homemade hitch welded to it also. I have never had a problem with it. I just got finished putting a dump bed on it, and had to cut that hitch out. Being afraid like you, I just took the torch and cut the center out, and left their welded on part on the top of the frame and did not bother it.

You can do a google search, and you will see all the big truck companies have rules about modifying their frames. You can weld and modify the frame, but there are certain ways to do it, and they usually want you to stay away from the top and bottom short areas, and only drill and weld to the vertical piece. I noticed on a 1989 f350 cab and chassis frame, Ford had welded a narrow piece of metal to the top and bottom of the horizontal areas of the frame to beef it up.
 

IDIBRONCO

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As long as I'm not looking at the pictures!LOL Honestly, it's hard for me to imagine someone letting their bed rub on the frame that much. It obviously happened once and probably more time that we don't know about.
 
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