Hi, newbie to the site here. Got a question about a 84' 359 Pete that I own, I use as a lowboy/grain haul truck for the farm. I have noticed that the outside frame of the truck has a rusty scaly break along the bottom of the frame between the rear tandems, on both sides. The break is about 6" long on both sides and in the exact same spot. It's a double frame truck with camel back suspension. Its been a heavy hauler all its life. The question I have is what do I do without cutting the frame by the cab and replacing the rear half of the truck? Can I get away with capping it with a long piece of C-chanel? Any thoughts??
The problem with double frames is you cannot see the rust/fractures between the frames. In my opinion, replacement is the only proper remedy. Capping w/heavy C may last a few months...or few years? Under heavy load it may fracture.
I've seen trucks like that run years and years and years with cracks like that. I'd take a good look at the inner frame and see what kind of shape it's in. You should be able to get actual frame rail (high tensile strength frame steel) to plate over it. Once they start rusting and cracking though, replacement is really the only correct fix. And actually it's not as big of a deal as it sounds like.
I agree. The proper way to repair it would be drop the drive axles strip the frame of crossmembers. Peel the inside frame away and cut the outer frame off where you have good rail. Have rail formed out of X-10 steel. But when you open it up you will probably find bad corrosion between the rails. When double frames break and there old it can be a can of worms. I can tell you new rails from Pete are 28' long and undrilled and will cost $2,500 each. And those are 2002 prices.
Maybe I should just part the old girl out? That sounds like more work than what I want to do to her.