Frame Repairs

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ChargedDart75

ChargedDart75

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Well, I started working on my frame issue on my '02 Dakota. Got the bed off and found the issue. It looks like the lower mount (3rd pic) rusted, allowing the shock to flex it's mount and crack (2nd pic). The mount is attached to the spare tire carrier, and it is mounted by 6 rivets and 6 bolts. My thought is to punch the rivets out, take the carrier out and rebuild the lower corner mount and weld up the crack. I think it really needs the lower support to keep it from cracking again. Any thoughts are appreciated. And yes, I play on cleaning the rust up and painting the frame.
 
Yikes.

Well, '02 Dakota's aren't exactly rare. My first instinct would be to check the inventory at the local wrecking yards and head out with a battery powered impact wrench and a sawzall and bring back a rear frame section that starts 6" ahead of that crossmember. That way you can just replace the whole crossmember, and have spare rail sections in case things look ugly when you start cleaning up the rear parts of those rails. Because that one looks pretty ugly starting at the spring mount. Just my thoughts, I'm not looking at it in person.
 
72bluNblu said:
Yikes.

Well, '02 Dakota's aren't exactly rare. My first instinct would be to check the inventory at the local wrecking yards and head out with a battery powered impact wrench and a sawzall and bring back a rear frame section that starts 6" ahead of that crossmember. That way you can just replace the whole crossmember, and have spare rail sections in case things look ugly when you start cleaning up the rear parts of those rails. Because that one looks pretty ugly starting at the spring mount. Just my thoughts, I'm not looking at it in person.
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'02 Quad Cabs are around here. If I'm not mistaken, it's unique to the Quad Cab frame due to the shorter box. It seems to be solid, but like you said, won't know until I get in there. My plan is to get the tire carrier out to see what I'm dealing with. Hopefully the tire carrier can be fixed/replaced without having to do a whole frame or partial frame.
 
RammerJammer75 said:
'02 Quad Cabs are around here. If I'm not mistaken, it's unique to the Quad Cab frame due to the shorter box. It seems to be solid, but like you said, won't know until I get in there. My plan is to get the tire carrier out to see what I'm dealing with. Hopefully the tire carrier can be fixed/replaced without having to do a whole frame or partial frame.
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Based on that last picture I don't even know if I'd want to fix the carrier. Kinda why I would look for a donor, I think the 2nd gen Dakota's were '97-'04, so at worst any of those quad cabs should work. The rails don't look as bad as the carrier, but if I was going to remove a carrier at a wrecking yard I'd just remove the rear bed mounts and springs and take the whole back section of frame, be a lot faster than dealing with the rivets.

Not saying you can't fix the carrier, I just don't think I'd want to mess with it. Even if it's quad-cab specific there's more of those than A-body donors, and guys find those still.

Does the tire carrier/crossmember locate anything other than that shock mount? Heck I'd be more inclined to get some 2"x2" square tubing and build a new crossmember compared to trying to repair that one. Again, I'm not looking at it in person, but it looks rough. Just cleaning it up enough to run good welds might take longer than building a new one out of square tubing. Options I guess.
 
72bluNblu said:
Based on that last picture I don't even know if I'd want to fix the carrier. Kinda why I would look for a donor, I think the 2nd gen Dakota's were '97-'04, so at worst any of those quad cabs should work. The rails don't look as bad as the carrier, but if I was going to remove a carrier at a wrecking yard I'd just remove the rear bed mounts and springs and take the whole back section of frame, be a lot faster than dealing with the rivets.

Not saying you can't fix the carrier, I just don't think I'd want to mess with it. Even if it's quad-cab specific there's more of those than A-body donors, and guys find those still.

Does the tire carrier/crossmember locate anything other than that shock mount? Heck I'd be more inclined to get some 2"x2" square tubing and build a new crossmember compared to trying to repair that one. Again, I'm not looking at it in person, but it looks rough. Just cleaning it up enough to run good welds might take longer than building a new one out of square tubing. Options I guess.
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It does locate that vibration dampner or whatever is right above the bumper and it seems to be bracing for that rear section of the frame. I could build one out of square tubing and make my own tire hanger. The carrier is rough in that corner, but honestly besides some scaling it doesn't look too awful from what I can see. But that doesn't meant anything until it's out
 
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Got the section out. There's no way one could do this in a junkyard in a day (or maybe at all). It took me an hour to get the rivets out, and that was with a hellacious air chisel.
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The crack is longer than I first thought. My plan is to clean it up, weld the top of this section, then plate the bottom portion. I'm going to build a new leg and foot for the portion the rotted off by cutting off the thin metal and plating new metal on. The rest of the frame looks solid, so I think the frame should have no issues. I'm going to clean it up and paint it as well while this is off.
 
My 01 ram has similar cracks i haven't tried to fix them yet to see how bad they actually are.
 
dartfreak75 said:
My 01 ram has similar cracks i haven't tried to fix them yet to see how bad they actually are.
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Where are they located? I'm glad my '00 Ram is in good shape. The frame section is repaired and I'm currently painting it. I did like it said: welded the top, plated the bottom, and completely rebuilt the leg and foot of the frame by cutting the thin metal and plating both sides.
 
RammerJammer75 said:
I'm not sure that I would consider Tennessee part of the Rust belt. I think this was from neglect, PO never washed it out or anything like that.
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Do they use salt or calcium on the roads there?

One of the most rusty trucks I have seen came from Michigan, it was 2 years old.
My neighbor bought it when he went home one christmas from one of his dads friends.
It was nothing but a ball of rust underneath, after 6 months, all the fuel lines rusted out along with the brake lines.
The exterior body looked really clean, I told him to trade it in asap, before it totally fell apart.
 
sireland67 said:
Do they use salt or calcium on the roads there?

One of the most rusty trucks I have seen came from Michigan, it was 2 years old.
My neighbor bought it when he went home one christmas from one of his dads friends.
It was nothing but a ball of rust underneath, after 6 months, all the fuel lines rusted out along with the brake lines.
The exterior body looked really clean, I told him to trade it in asap, before it totally fell apart.
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I think mostly salt, but they do spray around here some. I've worked on an S10 from Michigan and I'll be honest, I don't know what was holding it together.
 
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Just thought I would wrap this thread up. Got the tire carrier fixed, painted and the frame painted this week, so we assembled it all today. No flexing, creaking or cracking, so I'd say we're good. Sorry, no pictures of my glorious welding lol thank you all for your advice and help!
 
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