What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Frame Around the Steering Box Questions? I have Pics

J

jeremywrags

1/2 ton status
Joined
Jun 15, 2010
Posts
150
Reaction score
0
Location
Chino CA
Hi All,

I noticed something tonight when tightening my steering box to frame bolt, two of which were just hand tight...

The frame looks like maybe it has been repaired or has a brace kit or something on it around that area, I'm not sure if it looks normal or not, my 75 does not look like this.

Also, have a look at the leaf spring hangar, it looks a bit odd to

picture.php


picture.php


picture.php
 
it looks like the frame is cracked there. right behind the spring perch.
 
dead center of the middle pic. there is a light colored thin line going through the grime across the bottom of the frame. looks like a couple of finger smudges on it?? can be seen in the bottom pic better. then once youve found it look in the top pic where the end of the line would be on the thin edge of the frame. you can see a little crack or deviation right where the line ends. almost directly below the top steering box bolt at the very bottom of the frame. I tried to circle it in paint then repost but I cant figure out how to resize the pic so the site wont let me:confused: it should be weldable.
 
Yep i see them and I agree, also I think the Rivet\weld for the leaf hanger has a crack in it. Looks like I am in for some welding repair.

Any advice, is this something that I should mess with or do I need a frame shop to look at it. My brother in law has a Mig and is pretty skilled with it, he did allot of fab on his 72 Suburban and it came out great. What do you think?
 
Should be an easy fix for anyone thats welded much. Just be sure to disconnect both battery cables first. I don't know why it happend but me and a buddy blew up the batt. on his 53 chevy 1/2 ton trying to weld the exhaust:dunno: It may have cracked there due to the bolts being loose or just age. That looks like a factory steering box brace?? That may have shifted the stress to a different part of the frame. They are known to break the frame. Just not usually that way I don't think.
 
Cool, yea apparently the frame brace in an option from the factory. Yea I thin I have a weekend of welding ahead of me, fix the frame as well as the leaf hangar.

Thanks for the replies
 
The extra plate behind the steering box is factory, but it does look like you've also got at least one crack in the frame.

Wire wheel the entire area really well and check for more damage, then fix it. If the steering bolts aren't kept tight it's easy for the forces to crack to frame.


:usaflag:
 
Hey Greg, yea that is my plan for the weekend and you are right there is a crack in 2 spots, one on the frame and one at the leaf hangar bracket.

If the crack goes under the factory steering brace which it does should I remove the brace for the repair or just make sure that my welds penetrate far enough under the brace?

If I should remove the brace what about putting it back because it is riveted?
 
If it were me, I'd drill out all the rivets and remove the factory plate.

Then, clean the cracked areas. Drill holes at the ends of the cracks to prevent spreading. "V" them out and weld 'em HOT to fix the issues.

Once that was all done, grind the welds only as much as necessary to get that factory plate back in there nice and flat. Secure it with GR-8 bolts.... then I might even run some 1" long welds between the brace and the factory frame in several places to stiffen it up even more.

There's nothing magical about rivets. It's just the way to factory did things 40 years ago....you can clamp things just as well with GR-8 hardware torqued properly. I'd use either pinchlock nuts or Nyloc nuts to make sure they never loosen up.


:usaflag:
 
Good advice and I think I have my weekend planned out, lets hope I get the time. I'll try to update this thread with PICS
 
Are people not seeing what i am? I have personaly never seen anything like that before! I know on the like, 85-91's got some steering brace things there but that one looks almost double framed through that whole area! Maybe my eyes are messing with me tho...
 
Last edited:
Hi Greg, It's taken longer than expected but I have completed the removal and welding up of the cracks in the frame near the steering box...

To do so required the removal by saws all of my front cross-member, the PO got welder happy and put little beads all over the place.

Anyway, I have also installed a swaybar from a 75 K5 and am now considering my options for replacing the front cross member, Any advice?

My Brother in law suggests boxing in the frame just near the steering box and then using a 2x6 steel tube as a custom front cross member. This might give a nice mounting point for the sway bar.

Any thoughts on that option? Using the original member is out of the question as due to the number of welds the PO put in I had to pretty much destroy it.

here is a pic of where i am with it now.

I could just stick with the 2x4...lol

picture.php
 
I vote for the 2x4. Who needs steel or welds or grade 8 hardware. A treated 2x4 with some deck screws should work just fine:thumb:
 
don't laugh, back in the 80's, when I lived in Pennsy, I used to see lift blocks made from wood on occasion.... :haha:

OP..... just be aware that partial boxing can lead to stress-riser cracks where you stop.... can......

personally I just did the weld-in, bolt-in, then ORD's crossmember.... for the forward x-member, I would say whatever fits well....
 
Jeremy,

You live in the land of amazing Pick-N-Pulls...with acres and acres of rust-free 67-72 trucks. The simplest solution is to go find yourself a nice unmolested factory crossmember and bolt it in. No reason to make things more complicated than they have to be, unless you have some other purpose / reason in mind for this swap??

:usaflag:
 
Ahh I wish that were true... I go at least once a week and our era trucks are getting harder and harder to find. I have I think 4 bone yards within a reasonable distance and they seem to be lacking is supply of good specimens and almost never a 4x4 and definitely never a Blazer or Jimmy.
 
I can't remember if it is bolts or rivets holding in the front cross member. If it's just some bolts, I may be able to help you out. The blazer that I got Z71's WS frame off of, still has that piece.

In all honesty I haven't been the fastest shipper lately, but I could get it to ya if your not in a super rush. :wink1:
 
NorCal69 said:
I can't remember if it is bolts or rivets holding in the front cross member. If it's just some bolts, I may be able to help you out. The blazer that I got Z71's WS frame off of, still has that piece.

In all honesty I haven't been the fastest shipper lately, but I could get it to ya if your not in a super rush. :wink1:
Click to expand...

They're riveted in all but one spot if I'm remembering right...

And no worries about the shipping. I've got more than enough other stuff to tackle on this thing before the WS frame.:thumb:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom