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Frame cracked/Death Wobble!DANGER!

T

TWiSTeDBLaZeR

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I posted one yesterday about cracked frame..I wasn't ready to spill the beans yet because i ran out of sunlight and was not sure about everything yet.

I Had 31 inch tires on my blazer as of yesterday. I upgraded to a mean set of 36 inch iroks/13.5/15x12

i've only had this truck for about 4 month now and about 2 month ago i was taking off from a stop light and when i tapped my brakes i had my first death wobble experience. She did it occasionally after that but nothing to bad.
Then when i put on my 36s last night and took her for a drive she did it again, this time really bad. As soo as got back up to speed from a full stop she did it again. Both times were as soon as i applied the brakes.

I set my font end on stands and shook the tires from left to right and realized i have bad bearings and got new ones.

While doing the left to right method everything was moving....Even my steering box. Then i seen 3 different cracks all at the steering box pretty much lining the bolts. With minor effort you can see atleast one of the cracks flexing.

Are these cracks the Main reason for the death wobble? i'm going to replace the front bearings that i know are bad. Do i need to weld the cracks before i put her back on the road?
 
TWiSTeDBLaZeR said:
Do i need to weld the cracks before i put her back on the road?
Click to expand...

:eek: You're kidding, right? :doah: I'm ALL over the Red Green duct-tape fix, but there are a few things you CANNOT compromise on: brakes, for instance, and steering. :deal:

The cracks will only get worse, and Murphy says that the box will come off the frame whilst on a curve at highway speed, turning your truck into a three ton out of control missile. You better not be driving on the same road my wife or kid is on when you do that! :mad: [Where in CA are you? I wanna know where NOT to be driving :haha: ]

Seriously, it does sound bad. You'll need to drill the ends of the cracks to stop them from spreading quickly, but you'll also need to reinforce the frame, presumably with a weld-on brace, and also keep the problem from happening again. (The bolt-in brace kit, for instance, plus new bolts for the box, maybe loc-tite them, and check them often to see if the threads in the box are hogged out.)

-- A
 
OK I get it now....Don't know why i didn't put two and two...If it does brake what goes is my steering. Yeah...can't be having that. Thank you, now i will have to get ahold of a welder.
 
Pics! Without seeing the damage it's hard for us to give you pointers... if it's not bad you could weld it up with an ORD weld in frame brace along with a bolt in brace as icing on the cake but if it's beyond that it's time for some serious work...
 
Yeah, I've seen a wide variety of fixes done on CK5, depending on damage done, and how hard the owner beats on the truck. I remember somebody drilled ~ 1,.5" holes through the frame and welded in some crazy thick tube, maybe 1/2" wall, for the steering box bolts to go through, and put a thick plate on the outside as well. That's prolly overkill, though, unless you're running huge tires and beat on the truck hard.

But yeah, get thee to somebody with a welder, ideally someone who's dealt with metal fatigue before.

-- A
 
TWiSTeDBLaZeR said:
OK I get it now....Don't know why i didn't put two and two...If it does brake what goes is my steering. Yeah...can't be having that. Thank you, now i will have to get ahold of a welder.
Click to expand...

your steering completely, worst case is the bolts pull through the frame and your steering box is just flopping around on the end of the shaft. You will have zero steering control.

If you do not want or have the tools to weld the brace in, take it to a shop that has a welder
 
Pics

Picture006.jpg


Picture004-2.jpg


Picture002-1.jpg
 
not good..... you have your work cut out. Stop driving that truck until you get that fixed.

With the crack running along the bottom edge of the frame rail like that you are going to need some help from someone with good knowledge of metal fatigue and welding, the patch kit we have been discussing isn ot going to band-aid that one so easily
 
Is it beyond repair or can i do the prep work and get a welder out here to do the repairs? do i have to get the brace kit now? or can i weld it first? then get one in the mail.
 
I would do it all at once especially if you are going with the weld in patch, no need to do the prep work, pay a welder and pull that awkward heavy steering box twice
 
we've seen worse...

you'll need to repair that before any additional support can be added.. and yeah sure, pull it all apart, clean the hell out of the area. grind the area clean, v-grind the cracks and stop-drill em... weld up the cracks, grind smooth where need be, put weld in patch kit, then add bolt-in..

dont just weld it up, assemble and drive... it WILL fail at some point...
 
Remove the steering box, and you'll see even more cracking. When you see cracks easily around the box it's riddled with even more behind the box.

Each crack needs a small hole drilled at the end of the crack, then prep each crack with a grinder to make sure you get full penetration on the weld. Grind the repairs down flush, then have a look at the inside of the frame. If you still see cracks on the inside I'd prep them and weld them too...you want to fix those cracks, not just hide them from the outside.

The crack on the bottom isn't good, but the secondary plate with the weld on kit will take care of that area. Make sure the stitch pattern in the instructions is followed carefully or you'll have some seriously ungood stress risers in that area of the frame.

The kit ORD sells is good. They don't make it, but they do sell it for a fair price. Add a bolt in brace after the repairs are done and you'll be back to good for a long time to come.

Take the time to inspect the condition of all drag link ends, tie rod ends, the rag joint, and the ball joints (unless it's a D60 then check king pins, bushings and springs)

Steering ain't the place to half-ass it.

Rene
 
i think we all owe each other a beer for that simultaneous posting...


CHEERS!!!! :haha:
 
Whatever you do, take the steering box off, and clean it like the other folks said.

You've got a lot of grease /oil there, and until you get it all off to take a close look.. you wont really know how bad it is.
 
Wanted to add I prefer flux core for that type of repair. It dig's harder and is able to burn through any rust, oil, etc without trouble. MIG with gas needs a lot cleaner prep.

Rene
 
do i need some sort of clamp to bring the cracks together before welding? because there is a small gap. Or is that the purpose of grinding the crack into a v? so essentially your filling in the crack?
 
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