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Frame Game

The frame on my '82 K2500 has some holes and cracks right around the area the forward rear spring hanger mounts to it,I discovered yesterday after I got the remains of one side of the hanger that rotted to nothing off it...:frown1:

Some small holes about 1/2" next to the lower rear rivet hole in the frame at the bottom near the "C" channel,and some pinholes and cracking further back towards the tire..the rest of the frame to the rear bumper ,and the spring hanger & shackle are crusty and will probably crack or rot thru soon too .:doah:..

This means the truck likely wont be around much longer--I'm attempting to bolt a hunk of angle iron to the frame where the hanger was riveted to on the rear facing side "for now",hopefully it wont fail completely and rip off before spring,I will have to pull off the bed to be able to fish plate it ,I suck at welding "out of position"....also the dam fuel tank is now dripping diesel at the rate of 2 gallons overnight--I hate to even spend a penny on any parts for this truck now..

I need to go out west or down south and buy something rot free,I'm very disgusted living in MA where nothing last 5 years before it starts rotting into pieces--newer GM trucks frames are absolute crap,junkyards here have so many 1990's to 2010 or so trucks coming in broken in half,they are just crushing most of them without removing any engines or other good parts--they just don't have room enough to store them all..Fords & Dodges also rot away to nothing in 10 years here too..so any truck with a decent frame sell for big bucks,even with multiple drive train or engine problems..

I want to stick with square bodies--one decent one will likely outlive me now,judging by how I feel after crawling under my truck the past few days..
 
@diesel4me

I feel your pain. This truck looked 100% factory when it arrive from Washington. It still had the original undercoating on it and the only spot of rust it had was about the size of a pencil eraser on the tailgate. Now there are some many holes in it the Swiss would like to name a cheese after it. There was one yard that had tons of square body trucks but I can’t even get them to answer the phone to see if it is still a self pull yard. By now most places in MD have scrapped the older square bodies to make way for all the newer models.
 
PICT0054.JPG I am in the same boat here in MA--when scrap hit $250 a ton some years back,all the square bodies practically became extinct here as far as parts in junkyards..and many of them were actually in nice shape,because they were totaled early in life,or scrapped when the engine went sour ,frames don't rot sitting in junkyards much ,compared to ones driven in salted roads during winters..

One yard I frequent had over 100 square bodies,most of the 4x4's ,now there is just one,when I went there last week hoping to find a good spring hanger..the truck is a bare skeleton,bed still on it (junk),and sitting in dirt with no rims,so its hard to see if the frame is any good..the hanger looked "useable",but for the amount of effort to get it off,it wasn't worth going thru that much agony for me..

Another yard I knew of but haven't been to in decades keeps all the "old stuff" but most of it has been picked clean or rotted from sitting too long--called the owner,he said he has a few 1/2 ton 4x4's,that had decent hangers,but he wanted $100 each,because to get the trucks out would require moving a lot of cars and he wasn't thrilled about removing rivets..
Now I'd be better off looking for an entire frame..(or truck,I'm not in good shape,and would be unlikely to complete a cab & nose swap).

I actually HAD one sitting in my backyard for years ,in nice shape,from a '73 K10 --but I stupidly cut it up when scrap prices went so high,figuring I'd never use it..:doah:..I did not own my K2500 then..and back then square bodies could be had for $500-$1000 in decent shape still..

I also own a '85 K10 Suburban that came from Washington state !--it spent a year in VT and two in MA before I got it in 2009 around Thanksgiving...its undercarriage was like new,compared to any I'd seen here,and it had been oiled and undercoated..has a 6.2 and a dying 700R4 in it..body was real decent when I got it too..paid $400 for it,a friend had to get rid of it when he moved to an apartment..

But life got in the way of my plans to put it on the road and fix it up--my mom was failing when I got it,she needed 24/7 supervision,so it ended up sitting in the yard all this time--the rockers are rotted all the way from front to back now,and under the doors,and I assume the once minty floors are probably weak now,the whole truck was completely buried for over a month in a huge snow drift in 2015,and the melting snow went in the doors and soaked the carpets..

Far as I know the undercarriage is still "nice" compared to my pickup,and I might have to resort to dragging it out and fix everything thats gone to hell from sitting (brakes,exhaust,etc),and get the transmission replaced..I put a Diamond plow on it but only pushed snow once with it--never did hook up the plow lights..
The fuel tank in that thing may well be junk by now too,a 40 gallon one that holds $120 worth of diesel..it may not be worth saving now,it'll need so much work..
I'm just so discouraged now,I don't know what I'm going to do..for now I'm just praying I can cob the pickup together enough to be able to use it "around town" to get groceries and pay bills,then take it off the road when winter's over--then decide whether to fix it,or part it out..:frown1:
 
Yea life definitely knows how to throw us some curve balls. I purchase my truck for basically nothing, somewhere along the lines of 900$. The 5.7 still runs strong and has a rebuilt 700R4 in it with upgraded shift kit. The 31 gal tank has a hole somewhere around the halfway mark (found out the hard way when I filled up for a road trip and leaked fuel for 3 days). The guy before me kinda chopped it up. His rendition of adding stuff was never 100% thought out. I like how there are only a few that roll around town. I want to do my best to bring this truck back to life and daily drive it. I just want it to be safe in the process.
 
diesel4me said:
The frame on my '82 K2500 has some holes and cracks right around the area the forward rear spring hanger mounts to it,I discovered yesterday after I got the remains of one side of the hanger that rotted to nothing off it...:frown1:

Some small holes about 1/2" next to the lower rear rivet hole in the frame at the bottom near the "C" channel,and some pinholes and cracking further back towards the tire..the rest of the frame to the rear bumper ,and the spring hanger & shackle are crusty and will probably crack or rot thru soon too .:doah:..

This means the truck likely wont be around much longer--I'm attempting to bolt a hunk of angle iron to the frame where the hanger was riveted to on the rear facing side "for now",hopefully it wont fail completely and rip off before spring,I will have to pull off the bed to be able to fish plate it ,I suck at welding "out of position"....also the dam fuel tank is now dripping diesel at the rate of 2 gallons overnight--I hate to even spend a penny on any parts for this truck now..

I need to go out west or down south and buy something rot free,I'm very disgusted living in MA where nothing last 5 years before it starts rotting into pieces--newer GM trucks frames are absolute crap,junkyards here have so many 1990's to 2010 or so trucks coming in broken in half,they are just crushing most of them without removing any engines or other good parts--they just don't have room enough to store them all..Fords & Dodges also rot away to nothing in 10 years here too..so any truck with a decent frame sell for big bucks,even with multiple drive train or engine problems..

I want to stick with square bodies--one decent one will likely outlive me now,judging by how I feel after crawling under my truck the past few days..

After all this I like to have fun, for example at https://hellspincasinoau.com/ HellSpin Casino, where the best casino games are collected.
Click to expand...
Yea life definitely knows how to throw us some curve balls.
 
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