Pros and cons of boxing the frame.

[sniperthx1]

I've noticed some frame cracks in a few areas on my 87' chev V10.

Rear shock mounts and steering box area.

What I wonder is, what negatives are there going to be to boxing the frame?

Should I box most of the frame, or just box known stress areas?

 

[79rustyk10]

I thinks the ORD steering box brace, and repair piece is the preferred one around here, for the cracks, drill then ends of the crack to stop it from spreading, then weld it correctly.

Search should also yield many threads about this very subject as its pretty common.

As for boxing, what are your plans for the truck? Any other mods, lift, whels/tires?

 

[sniperthx1]

The ORD brace is already installed, did that about 4 yrs ago.

Truck is lifted 4"
Planning on the 52" front spring mod, shackle flip in the rear, and several others, but most wont effect the chassis much.

Truck will be used for more mild rockcrawling.

I've been reading other threads about frame boxing, haven't come to a real conclusion quite yet.

 

[79rustyk10]

For that I would probably box the frame, these were never the strongest to begin with and they flex ALOT, as you're aware. However, boxing the frame will do nothing if you keep the factory rear shock mounts.

Do you have a short, or long box? I think DIY4X makes a frame boxing kit for the SWB pickups. I would think it would be easily modded to fit a LWB truck as well.

 

[dremu]

Further detail...

There are two steering fixes from ORD, among other vendors.

There's the steering brace, which reinforces the crossmember to the frame and keeps it from cracking.

There's also a weld-in patch to fix the frame proper once it gets cracked.

http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/steeringkit.htm

Whether to box the whole frame or just parts is the subject of much debate. I note that the common problem areas, even on unboxed non-hardcore trucks, I can name right off ... where the steering box meets the frame, and the rear shock mounts I don't think you gotta box the whole frame to fix those ... patch the steering box area and maybe do something like Kert's rear shock crossmember

http://diy4x.com/cart/index.php?route=product/product&path=24&product_id=118

And you might just be good to go.

-- A