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Steering box frame crack.

TJ1978

TJ1978

I have MANY questions
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While browsing another members steering problems. I went to take a picture of the ORD bolt on steering brace for him to buy. Upon doing this, which I never noticed before, and having the truck almost 5 years now. The brace has been on it almost since I bought and it stays on the street. I have a couple cracks.

I found what appears to be an old weld "fix" that seem to have separate on the inside and another small hairline crack on the outer frame.

Anyway, I don't have a welder and have no experience. Can I buy this along with longer bolts and all is well and have a shop weld it up?

www.offroaddesign.com

Weld On Frame Repair Kit for '73-91 GM Trucks

Weld in frame repair kit 67-91 Straight Axle
www.offroaddesign.com www.offroaddesign.com

Is it ok to drive it as is on the street with 35' tires?

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needs to be fixed first with stop drilling the end of the cracks . then V-out the cracks and weld up . then repair plate goes on with some test fitting and working to get it as close to flat as possible . then stich it up .

then put the box back on and good to go .

i fixed a truck 1 time so bad the steering was 3/4 turn before it would catch up . . :yikes:

and it even happens to 2wd trucks . i have 1 and fixed it also .
 
"safe to drive" is subjective and arguable whether on the street or on the highway. My advice would be take it realllllly easy on that truck and get it fixed asap.

when Mine did that, it was put on inactive duty for a while. moving around other projects and parking only. I purchased the scab plate kit, and the brace, and found the plate kit to be basically unusable. it was stamped in a way that even with lots of heat and pounding i was very unhappy with the fit. Couple of threads here on CK5 to search for on that topic.
 
Yeah. I don't weld and on be hesitant to make a first attempt on this. So get the ORD frame plate and proceed?
 
yup- if you are taking to a shop, you want to make sure they are drilling the ends of the cracks, prepping correctly before welding... might be a good idea to have the scab plate set as well in case they can make that work, but they should be repairing the cracks correctly BEFORE trying to get the plate on there.
 
scouthead said:
"safe to drive" is subjective and arguable whether on the street or on the highway. My advice would be take it realllllly easy on that truck and get it fixed asap.

when Mine did that, it was put on inactive duty for a while. moving around other projects and parking only. I purchased the scab plate kit, and the brace, and found the plate kit to be basically unusable. it was stamped in a way that even with lots of heat and pounding i was very unhappy with the fit. Couple of threads here on CK5 to search for on that topic.
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Yes, I've been reading them. I will buy the ORD plate and drive it to a shop for repair. I stay on the street 99% of time and no off-roading thus far.
 
TJ1978 said:
Yes, I've been reading them. I will buy the ORD plate and drive it to a shop for repair. I stay on the street 99% of time and no off-roading thus far.
Click to expand...
avoid hitting bumps and dips hard... and is less stress on the truck if you are rolling a bit when you steer. full stopped on the pavement and sawing the wheel back and forth is a lot of stress on things.

Any clicking or clunking that you've noticed?

Something is clicking on mine after my last big trip in November. I may be in the same boat. I repaired the cracks and added the angled brace on mine years ago... it may be time for round 2. if so, that section of the frame is getting boxed and drilling for tube/inserts that go clear through.
 
scouthead said:
avoid hitting bumps and dips hard... and is less stress on the truck if you are rolling a bit when you steer. full stopped on the pavement and sawing the wheel back and forth is a lot of stress on things.

Any clicking or clunking that you've noticed?

Something is clicking on mine after my last big trip in November. I may be in the same boat. I repaired the cracks and added the angled brace on mine years ago... it may be time for round 2. if so, that section of the frame is getting boxed and drilling for tube/inserts that go clear through.
Click to expand...
Nope, so noise clunks or anything. I only just noticed it today as the steering is fine.

Only reason I saw it was to take a pic of the ORD brace. I didn't even notice the weld "fix" when installing it. But when I got this truck I was very green to all this stuff
 
Thread with relevant information

Frame crack at Power Steering Mount - Repair advice

Make sure you routinly check the bolts. I need to buy a new weld on brace, steering box, and bolt in steering box brace...I let my bolts get loose apparently, it broke an ear off the steering box, ripped/cracked the ord bolt on brace, and cracked the weld on repair kit on the frame. :doah...
ck5.com ck5.com
 
And I’ll add that if you’re building a truck and in the middle of replacing the box, put the weld kit on now, even if no cracks are present.

When I went crossover and 2wd box, the weld in plateS and brace went it right away. Didn’t have any cracks. Years of abuse later, I’m quite happy I did it from the start. I think my plates came from 4WP, just happened to pick them up with something else. Unknown brand
 
K85 Octane said:
And I’ll add that if you’re building a truck and in the middle of replacing the box, put the weld kit on now, even if no cracks are present.

When I went crossover and 2wd box, the weld in plateS and brace went it right away. Didn’t have any cracks. Years of abuse later, I’m quite happy I did it from the start. I think my plates came from 4WP, just happened to pick them up with something else. Unknown brand
Click to expand...
I did the same thing with my truck. When I went to cross over steering I welded in the frame reinforcement plate even though my frame had no cracks. I already had a set of steering box reinforcement brackets. The frame reinforcement plate, and the steering box reinforcement brackets are not manufactured by ORD. They are just a distributor of those products. Those same plate and brackets can be purchased from other companies.
 
Cleaned the area up after work today and the crack is coming from the lower PS bolt. I bet it's been there since I got the truck. I didn't even think to look this entire time.

Thankfully, I put that bracket in right when I got the truck or these could have got worse and also going down to 35's from 37's I assume helped as well.

And it's been street driven for the last 5 years.

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1-ton said:
I did the same thing with my truck. When I went to cross over steering I welded in the frame reinforcement plate even though my frame had no cracks. I already had a set of steering box reinforcement brackets. The frame reinforcement plate, and the steering box reinforcement brackets are not manufactured by ORD. They are just a distributor of those products. Those same plate and brackets can be purchased from other companies.
Click to expand...
What other places sell the weld on bracket
 
TJ1978 said:
What other places sell the weld on bracket
Click to expand...
The weld on reinforcement plate was I think Barns4WD, and it was $10 cheaper than ORD. There is a few different places you can get this item if you shop around. I believe even Amazon has vendors that sell the reinforcement plate. Some items ORD sells are sold through many different vendors, and some are not...such as cross over steering, competition motor mounts, LS swap cross members, and such.
 
 
Why does ORD sell it for $79 and rough country for $69 when the same thing is sold on Amazon for $26 from a couple different vendors?

Which one to buy?
 
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