BROKEN CHASSIS EXPLORER 2000 XLT V8 5.0

[jmedina]

Hello everyone! Today I got some sad news. While i was doing alignment and balancing to my truck, i wen down to check under, and i noticed a very sad and disturbing thing....

My chassis is breaking on the right side mount of the engine... I just want to tell you that I wasn't expecting to see that today. I'm kind of down about it.

I know I can be fixed, but I came here to ask for some advice. What would be the best way to fix that?

Notice: This truck was in a crash back in 2004-2006, and the insurance took care of it, apparently not very well if you notice the engine mount.

So i was searching some business that can take care of it and fix it. Also i call a friend and explained the situation.

My friend told me it can be fixed just by welding; perhaps its not the best but the less complex and expensive solution.

The business told me its goona take 4 days and that they have to take down everything, the engine, the cables, etc,etc, to do a good job and so i can forget about it for as log the truck last.

Which advice can you give me in this case? I would appreciate your experiences so I can make a decision.

Thank you all for your time and advices!

 

[C420sailor]

Anything can be fixed. I used to be in a fire dept with a 75’ mid mount tower ladder with a cracked frame. They repaired it.

I would not just weld the crack and call it good. I would stop-drill the ends, clean it very well, weld, grind. Then you need to add steel reinforcement over the area, thoroughly welded in. I’d extend a piece of heavy gauge steel on the bottom of that member as far as I could go, potentially with a rosette weld or two, if space allows. Weld the perimeter thoroughly, obviously. If you can integrate some steel up the sides and weld that in, even better.

This piece is going to be in tension, so the name of the game is going to be sufficiently thick steel, and plenty of welding. It’s thick to thin, though…so make sure whoever is doing the welding is a good welder—not just some bro with a MIG.

 

[Rick]

Take the area down to bare metal, drill holes at the ends of the cracks then weld the cracks. Plate over it and use rosette welds and perimeter welds to tie it together.

 

[C420sailor]

Great minds think alike!

 

[boominXplorer]

Good news is I don't see any powdered rust which would mean that crack is flexing. Drill the ends to stop the crack and weld it up. A tie plate is recommended but probably just welding the crack is sufficient enough considering where it is. It may have been like this for 15 years and never noticed.

 

[wollimann]

It looks like that the frame in this area is not strait anymore, maybe the front alignment is out of spec. ?

 

[jmedina]

It looks like that the frame in this area is not strait anymore, maybe the front alignment is out of spec. ?

it is actually, the engine mount of the rigth side is deformed. It's not aligned with the driver's side mount.

 

[jmedina]

Anything can be fixed. I used to be in a fire dept with a 75’ mid mount tower ladder with a cracked frame. They repaired it.

I would not just weld the crack and call it good. I would stop-drill the ends, clean it very well, weld, grind. Then you need to add steel reinforcement over the area, thoroughly welded in. I’d extend a piece of heavy gauge steel on the bottom of that member as far as I could go, potentially with a rosette weld or two, if space allows. Weld the perimeter thoroughly, obviously. If you can integrate some steel up the sides and weld that in, even better.

This piece is going to be in tension, so the name of the game is going to be sufficiently thick steel, and plenty of welding. It’s thick to thin, though…so make sure whoever is doing the welding is a good welder—not just some bro with a MIG.

Thanks for your advice, i still haven't done anything searchinf for a good workshop. I'll keep you posted!

 

[jmedina]

Take the area down to bare metal, drill holes at the ends of the cracks then weld the cracks. Plate over it and use rosette welds and perimeter welds to tie it together.

Thank you very much! Exact same advice that C420Sailor in the first comment, mean that this is the way!

 

[Rick]

Thanks for your advice, i still haven't done anything searchinf for a good workshop. I'll keep you posted!

Looks like we were typing at the same time but he won. LOL Three minutes between the posts. His post hadn't shown up yet when I started my response.

 

[410Fortune]

I have recently repaired several cracks in the frame of my 1988 bronco ii. Something about 35” tires and flexing the frame for the last 30 years she didn’t like plus being ya led out of snowy ditches by strap and winch I’m sure did not help.

Anyways the fix is exactly what these guys said you must drill a hole at the ends of the crack, this stops it from continuing to craxk
Then the entire crack is “veed” out meaning you grind it out a little so it’s shaped like a v trench. This way the welder has some
Material to melt to and a trench to fill in with new steel. Put some heat into these welds, disco the battery and I use a 220v mig w shield gas… works awesome for this. 120v can do so can tig so can arc, many options

The crack should them be fully welded and any high spots ground down. Get bare metal in primer immediately (weld through primer for this)
Next you need to make some
Patch panels from 1/4” thick steel plate

The patches should go well Over the crack on both sides of the frame and over the top and bottom all sides of the frame that have the crack exposed. The patch panels are welded on around the edges and if there is the space and surface e area you should drill 1-1.5” holes in the new patches for a rosette weld. For me I was able to make my patches inside the c channel of the frame and outside. I also was able to incorporate the hardware for the shock towers.( meaning I had bolts going through patch then through frame and shock tower.
The repair will be stronger then the metal around it… so planning your patch panels is important…the threat is now moving the stressed further away so from now on you will be checking this repair and surrounding metal for any new cracks

No need to remove the engine for this imo

 

[jmedina]

Hello everyone,

I hope you'all good. I just wanted to share with the forum what i've done with my problem in the truck.

Following your advices, i took the truck to a place to do the welding and to add another plate for reinforcement.

Saldy, one thing i could do was the rossette weld. The thing is that we did the work with the engine in position, i didn´t take it down.

I'll keep track of this in case it shows up again in there or in any place else.

Thank you all for your advices and support!

 

[C420sailor]

good enough for govt work!

 

[jmedina]

good enough for govt work!

i know!