The front section of the frame is fine. There is actually a distinct line between the rusted back half and the surface rusted front.

I don't see many 4x4 5 speeds in down south craigslist listings (or up north for that matter). Also, driving hundreds of miles to check out a truck would suck if the truck isn't what I thought it would be. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.

My plan is to fix it. If costs become prohibitive, so be it.

 

Here are my suggestions & comments:

• The frame should be the same for 2wd and 4wd, so you don't need to restrict your search to only 4wd.
• I wouldn't cut the frame in half - it makes for a good break point unless the welder is really familiar with welding truck frames.
• The frame on that truck doesn't have too many bends in it, so if I was repairing it for myself, I'd cut out all the garbage and patch what was left. The frame is most likely 1/8" or 3/16" material, and I'd get a couple of lengths (I think a length of that is about 20 ft.) of 2 X 2 angle, mild steel, and weld it right from the back of the cab to the tail (you'd need to make a few cuts & bends to fit) on the top and bottom of each side. This would leave no section of the frame that would need a butt joint and would tend to reinforce the whole thing. Once the welding was done, I'd get a quart of POR15 and paint 2 coats of that onto the whole frame & this would last you for the life of the truck. This should also be your cheapest repair, other than finding a good frame and putting in a lot of hard labor swapping it in.

 

the 4x4 frames have torsion bars and the front axle and the 2wd have coil springs and no axle. the only way to change a 2wd frame into a 4wd frame wwould be a solid axle swap with a cross member at the front of the frame.

 

Thanks guys, again I appreciate the responses.

I will consider the advice, but I'm still thinking of doing a rear frame replacement considering the overall condition of the rear frame.

This is my plan (but it probably sucks like most things I do haha, and it's certainly up for revision) : I'm going to find an experienced welder to do the joining. My plan is to cut the frame at an angle so as to avoid a vertical junction. Then I will buy or have my friend make a C channel beam a few feet long that fits perfectly inside the existing C channel frame. Then he will weld it in so that it is nestled into the good half of the frame and protrudes out from the frame a ways. This will serve as a guide to slide the new rear frame onto, and will make the aligning process simpler. As an added benefit it will act as reinforcement. Then I will get a professional welder to make the welds, and probably also have him weld on reinforcement plates and whatever he suggests. I know that welds done properly are stronger than the surrounding metal, and a good welder can do it without making a brittle weld, I assume. Haha

As far as labor goes, I'm going to remove the cab anyways and coat the entire frame in SPI Epoxy primer, so an entire frame replacement would not be out of the question.

Sounds perfectly simple and easy, I'll have it done in a weekend.....

 

That approach will work. Finding the steel in the size and configuration you need might be something of a challenge. You might find more luck with using rectangular tube and cut out one side if you want to have it as a "C". Cut out the side with the seam - an angle grinder with thin cut-off wheels will give you a nice clean cut. If I was doing this, I would have the welder get the steel and do the frame paste to your specifications & the reason for this is 2 fold. First, you can drive the truck there, and second, it's up to him to get the new section of the frame aligned to the front so that your truck will run true. This approach shouldn't cost you more since he gets steel cheaper than you can buy it (and you don't need a huge amount here), and it puts all the critical work and overall liability together with him. If you do part of it and something goes wrong later, you'll be out of luck. There's a section in the service manual that contains all the frame dimensions - I would print this section and take it to the welder as reference on where to put all the suspension mounts so that the axle, drive shafts, and all the other incidentals will fit the way they do now.

 

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! The alignment/length of the frame is something I'm very concerned with, and I would rather trust it to someone who does it for a profession. The only thing I'm concerned with is how much that would cost. If the cost is not much more for him to do all the work, then I'd definitely go with that.

As far as liability goes, I'm a little concerned that I won't be able to find someone to do this...I'm not sure of the legality...however, I see shortened Toyota pickups around here all the time...so SOMEONE must do it. But I don't know if I can report this to my insurance and still have insurance...

 

In my opinion, the cost differential of you buying the steel and cutting the back off the truck vs. having the welder do that should not be large. If I was the welder, I'd prefer to do it all myself - it would make it easier to set up the front to get the rear clamped & welded in alignment.

There are lots of places that do that type of work, although many of them would be body shops that would have frame alignment tables, but many welding shops would be able to rig up a jig to do this. For a one-time-job, you don't need much - a flat floor, some good measurement tools (length, angular, and leveling), and adjustable jacks would constitute some of the main essentials (I used this approach whenever I needed to modify or repair a jeep frame). Liability and legality aren't always the same thing. The welder would be liable for whatever he does to your vehicle - should that frame break, he'd be in "do-do". In most places, he's not responsible for the legality of whether it's road worthy or not. If you mention it to the appropriate state or provincial licensing department, or your insurance company, you would most likely need to get a "road worthiness safety inspection & certification" to keep the truck licensed. Whether you do this or not is your own choice, but if you decide to go this route, you should check out the process & consequences first - where you take the truck and who can work on it would become limited and the paperwork may outweigh your truck's frame.

 

You cleared up legality/liability for me; thank you. Yea I wasn't planning on mentioning it to my insurance company. To keep insurance "legally" I would need to get an inspection, that makes sense.

I was concerned that I would have to "know someone" to get it done under the table, so to speak. You make this process seem a little less like a headache in terms of finding a welder capable of the job. I plan to go to my machine shop and ask them to suggest a good welder willing to do the job. Good deal. Thanks again for your help.

edit: Also, what would be a very rough estimate of how much this should cost if I brought them an almost bare frame (I assume that would be easiest/cheapest). $500? Much more than that and I might be looking at other options/other trucks.

 

$500 doesn't go very far these days. Especially for skilled trades and steel work. And materials. I guess I'd take some very detailed pics and shop the local frame/body/steel fabricators. I think you're probably in for some sticker shock.

I've given my thoughts on a plan B.

Plan C would be to try to have a local wrecking yard source a frame for you. Where I was working last summer, a U Pull It had 3 or 4 Gen 1 Dakotas at a time. They were pretty quick to cycle the trucks through--and they were all victims of failed trannies and engines. I think one of those nice clean Western Washington frames would have been between $500 and a grand. Your local wrecking yard can locate one and have it trucked to their location.

 

Yeah I figured I might be underestimating a bit. Oh well.

Your plan C sounds pretty attractive. I may just have to ask around and wait for the right one.

Or perhaps Plan B....haha

Thank you.