thats true but it would be harder for it to fall apart like a box frame.the steel on the box frame is an 8th of an inch very very thin and easily rots.

 

Especially if you live in the New England area like me

 

I'm right on the edge of the rust belt. 50 miles north and cars dissolve. 50 miles soth and they don't really rust out much. I'm lucky that my only rust on my '02 is over the left wheel well on the bed. It probably wouldn't have mattered if the previous owner rinsed underneath. The advent of Beet juice tp clear icy roads is where the issue lies. Salt will rinse off with clean water. Just hitting puddles on a rainy day will clear some. Beet juice is sticky and likes to hold on tight. I've seen cars from up north with brake lines rotting out in 3 or 4 years.

I would suggest either trading your vehicle in (although the one you get may be just as bad) or go with a southern truck. Some caveats there though. The kids husband is based in Ms. with the Navy. He came up here to get his pickup as coastal vehicles rust out as bad as northern ones because of the ocean and there are a BUNCH of water vehicles where they have been underwater from the storms like Harvey and such. Find a decent truck that may have mechanical issues from northern Alabama/Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, or other states south of the Ohio. (I'm 2 miles from it.) I generally get my stuff from Kentucky as it's usually solid. Swap your mechanicals over to fix the new one up then sell some parts off your old one to defer the cost.

 

Sounds like a good way to play your cards.

 

First of all, about 3 to 4 weeks ago I thought I'd top off the 35 gallon tank due to the Bidenflation. After I got home 18 miles later, I noticed the tank had dragged probably a good distance, the leaks seemed minimal. The rear strap snapped. OK. While under I saw the muffler was just about shot too. The strap cost @ $50 on Amazon and proved to be a job of futility. Getting another tank, virtually impossible. A good thing because then I saw the frame. Broken at the transmission crossmember and rotting along the passenger side. By by Ram.

 

Find another one like yours, farther south and inland though, and you have a ready supply of parts for it. Go south of Louisville Kentucky and cars generally are pretty solid.

 

Thanks for the input but that's a long ride from where I live. With the price of new and used vehicles at this time I am retired and not in an urgency. I got nine years out of the Ram with the one gallon (3.7L) engine and really liked that truck. Just sad.

 

I know what you mean. I'm retired too and drove several hours to look at a car like I want to find and have been looking for for years. Several years ago, I had a really beat up old truck that could do anything. The tin worms got to it so I sold it off just shy of 400,000 miles.

 

You sold it off? I hope that someone isn't driving an unsafe vehicle. Mine is scrapyard bound. They can sell the engine with 140k and tranny to someone who needs it. Help local businesses and keep the economy moving. Who needs more work and a rusty junk around.

 

I put some plate patches on the frame so it could move then sold it as parts. The guy who bought it was a heavy truck mechanic and he rebuilt the frame with heavy metal and beefed it up. As far as I know, he's still driving it in the stripper pits. When I talked to him, it drove fine on the road but he used it to keep from tearing his regular truck up. So, it's still titled and road legal, it just rarely goes on the road.

He bought it for parts but except for the two large cracks, the rest of the truck was fine. Except for a rear pinion seal and he replaced that once the frame was together. We don't rust around here like where you're at. Mostly surface rust but the truck had been up north and the 400K miles of strain did their work.