found a big hole in my truck frame today and I just barley touched it to see how bad it was and the rot hole got bigger.seems kinda unsafe to even drive now .Its rotting inside the cross member and on the ends all around it I tried to take a pic to show it.I dont weld and dont know how and I have been to 5 shops and they don't want to touch it cause of liabilitys they told me. But I want to get it fixed so now im stuck.I tried to jb weld it as you can see the hole is to big.The only thing thats holding it the inside upper part on the inside of the frame .how unsafe is this to drive ?These box frames suck.

 

If it's only isolated to that area, you can clean it to bare metal and weld it up. Obviously you'd need a welder, welding helmet and consumables. Should be able to weld that metal with flux core wire as it's much thicker.

However, if it has spend 16 years in CT, the rust is probably much worse than what you can see.

 

I could push a hole on the inner side of the frame there alsoBut no its no just isolated to that area.But ya im the 3rd owner and its spent its life here in CT and i dont think the guy i bought it from washed it in the winters at all.I dont understand why no shops want to help me out and weld something for me cause I would like to keep the truck hope I can find one soon.I did notice the box frame on this truck is very very thin about an 8th on an inch thin it they made them thicker wouldnt have this issue.

 

Look for videos of dodge frame rust, you'll see your truck has plenty of company. Eyeball where the others are showing holes, then check yours out. Probably not the only area getting thin. If you get another old one, take a vacation to a nice southern state or western one - buy it there and drive it home. Then get the frame and underside cleaned well and treat it and the interior of the rockers/tailgate/bedsides with fluid film. Other option is find a clean one with a dead engine/trans and swap your stuff over.

 

I agree. If you replace it, go with a southeastern truck. I live near Charlotte, NC and cars don't rust here. My 2002 Ram 1500 has no rust on the painted areas and only surface rust on the unpainted areas underneath. The roof, hood and top of the doors look horrible because the clear coat has been broken down by 17 years of the sun beating down on it. I plan on repainting it this summer so it'll look like a brand new truck again.

I'm also restoring a 1965 mustang that live its entire life in the Charleston, SC area. The body and floor pans had some rust in the typical areas for cars from that era but the rest of the car is nice and solid. No rust anywhere else.

 

Im looking for a for a frame repair shop just for now so i can search for another truck this is my only vehicle as of now.I did look at a few frames at dodge trucks at home depo the other day i didnt see any whih holes in the frame lol but im sure there is some out there.

 

youtube will probably show you some other areas to check out before you spend $ just on that area. good luck

 

You need to see if the rust/rot is any worse than it already is. Sometimes you simply can't salvage a vehicle once it rots away...

 

If you have the time and energy to do so, you can get a used rust free frame for under $1000. It would be a whole lot of work to do a swap however,

Check around for repair kits. I've seen them for the Silverado and other trucks but haven't came across one for dodge. I'm sure there are out there, however.

There are also frame shops that specialize in repairing things like this. Probably not cheap but they'll fix it.

 

Not cheap is just a bit of an understatement. Might be easier/cheaper to find a similar year truck, in better condition, with a blown motor, or trans..... move the good stuff to that one.