lol thanks 04_edge.....but my brother knows somebody who knows somebody whos willing to fix it. so within the next few weeks he'll drive up from jersey w/ his f-150 and we'll throw it on the trailer to get it fixed.

^^rwenzing, to what you said about checking everything out....i'm going to replace the shackles w/ chevy shackles.....is that do-able after the frame itself is fixed? and would it be smart to crank the t-bars, do the AAL, and possibly a body lift.......or is that too much for the frame to handle after surgery. lol. all i want is 33"s or 35"s....nothing too serious, i just want to go mudding with all my jeep buddies.

 

correction on my mods listed above....im going with new spindles and cranked t-bars up front, chevy shackles and an add-a-leaf in the rear, on 33" BFG A/Ts......let me know if thats do-able with a soon to be reconstructed frame. thanks guys.

 

your frame should be better than new after he does that work. Why would you do it if you think it won't be strong enough. That is a spot that makes me wonder how you put so much stress on it.

 

yeah, it should be better then new. im just being cautious towards what mods i do to it. but yeah, honestly besides taking her mudding in a construction site once and taking a dirt trail down to the bank of the delaware river, shes never been off road. i have no idea how the frame cracked like that, honest to god. the heaviest thing in the back of my truck was my ex-gf's mom's Weber grill i picked up at Lowe's. its not like i beat the h3ll out of it at all. its just been sitting for almost 6 months now.

 

alright guys, figured i'd keep you all updated. my brother came up today with the excursion and we threw the Mazda on the trailer. its getting the whole weld, grade 8 bolt, and new shock mount treatment. there is no timetable on when it will get fixed, but i'm hoping its sometime this week. also, once it was up on the trailer, i noticed the leaf springs are pretty rusty. is that an area of concern or is surface rust okay? anything else you guys can think of that i might need to look at, let me know. and as soon as shes fixed.......pictures. i promise.

 

another and hopefully my last update before i get the B4K back, but my dad went to go pick it up from the shop that welded my frame, and as the mechanic drove it off the lift, my dad noticed white smoke dumping out the exhaust. GREAT, a blown head gasket. I'm waiting on the repair right now, but atleast I know what kept my #4 cylinder from lasting for more than 2 weeks at a time. I'll have pics up of the frame repair, and also of the install of the RECON L.E.D. tailigate bar that I ordered via Alon@ModBargains.

the cost of the frame repair was $400, which is far less then what i expected to pay.
any ideas of how much the head gasket will be? im guessing $500ish.
either way, these two problems have amounted to about what I would have paid for a 3" BL and 33"s. =(

 

MAYBE NOT!

It is very common for the #4 cylinder of 4.0L OHV's to suck coolant through the intake manifold gasket. I would say that is more likely the problem if you are having plug/misfire problems on #4 only. Cheaper to repair too.

 

Aye, I agree with Bob 110% (as usual) it could be a leaking intake gasket. Dont pay for head gaskets until you pinpoint the problem more thoroughly.

 

Did I see earlier that you wanted to do new spindles on your truck? You've got a 4x4... you can't simply replace the spindles to gain lift. Sorry to rain on that parade. Good luck getting the rest of the truck fixed!

 

wow guys, thanks. im pretty sure the truck HASNT been fixed yet, but is at the shop. ill let my dad know ASAP. and yes about the spindles, i did a little more research and i realized that. thanks anyway Kyle! im just gonna do a BL and 33"s i think in the future.

 

good news! i got the truck back . i've actually had it since last Wednesday but I've been working rediculous hours and havent had time to update the thread or take pictures. I'm going to wash it and install my RECON Line of Fire light in the morning, and take some pictures of the truck, and frame repair itself. just thought I'd let you all know she's back on the road! and man, did I miss the sound of the exhaust!

 

Alright, last time I was posting on here, I was a certified n00b.....wait, I still am. LOL. Anyway, the weld that fixed my previous problem is cracked again. Take a look and give me opinions, though I know what they'll be. (Get a new truck).

Options

1.) Pay someone locally to weld it for cheap and for the near future.
2.) Wait til the Pittsburgh meet and have Scott (RangerExtreme) weld it.
3.) Take a 3 day weekend in the near future, somehow find a 4x4 frame, tools, and few buddies to swap everything over. ~highly unlikely~
4.) SOMEHOW convince my parents to help me out and get a new truck, as I am 100% financially obligated to the truck, as it is in my name and not theirs. (This is on top of college loans as well)

Here are the most current pics. Sorry, taken with cell phone.



The pic below, the crack is around the rivet....that is flat black rustoleum paint chipping off on the left.

 

Ok I have a stupid idea, Auto insurence ? Would they handle something like this ?
I mean they would total it istantly but its worth a shot.

 

That is a ridiculous weld/puddle. Take it someone that can weld.

 

yeah my uncles done that on his 65 mustang.. they used a 2x4 piece of metal and welded it in.. cost him 500$

 

Looks to me like the weld didn't penetrate at all, and just basically covered the crack, and now you have the same crack continuing to grow. Get someone in there that ain't skeered to grind off all that old weld and ALL the rust, then mig it back up with lots of heat and penetration.

 

x1 on trying for a new truck. or have someone u know that will do ya good n have them weld it

 

Burn it.















I mean get someone competent that can weld and have them burn it in

 

First things first.........get yourself an angle grinder and put a wire wheel on it....clean up everything in the surrounding areas. Looks to me there's caked on CRAP that we can't really see whats there. Do that, and take it all down to bare metal.

I'm feeling pretty confident that the welder who welded it literally started welding without any consideration to having a clean surface to work on...

 

Man, I'd be really pissed at that welder! Didn't it last less than a month? Take it somewhere that can do it right. This happened to my brother's F-150 a couple years ago, he got it welded correctly and hasn't had a problem since.

 

I'd even put a filler plate for reinforcement on the backside of theframe...

 

x2

 

Me and scotty were talkin bout this earlier..arent the frames rivieted in around that area? we could just unbolt that section and put a good section in. either way steve we'll get it fixed.

 

yeah get someone to grind all that crap down weld it back up good and then fish plate it up real good and you should be set ... my uncle has a truck that was owned by west penn. power company back in the 60s im guessing because it its a 1960 ford f250 4x4 and someone rolled the truck and bent the frame up and cracked it and his uncle straigtened the frame and weleded it up and reinforced the crap out of it and its been fine ever since

 

I have a good back half frame from florida. The front was bent in an accident but its as rust free as you will find up here. I don't have a picture of the whole frame but here's the very back(btw I stole the shackles off it). Its 2wd so the springs/blocks would need to be reused off your truck.