Broken Frame
Discovered today my passenger side frame rail Is fully severed. No idea how long it has been like that. Big TC's and rough roads don't mix well. Oh well, take it to a frame shop and splint it then sel...
Forum Discussion
Raft,
That is not good news considering we have the same year truck. I have broken a lot of jeep frames in my time and it IS an art form to plate it up. The breaks came not from too much power but too much twisting and the torque from 130:1 gear reduction. Even retrofitting by boxing the frame on 3 sides was iffy. So, be sure you have a very good fabricator to do the job not just a muffler changer. I do know that Dodge uses a hydro formed, heat treated frame, so any welds on it must be torch heated up before welding by someone who knows what they are doing. I would not tackle that job any more, but one thing I did learn was to have equal thickness material, way longer than you think you need, no vertical welds, use a high frequency arc welder with 7018 rod which has a high nickel content and, compared to mig welding requires actual technique, suitable for use even on cast iron, and be sure to fish mouth the ends.
Sad news indeed. Yours is the first frame break I've heard of on the '01 Dodge 2/3 series trucks. Several Chevy people warned me of this happenstance.
Yours is case and point about getting a lot more truck than you think you will need. 4/5 series anyone?
regards, and condolences, jefe
That is not good news considering we have the same year truck. I have broken a lot of jeep frames in my time and it IS an art form to plate it up. The breaks came not from too much power but too much twisting and the torque from 130:1 gear reduction. Even retrofitting by boxing the frame on 3 sides was iffy. So, be sure you have a very good fabricator to do the job not just a muffler changer. I do know that Dodge uses a hydro formed, heat treated frame, so any welds on it must be torch heated up before welding by someone who knows what they are doing. I would not tackle that job any more, but one thing I did learn was to have equal thickness material, way longer than you think you need, no vertical welds, use a high frequency arc welder with 7018 rod which has a high nickel content and, compared to mig welding requires actual technique, suitable for use even on cast iron, and be sure to fish mouth the ends.
Sad news indeed. Yours is the first frame break I've heard of on the '01 Dodge 2/3 series trucks. Several Chevy people warned me of this happenstance.
Yours is case and point about getting a lot more truck than you think you will need. 4/5 series anyone?
regards, and condolences, jefe
