Frame Rot!! Is this the end?
- Thread starter TheDurk
- Start date
TheDurk
Elite Member
Rear diff on blocks, came off first. Well, drive shafts came off before that. Engine and trans still in place with engine supported by 2-ton engine crane and rear of trans supported by a transverse steel bar supported by two 2-ton jackstands. Once the frame is in place, transverse bar is removed and replaced by single 6-ton jackstand.
That reminds me, I haven't painted the shafts. No real need to, but they will throw off the sub-vehicle aesthetic I'm going for.
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TheDurk
Elite Member
Maybe some day, but I want to look next spring and see if any rust is sprouting anew, as it were. Then I can spot fix any stubborn spots that eluded me this time.
TheDurk
Elite Member
Sigh, no locker. Then again, I haven't ever needed one. This truck has never been stuck.
shahsmerdis
New member
were all those bushing replaced?
edit any pictures inside the frame?
do you plan to reseal that engine ? etc?
opcorn:
edit any pictures inside the frame?
do you plan to reseal that engine ? etc?
opcorn:
JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
I would love to see how you have all these jacks and stands set up from different angles and the step by step process of how you move the frame into place. Can't wait to see the finality of this.
TheDurk
Elite Member
Did you see the album link I posted? That has a lot of pics I haven't posted in this thread.
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNfa6KQhlNiiE4pakASzgib4NKnJdN2ysOqUf44dEPGt9j8X61dCNtjRzncVA97IA?key=N1ZpNTdvQWVLRVZzZzZjMkpnWVliVFVRS0JqQnVB
I'll be taking a lot of pics on the way in. The way out was sort of spastic, as I didn't KNOW how to do it; I had to invent it as I went along and there were a lot of false steps--so I didn't take a lot of sequential pics, but there are some. Even doing it right, it will be a LOT of moving the rear support around, and up and down, to thread the needle with that frame. The front stays in the same place, but also has to go up and down on the way in because of the profile of the frame and where the fixed low and high points are. It is VERY tight and the missing rear control arm bracket helped on the way out. That has me a little nervous, but I have a backup plan in case that won't go past the crane leg. It will be close.
It's just four six-ton jacks on the body corners just inside the wheel wells, and a normal engine crane holding that up by a chain. I used big deep sockets on top of the jackstands to spread the weight along a larger contact area on the sheet metal. As far as I can tell, nothing has been hurt so far. The jacksstands are staggered slightly so they don't align with each other side-to-side. This makes it easier to maneuver the body brackets past the jackstands. It's tight sideways, too. (Yeah, I know, "that's what she said.")
There are some decent pics of the transverse steel bar holding the transmission, which is supported by two three-ton jackstands. The metal bar is a side rail from a metal bed I saved for a moment like this. There is very little weight on it. It's just to move the back of the trans up two or three inches; things are fine without it there but the trans gets in the way of the frame going by.
The whole thing is solid; I tried as hard as I can to push it in a few directions and it just won't budge. My driveway is 80 years old and been repaved over a couple of times and it is seriously solid for asphalt. Never had a jackstand try to tip even at 100°F+ and I've been wrenching out there for almost fifty years. Even so, I would not go under on hot days. When I did, I set up my big logs as extra protection. Even if you tip a log, it's still thicker than I am. Useful things, logs.
I really didn't have to go under much at all, once the jacks had been moved from the frame to the body and I liked it that way. Everything to disconnect (and reconnect) was/will be done with the frame on the jackstands, not the body on the jackstands. However, to treat the underbody rust, I'll need to get under some.
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TheDurk
Elite Member
were all those bushing replaced?
edit any pictures inside the frame?
do you plan to reseal that engine ? etc?
Bushings on the new frame, upper and lower CAs, and rear control arms were tight so I'm using those. Did front swaybar maybe three years ago. Rears seem fine, and who cares anyway? Frame donor was a 2001 and was in the junkyard since 2010, so it had about half the number of years mine did, and they weren't bad. It had less than 100k. So no, don't feel it necessary.
No pictures inside frame, but what I can see through holes looks good.
Engine seals? No. No point, trans is still on. Anyway, rear was done with clutch last year and fronts were done with timing belt year before that. Sorry, I don't understand "etc."? I maintain my dang engine and now is not the time to do anything to it anyway. I did fuel pump and strainer since tank was out, replaced muffler and tailpipe, UBJs and LBJs, ITREs and OTREs, front brake pads and rotors, and rear shocks will get done because one snapped coming off. Those things are a joy to do in the middle of a frame swap. So much easier. I can even torque my rear shock top nuts. Who gets to do that?
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TheDurk
Elite Member
Update; Been a while since my last post. Wire-wheeled and degreased the whole underbody. Spot Metal prep and POR15 where there was visible rust, except one bad spot that I will deal with later. The frame won't be in the way. Then applied POR15 Rubberized Underbody Coating over the whole thing.
Now it's time to start moving the frame back under the truck. This is a non-trivial exercise.
Now it's time to start moving the frame back under the truck. This is a non-trivial exercise.
TheDurk
Elite Member
So here we go. Rear end slides in just in front of the body jackstands with the trans jack supporting the rear slotting in between the two legs of the engine crane. Trans jack is set so hitch is just barely higher than the top of the crane legs.
A few inches at a time, using a 2x4 as a lever, she gets further in.
A few inches at a time, using a 2x4 as a lever, she gets further in.
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TheDurk
Elite Member
Now she is lined up side-to-side, and the trans jack has gone as far back as it can go because of the rear crane leg. Time to jump the trans jack to the other side of the crane leg. First, support the frame with air jack:
And move the trans jack to underneath the hitch on the other side:L
And move the trans jack to underneath the hitch on the other side:L
TheDurk
Elite Member
So now we can go in a little deeper. The oil sump just clears the top of the frame:
Until the lower control arm bracket bumps up against the front crane leg. This was the bracket that had fallen off, so I didn't have to deal with this coming out. I was nervous, but I had plans for dealing with it.
Until the lower control arm bracket bumps up against the front crane leg. This was the bracket that had fallen off, so I didn't have to deal with this coming out. I was nervous, but I had plans for dealing with it.
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TheDurk
Elite Member
First, we substitute the rolling hydraulic jack for the furniture dolly in front. The jack only goes in a straight line--but that's all I need from here on--and it lets me raise the front up and down just as the trans jack lets me move the rear up and down. Every few inches, I have to adjust something.
Then with my trusty 2x4 on the near side, I can tilt the frame and jump that bracket over the leg,
Phew, I didn't even have to use Plan B or Plan C. Now I can get that troublesome bracket all the way to the rear crane leg.
....AND that's as far as I got today. The next jump for that bracket over the rear leg may need Plan B or C. I really hope I don't have to use C (Jack the body up higher on one side). And after that, it should be clear sailing until the frame is in position to be raised.
Here is the view from the front as I left it tonight:
I had a little trouble keeping the jack on the cross-member, so I removed the jack pad and stuck a lawn-mower hitch pin down through the holes in the cross-member and into the jack lift pipe. Works great.
If you can't see the pics, they are all in the album I have up at:
https://goo.gl/photos/VUrbFcdvChicHBx39
Then with my trusty 2x4 on the near side, I can tilt the frame and jump that bracket over the leg,
Phew, I didn't even have to use Plan B or Plan C. Now I can get that troublesome bracket all the way to the rear crane leg.
....AND that's as far as I got today. The next jump for that bracket over the rear leg may need Plan B or C. I really hope I don't have to use C (Jack the body up higher on one side). And after that, it should be clear sailing until the frame is in position to be raised.
Here is the view from the front as I left it tonight:
I had a little trouble keeping the jack on the cross-member, so I removed the jack pad and stuck a lawn-mower hitch pin down through the holes in the cross-member and into the jack lift pipe. Works great.
If you can't see the pics, they are all in the album I have up at:
https://goo.gl/photos/VUrbFcdvChicHBx39
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fightman80
New member
I wish I had the balls to pull this off on my truck... :rockon:
TheDurk
Elite Member
Thanks, guys, for the compliments. At times I thought I was nuts, but now I can taste success. This is just a teaser, I'll post more tonight, but here is where I was when I knocked off for lunch. Less than three feet to go!:
This morning's insight:
I learned you can move the hydraulic jack side to side by pulling up on the handle so the rear wheels leave the ground, then swivel the jack on just its front wheels so the jack points to the left or right, adjust position, then swing it back to the front the same way. Very helpful.
This morning's insight:
I learned you can move the hydraulic jack side to side by pulling up on the handle so the rear wheels leave the ground, then swivel the jack on just its front wheels so the jack points to the left or right, adjust position, then swing it back to the front the same way. Very helpful.
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