Broken frame??

[TommyJ1980]

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Hey guys, I don't even know what to call this. I have a 1998 K2500 4X4 5.7L truck. Replaced the steering box a hundred miles or so, torques bolts to spec. Yesterday I start hearing a clicking sound while turning, and I look, and the entire gearbox is shifting in its place, back and forth, when the wheel is turned. Of the three mounting bolts, one is in place, one is loose, and the other is this one I posted pictures of. It looks like the frame itself is broken.....How would this even be repaired? Looks like welding, and super expensive?? Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Rock Hard Concrete]

Welding would be best with an additional piece of plate steel welded on this side of the break. If you can get the area prepped and have a piece of steel drilled and ready to weld, most places with a welder should be able to do that for you for cheap. Before I got a welder, I took all of my simple weld repairs to my preferred exhaust shop and they always just charged 20 bucks for a small simple weld like that.

If you are completely broke, you might be able to get away with just hammering the break flat, and bolting through a piece of plate, basically using it like a big washer. It won't last forever, but it would work for awhile.

*Edit* you can see a couple of other cracks propogating on the other side of the break. trace the cracks to the ends and drill a small hole to keep the cracks from spreading further.

 

[454cid]

Weird, that's usually a Squarebody problem, not a GMT-400.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Weird, that's usually a Squarebody problem, not a GMT-400.

Yeah, the shock mounting holes did that on '84 or '90 Burbs, maybe both, and Dad took it to the local muffler shop. They welded the cracks and also welded big washers in for reinforcement. Think it cost $50 for the job, but this was over 20 years ago. The '84 got stolen in September 2005, and the '90 quit running in 2012.....

 

[Erik the Awful]

Yup. Stop-drill the cracks, grind the cracks and weld 'em up. Then weld a thick washer over the top for reinforcement.

 

[TommyJ1980]

Thank you guys, I’m going to try and give welding it a go. Found lots of repair kits for the previous body style, some bolt on, some weld on, but none for my year truck. Thankfully this issue created some noise at first rather than some sort of quick loss of steering control.

 

[TommyJ1980]

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[Moparmat2000]

Old truck + high stress point + time with a constantly repeated stress = metal fatigue. Pretty common actually. Clean it good, hammer it back in place. Stop drill the ends of the cracks. V notch the cracks. Weld it up. Grind it flat, then slap a big steel washer over it, and weld that up too. That's how I'd fix that.

 

[Moparmat2000]

Yup. Stop-drill the cracks, grind the cracks and weld 'em up. Then weld a thick washer over the top for reinforcement.

I scrolled up and read your suggestion right after I wrote mine. Your suggestion was exactly what I suggested. Great minds think alike.

 

[thinger2]

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Hey guys, I don't even know what to call this. I have a 1998 K2500 4X4 5.7L truck. Replaced the steering box a hundred miles or so, torques bolts to spec. Yesterday I start hearing a clicking sound while turning, and I look, and the entire gearbox is shifting in its place, back and forth, when the wheel is turned. Of the three mounting bolts, one is in place, one is loose, and the other is this one I posted pictures of. It looks like the frame itself is broken.....How would this even be repaired? Looks like welding, and super expensive?? Any input is greatly appreciated.

That is some impressive torque shear.
That doesnt look like the correct bolt for that.
Did you use a nut as a spacer?
I suspect that you used the wrong bolts in the holes and you hit your torque into the box and not in the frame.
That bolt is too long.
The hydrualic twist from the steering box being loose ripped the frame open.
Pull the box and check it for damage.
You can weld it back into place but you need to repair that loose box as well or it will happen again.