frame repair

[BowtieWalt]

This is my first real post on this forum, been lurking for a while since i got my tahoe. i am hoping this would be the right section to post this is in, judging by other posts within it. I have a 95 tahoe 2 door lt, its only got 125k on it and the drivtrain and body are awsome. Problem is the guy i bought it from used it for a short while as a winter beater and then left it sitting for over a year. while the body is very clean rust wise i have recently found the frame to be little rougher than i thought and im looking for some opinions on it.

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My brother and i repaired this spot on the front frame by cutting it out and weldin in a plate. My brother works in a resto shop and i trust what he does (but certain things still make me nervous). after that repair that we chipped a bunch more rust off of the frame and painted it using sem rustsheild i believe its called. For the most part the rest of the metal seams to be as thick as it should be. We did find one more hole about the size of a dime on opposite side of frame rail in the picture (outside rail passenger side), and a frame to body mount on the driver side that will need to be reconstructed and a crossember that needs attention. While i would like to just put antother frame under it that is not an option right now. i guess my question is, Is this ok to do, am i wasting my time? its not costing me anything right now really. Has anyone else done this sort of thing and gotten a good amount of life out of a truck after the fact? I get nervous about it because i went through somthing similar on an 89 f250, body was good and so was the drive train and i put a bunch of time and money into it, just to have the frame disingrate a year and a half later. I really like this tahoe and it would just be a shame for it to die because of the previous owners neglect.

 

[polar]

You should maybe think about buying a frame from a junkyard and swapping everything over to it. Looks like you might be facing a never ending battle

 

[454ss]

400 frames are famous for rusting out and cracking where they slope down and run under the cab, where the frame goes from box to channel. very common around here to weld patches in the area where the factory welds the overlap. nothing to worry about as long as its welded good.

 

[great white]

"Rust never sleeps"

You hear that a lot but it is soooo true.

I've from Atlantic Canada (Maritimes) and it's hard to find a more corrosive environment.

My 89 developed rust in pretty much the same spots you have it, Which was just the frame putting me on notice the rest would soon be following it's lead.

I patched and plated it a couple times over a 3-5 year period and eventually started chasing it all over the place. Then, when I started butting patches against patches and the rest of the frame was thinning out, I decided it was time to let it go back to mother earth.

In the end, the body was decent, the drive train excellent, but the frame just didn't have anything left. It went out to parts because rolling a new frame under it didn't make any sense when I could by a whole truck (I was living out west at the time) and save the time and hassle. I also took the opportunity to upgrade to an 1998 K2500 8600 lb GVWR Diesel truck and came out better for it on the other end. For the record, i wanted to save my 89, but it would've killed my pocket book and spare time only to end up scrapped anyways.

If you strip the truck down to the frame, cut all the rust out, sandblast/dip it, then repaint you can reasonably expect 5-10 years out of it. Maybe more if it holds the rusties at bay well enough.

Patch and slap some rust "encapulator" paint on it and expect 3-5 years before you're going to have to do it again and/or start chasing rust damage around the frame.

Mine 89 eventually got to the point where it didn't make sense to repair it any more. Only you can decide if yours isn't worth the trouble/cost.

The problem with the front rails is that they are boxed and crud collects right where you see it rusted out in yours (same place mine started). The double whammy is that while the outside looks good, the inside is quietly rusting away until one day you notice a little daylight which gets bigger and bigger. Here's a pic of a friends truck where someone cut the rust out and then welded a doubler over the holes:

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Didn't stop it though, "rust never sleeps":

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It started going down the same road as my 89 did and we ended up stripping it for parts and scrapping it rather than have an annual "cut and weld party" to end up stripping it in a couple years anyways.

So, replace it with a southern/western frame or strip it down to nothing and dip it inside out and it will last. Anything else is just putting off the inevitable.

Sorry, not the most positive news....

 

[BowtieWalt]

thank you.i can deal with 3 to 5 years out of it, then if the body stays good i may be able to search for another frame if thats the route i choose. originally when i purchased the truck i really just wanted to get 5 years out of it as whole.

 

[great white]

thank you.i can deal with 3 to 5 years out of it, then if the body stays good i may be able to search for another frame if thats the route i choose. originally when i purchased the truck i really just wanted to get 5 years out of it as whole.

Keep in mind; 3-5 years is a guess over the internet with only one fuzzy picture to look at.

It all depends on the state your frame is currently in whether or not you may end up patching it again in another year or so.

 

[BowtieWalt]

i know. More less if i can safely patch ares like that (even if another 1 or 2 pop up and like i said rest seems solid) and not put my families life in danger in it for the next few years, i will stay confident in fixing it.

 

[Swims350]

I would grind it down, hit it with some sort of rust preventative paint, at least that's what they claim, lol, then plate over it, then deal with it if it comes up again. Is the outer side still solid since that's the inner boxed side?

I'd look for another solid frame for later but for now plate it.

 

[great white]

i know. More less if i can safely patch ares like that (even if another 1 or 2 pop up and like i said rest seems solid) and not put my families life in danger in it for the next few years, i will stay confident in fixing it.

Well, I'm only looking at a picture over the internet but i'd say you can get a couple years out of it easily if you repair the damage shown.

The part rotted through in your picture is essentially a fillet, which just blends the inner porting to the main C channel.

As long as the rest is solid, you're good.

By solid I mean you can hammer on it with a ball peen hammer and not bust through....

 

[BowtieWalt]

I used a chipping hammer to clean all the loose flaky stuff off and only came up with the spots i mentioned. i have a picture of the repair and of the other hole on the outer side of the frame rail that was repaired, will probably take care of that next saturday.

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