Inspection nightmare, frame rot help appreciated

[DieselDetroit]

Thanks for all the help guys. I am hoping the inspection place isn't messing me around with some of this stuff.

How does the spare tire connect to all of this? Is the cable somehow routed through it? It looks like the pulley is just attached to it


I found an older fellow who will take one off with me, 20-40$ and he seems like he is pretty passionate about vehicles. He has an old scrapyard with tons of vehicles from the 40s-80s, it's called restore it, don't scrap it, or something along those lines.

Also, what do you guys think about loosening most of the bolts for the box and just lifting it near the back?

I have a few other things to do. Brakes and shocks for one, as well as an ebrake cable


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[DieselDetroit]

Got one off!

So it's a lot harder than sliding it back. There are rivets holding the leaf springs in the way.


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[98_k1500]

My spring hangers were already off when i pulled the one out of mine. Did'n think about them being in the way. Maybe spread the frame rails to get it out of yours, there will be nothing back there holding them together when you get this out.

 

[DieselDetroit]

Yeah the fellow giving me a hand was telling me to use a jackal. I'll only have to unbolt the bumper and hitch on one side if spreading the frame. Will include pics for sure


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[DieselDetroit]

Getting the hitch, box and bumper off is a damn nightmare. All the bolts are corroded and I'm fighting with the nuts more than anythimg


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[98_k1500]

Im sure man, i broke a bolt off getting the factory long bed off my 3/4 ton. I also nearly lost a finger from breaking a socket on one of the hitch bolts, and this is all on a southern truck. I can imagine the holy hell of removing fasteners you are going thru. How much you got done?

 

[michael hurd]

Cut the nuts off... doesn't matter what you use, torch, air cut off tool / grinder with a thin 'zipcut' disc... you can even use a nut *******.

IIRC, on some models of hitches, there is one bolt that goes into a threaded nut in the bumper arm... may only be 2500 / 3500 models though. Don't cut that one off.

New bolts, nuts and washers are relatively easy to come by for mounting the hitch. Short box models have one bolt that goes through the rear spring hanger.. this hole is not used on 8' box models.

 

[michael hurd]

Being in Onterrible myself, I know what a nightmare it can be... just check out the collateral damage on one truck. Luckily it was getting a replacement box.

Twisted one extension up like licorice, and bent it... broke the heads off of 4 bolts... ( by hand, not with an impact )

Did I mention rust sucks?

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[98_k1500]

A good impact with some patience and a major amount of back and fourth hammering can work wonders sometimes, others can be a complete waste of time and you are better just snapping the heads off the bolts and dealing with the consequences later. Good luck with it man.

 

[DieselDetroit]

I also found out that two of my 8 box bolts aren't even in........... So that will definitely need attention

I spent the whole day pretty much spraying penetrating lubricant on the bolts and cleaning the nut side with a wire brush. In my experience, some rust on the nut/thread side is what you end up fighting, so I just clean it off with a brush and it actually comes off


Progress so far

1.5/6 hitch bolts
0/8 bumper bolts
2/8 box bolts (already missing)

That's it. If I only do the one side, the. I have 3 hitch and 4 bumper, but I'm not sure if only doing one side, and letting the rest hang is a good idea. I'm only spreading the frame anyways so I don't actually need to remove the hitch and bumper


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