Crossmember problems 64 C10

[Hotrod1979]

Hello,

I have got some issues with the crossmember of my 1964 C10.

It has cracked in the front corner below the front stud.Also the sides of the crossmeber behind the front studs don't align with the chassis. There is quite a big gap between the crossmember and chassis behind teh front studs. The gap remains with everything torqued down.

I allready welded the crack but am worried that it will crack again because of the gaps.. What should I do about it?

[geezer#99]

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/1964...em-227275.html

[padresag]

I wonder if you cut the crack back open and pull the piece into the frame. filet the crack and weld it up. that should cure tha problem. wonder if it was in an accident in it's earlier life
ron

[Hotrod1979]

I have posted this thread on the hotrodders forum but I wanted some more advice
@ padresag. Both sides have gaps.. Only one site is cracked, probably because of the gap.
I am not gonna cut both.. I am only making it weaker by that..

[Sharps40]

If its worrysome, replace it. If you're sure you stop drilled the end of the crack to keep it from spreading further, opened the crack a bit for proper weld penetration and then welded the crack fully, I'd run it.

[Hotrod1979]

I did not drill the end of the crack. I grinded a v shape and then welded it on both sides.

[chevyrestoguy]

It might be a good idea to go to the ends of the weld repair and stop-drill the area where the crack was heading and then zap the holes closed. Even a tiny crack can spread over time, even if it's adjacent to a welded area.

It seems pretty certain that the truck may have been hit in the front, but you're not alone. Our trucks were beat to death back in the day, because they were used as workhorses, and stuff like that happened from time to time. Can you see any traces of torch work, where the frame was possibly heated to get it back into shape? Lumps and bumps in the frame by the area where the framerail and crossmember meet? I can almost guarantee that if it had been hit, the shop that did the repair didn't disassemble the truck hardly at all, and as soon as they got the front end reasonably squared up, they stopped and put it back together.

I would do a series of cross-measuring to see if the frame is square. This will tell you if the frame is tweaked and may explain your gap issue. It will also give you clear direction on what area you need work on to fix it. I would measure first before you cut and weld on anything.

I did a crossmember swap on my '64 using a '79 crossmember. When it came time to bolt it up, the driver's side had a big gap, and when I started running the bolts down with the impact, I watched the top of the framerail move over a quarter of an inch as it snugged up. The frame rails are a little flimsy until they get squared up with the crossmember.

Here's another thought: After you crossmeasure, you might want to consider loosening all of the bolts on the crossmember where they intersect with the frame, crossmeasure, and then work your way around and retighten everything. It might be out of alignment and a simple readjustment might alleviate your gapping. It's worth a try.

[Hotrod1979]

My truck definitely was in a accident. The first/front crossmember/radiator support was bent and the chassis is about 1/2" narrower then the crossmember because of that.

There's also a little tweak in the lower rails on the right site right in front of the crossmember.
But cross measuring the front of the frame, iit's in pretty decent shape. Not warped.

When I look at the sides of the crossmemberwitch is screwed to the sides of the frame rails, those are tweaked. This explanes the gaps behind the front studs.

Now I have placed a weld on the inner side of the crossmember where the metal should touch the frame rails. Then I grinded that down to a smooth and flat surface. The gaps are gone now. The crossmember touches ther rails as it should. The crossmember has become a little bit thicker behind the first stud. Hope this fix will work.

Maybe the best option would be finding an other cross member but I live in Holland so there aren't that many old Chevy trucks around here....