Cracks on "X" part of 1962 frame

[LuckyLightning]

I was crawling around earlier today under the truck while I was adjusting the park brake, and I noticed a few cracks on the "X" part of the frame. I'm not sure how critical this actually is, would appreciate some input on this.

This is the first crack I saw, which is right next to the driver-side trailing arm just behind the "X" crossing; it looks like it might have been welded up before:


This is on the same driver-side, but just in front of the "X" crossing (it's not just the rust, as I can feel the crack on the other side):


Here's another crack, right above where the wire goes through the frame (and there's a matching crack on the passenger side):


Please keep in mind this is not the outer section (box) frame, but the inner x-frame.

I have a friend who is a welder, and can probably get this taken care of when I planned to do my frame-off next year. Question is, can it wait that long? Do I need to be careful with the truck until then?

Thanks.

[LVPhotos]

Take care of it now or its just going to get worse. Probably overloaded and abused. Drill a hole to stop the crack, weld, then if your buddy is a good welder he will decide if a fish plate is needed.

[bama63]

Originally Posted by LVPhotos

Take care of it now or its just going to get worse. Probably overloaded and abused. Drill a hole to stop the crack, weld, then if your buddy is a good welder he will decide if a fish plate is needed.

x2

[Old Truck Man]

It looks like it was welded previously. It looks pretty rusty to me. And Rust never sleeps. My opinion its probably rusted beyond repair.

[LuckyLightning]

So the "X" part of my x-frame is critical to truck functionality?

[LVPhotos]

It's still a part of your frame. Wire wheel it and get it to bare metal an see the fracture for wh as t it is. It's not going away, it's only getting worse. Fix it now or regret later. The one crack looks like you might have to box over. It sounds out your scope of work. If your buddy is a real welder, he will give you directions of what needs to be done.

[Old Truck Man]

Originally Posted by LuckyLightning

So the "X" part of my x-frame is critical to truck functionality?

Yes its critical because you have the torsion bar frontend. Only 60 thru 62 trucks with the torsion bar frontend had the X member frame. They went to a ladder frame in 1963.

[ACK]

Unfortunately, that's not good. How do the trailing arms look, are they in in solid shape?

[LuckyLightning]

I think the torsion bars are attached on a crossmember that may only attach to the outer frame (and not the "x" part). I'll double check tomorrow in daylight.

The trailing arms seem to be okay.

I'll try to post some video tomorrow so the cracks are shown better.

[Captainfab]

What is shown in the first pic is more than just a crack. There is some metal missing and that area needs to be reconstructed. All the cracks should be taken care of ASAP. It is going to take more than a wire wheel to clean that up enough to make a proper weld. A grinding wheel or sand blasting is in order.

[Old Truck Man]

Well something caused the cracks to appear in the first place. Likely metal fatuge or rust. I would bet if you took the body from the frame and had it sandblasted you will find lots more cracks. Ive had expierence with cracked frames. Used to be at somewhere around a million miles Semi trucks would start to expierence metal fatuge. Springs would break frames would crack rivets would pop. and it never could be fixed satisfactory. Weld it and it would break next to the weld. weld & gusset it and it would crack someplace else. Frames are made from high carbon steel . that steel is foumulated to give the frame rigidy. The high carbon steel is also brittle . Welding adds heat and where the weld is softens the surrounding metal at that edge it will crack again. Look at how the factory assembled the frame componets. They riveted and bolted it together they didn't weld it together ? At every car auction there is a sign stating that all frame damage must be announced. Ive seen frames on wrecked vehicles pulled and straightened and they never drive and alighn correctly. The frame is like the foundation of your house. If the frame is questionable no matter how good the rest is its still no better than the foundation. Now a day,s almost every semi truck has warnings on stickers that state do not drill or weld on frame rails. My opinion you will be far ahead getting a 63 up replacement frame and getting rid of the torsion bar front end and ball bearing wheel bearings.

[LuckyLightning]

Thanks guys. Another thing I'm concerned about is that I didn't notice most of these cracks before. So either I haven't been paying attention when I've been under the truck these last 2 months, or these are new cracks. And considering I've only put on about 40 miles on it in the last few weeks, it's an even worse scenario that what you guys are describing.

I was really hoping to get at least a year of driving out of the truck before I started making big fixes and mods. I guess not.

[LuckyLightning]

Originally Posted by Old Truck Man

Weld it and it would break next to the weld. weld & gusset it and it would crack someplace else. Frames are made from high carbon steel . that steel is foumulated to give the frame rigidy. The high carbon steel is also brittle . Welding adds heat and where the weld is softens the surrounding metal at that edge it will crack again. Look at how the factory assembled the frame componets. They riveted and bolted it together they didn't weld it together ?

There's actually a good bit of welding on the crossmembers from the factory, and where the "x" legs meet the outer/box frame..

Seems like the "x" takes a lot of the stress for the frame. With as much rust as it has, the metal seems to have lost a bit of its flexibility.

What steel is used for '63 and up frames?

[Old Truck Man]

Originally Posted by LuckyLightning

There's actually a good bit of welding on the crossmembers from the factory, and where the "x" legs meet the outer/box frame..

Seems like the "x" takes a lot of the stress for the frame. With as much rust as it has, the metal seems to have lost a bit of its flexibility.

What steel is used for '63 and up frames?

The thing is you need to consider the cost to benefit ratio. unless you remove the body you cant really do a proper job of assessment cleaning & welding. and unless you can do it yourself welding aint cheep.Better to spend the time & money on a really good frame to start with.

[LuckyLightning]

New video of the cracks and rust holes in the x-frame.

Video 1 (I say "torsion bars" near the beginning when I clearly meant to say "trailing arms".)

Video 2

[LuckyLightning]

The cracks in the frame, I can probably deal with. However I can't deal with the trailing arm mounts being rusted through. I'm gonna sell it. I'm having a really hard time with this decision (and still not 100% sure), but I've already got it posted on Craigslist.