Ryan,
Was the tear section only welded on the outside? I always weld the top
hat on the inside and outside "under the top hat". I also add a filler
piece of metal on the back side of the upper spring / A-arm pocket " on the
top of the frame". Depending on the Mustang II kit their will be a gap
between the upper Top Hat and top of the frame.
Joe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ryan Border" <rborder@earthlink.net>
To: <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 7:12 AM
Subject: [oletrucks] Busted frame ;-(
> Long time no update.
>
> In a nutshell, I and my previous employer parted ways
> last fall, putting a pretty severe restriction on my
> project spending. So, the truck has sat idle, with only
> a little tinkering here and there since September.
>
> However, a new job was found, and I'm looking forwards to
> getting going on it again. The change necessitated a move:
> I'm now in/near Wichita, KS (any ole-truckers nearby?). The
> truck arrived here yesterday; but to my dismay it arrived with
> a break on the frame.
>
> The right-side Mustang-II spring mount decided to partially
> separate from the frame rail. It was welded to the top and
> side of the rail; the welds on the side broke. Under the force
> of the spring, it bent up, twisting inwards (still attached to
> the top of the frame) bending the top flange of the frame
> with it. At first, I thought I just had a flat air-spring.
>
> Sigh.
>
> I can't be too upset- I'm much happier to see this break happen
> while the truck is getting bounced around in a trailer than
> while I'm driving it around a corner at 70mph. And, no mater
> what he did, the trucking company should not have been able to
> break the weld; it's simply a bad weld. I haven't gotten in
> deep enough to really look at it, but I suspect a lack of
> penetration of the weld into the frame rail.
>
> My REAL worry is the rest of the welds. The mustangII mounts
> were welded in when I bought this frame- along with some other
> mods. I'm now wondering how I can check the rest of the welding
> work that was done before I owned it... or if there's some way
> to go back over them all (at least the critical ones) to ensure
> they're OK (somebody suggested a tig-torch).
>
> Cheers-
> Ryan.
> rborder@earthlink.net
> http://home.earthlink.net/~rborder/truck
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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