rust near where steering rack is bolted to the frame

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Original poster
Member
Aug 25, 2012
955
Hey all, I recently was working on my truck and noticed part of my frame that was a lot lighter colored than the rest of the rust on my truck. I poked it with my finger and it crumbled like it was made of bread crumbs. I then went for my flat head screw driver and used it to see how much bigger the hole would get before running into good metal. Sure enough I have one hole that is about a one inch circle and the other is around 4 inches long by an inch tall. I have 2 pictures of the holes below. I'm not sure if this can be taken to a body shop and have them weld a piece of metal over it or not so I figured I would ask on here first of all if anyone knows what part of the frame this would be called and if it can be welded. My mom's car was welded where her unibody frame snapped right off but it was a straight part to weld on. This area isn't straight with how the big hole that is punched out in the middle is formed. The part of the frame is on the passenger side and is directly to the rear of where the steering rack is bolted on at. If you look at my picture, you can see the one shows the boot for the inner tie rod and that is next to the part of the frame that has the 2 holes from rotting out. That part of the frame is very thin, maybe 1/8" thick I would guess compared to the actual frame above it. It is fairly easy to bend it on the other side where it isn't rusted if I stick a screw driver in there and pry at it a little. My truck still rides just fine even with this though but I don't want to let it get any worse before it runs the risk of my rack falling off the truck or something bad like that.

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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
I've noticed that NY has some of the rustiest vehicles on the continent, at least in upper NY. Must use an ungodly amount of salt.

That's pretty bad. Maybe you could get some steel plate welded there to reinforce it after cutting/grinding out that cancer but you would have to figure a way to rust proof the back side.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Anything is fixable but is it worth the cost. I would take it to a couple body shops and get quotes
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Meh, I have much bigger holes than that all over on mine :tongue:

That is the strongest part of the frame since there are all those various components all welded/bolted together, so of all places to have rust through that is a least bad place.

It wouldn't hurt to reinforce with steel plate welded on it though. Thought about doing that to mine until I realized to get to all of them I'd have to pull the body off the frame and pull the powertrain to get to it all. Not worth it on mine given the miles and the rust on the rest of the body as well, but if the rest of your truck is in good shape (mechanically and body wise) and you have only a few smaller spots like that I'd look into a reinforcement plate and just keep going.
 
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Original poster
Member
Aug 25, 2012
955
My frame has other parts that are rusty but it is surface rust, nothing deep. I was just going to take a wire wheel to it and grind off the rust and paint over it to try and preserve it. I'm not too concerned about it since that part of the frame is really weak and thin but again I don't want it to rust out more and have it fall off. Luckily it isn't back to where the transmissions rear mount is and it is not part of the rear engine support that goes across the frame. I have a shop that my future brother in law recommended from when he worked on cars and we had my mom's car get a quote from there and it was really low for the price but their quality is top notch. I will call them later today and see if I can make an appointment for them to look at it and fix it next week or the week after that since im off work then. I hope when they grind it off that it doesn't go too far around the bend on that frame piece because i'm not sure if they can bend the metal bar around something at a right angle. I don't care how it looks personally so long as it is strong.

edit: we do use in insane amount of salt. The damn salt trucks make 4 passes down my street in a hour dumping ungodly amounts of salt on the roads. For rust proofing the back side, that is easy, I can get right to the back of it from under the truck. The piece with the rust holes is sorta like an l-bracket and it can easily be reached from the back side and the front side if I take the tire off.
 

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Original poster
Member
Aug 25, 2012
955
i'd edit my post but for some reason the option to edit is not showing up, so sorry mods!

I called up a shop near me and will take it in tomorrow to get a quote. The guy started out and asked me if it was by the catalytic converter on the passenger side wheel wheel so it seems like an area prone to rotting out. He said with it being there that he may have to pull the engine to get it repaired (f that!) so we will see what he says tomorrow. If he says to pull the engine when he can just unbolt the damn exhaust from the header to the muffler and remove that section of exhaust, I will not go there. I hope it can be fixed for under a grand, if not then I will ride the truck and look for another because it's 11 years old now and as much as I love it, I'm not going to sink money into a rotting out truck like this.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Mine is more rusty on the passenger side too. My theory is the heat from the exhaust keeps the salt slush liquified and lets it rot things out easier. Dry/frozen salt doesn't rust much since it is salt + water that causes corrosion.
 

northcreek

Member
Jan 15, 2012
3,310
WNY
I believe that the past 2 horrific winters that we have had here in WNY put about 5 normal winters wear on our vehicles. If the repair is too costly I would just oil the frame up real good to slow down oxidation and keep an eye on it. I have seen worse frame rot that seemed to last until some major mechanical failure "put a stake in it"....Mike.
 

kickass audio

Original poster
Member
Aug 25, 2012
955
I was thinking to do that too. I was also thinking to just grind off the rust myself if places won't weld a piece of metal over it. If it was just a part of the frame that was not near any rubber, i'd just use my acetylene torch and grind out the metal until it gets to a clean portion and fill in the holes with the torch. I also don't really trust myself since I only cut off parts with my torch set, I have never welded with it.

well I went to get a quote and the guy said it was not the usual spot where the rust forms. He said it is almost always on the box frame section right next to the catalytic converter where it rots out. Mine is showing surface rust there but it is still totally structurally sound. He said he can fab up a piece of metal and weld it on there for like $100 which is way less than what I thought it would be. i was expecting around a grand. I will be going in in 2 weeks to get it fixed up and it should be all good. He even said that the section that is rusting out on mine is not a big part that is under stress like the box section of the frame and mine probably has around 3 more years left in it before it gets really bad if I let it rot out further in that section.
 
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