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I am working on a '46 2-Ton dump truck. Something didn't look right, this truck was very much rebuilt/modified.
A think someone removed the reinforcement plates from both sides of the frame, also the runningboards and brackets. They removed the rear springs and axle, which left the outside of the original frame clean and bare.
It seems they had a donor truck, that was cut off under the cab floor, it may have been complete with the dump bed. This rear frame assembly was cleaned out by removing all crossmembers and hardware,from the inside, leaving the rear axle assembly and springs installed.
Then the donor frame was slipped over the original '46 frame, telescoped, to the correct wheelbase, the outside plates were re-installed, and now is a 3-thickness frame!
Note, the donor frame top flange was cut off behind the '46 cab, the bottom flange and side end just behind the front spring, matching the frame outside plate. A very professional looking job!

cool,got any pics of the truck?

I need to wash it some before pix, that will take a while. Watch this space for pix.

I'd sure like to see it. Sounds like it was done right and that's always good...

The donor frame is larger than the original, you can see it sticking out in several places. The top flange was cut off under the cab, and forward. The web is in there, but doesn't show up very well.
http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r165/Ccer148/

Looks plenty beefy. That is one great looking truck, too...Thanks for the pics....

My '46 Chevy Holmes Wrecker was done this same way. I don't think these jobs were done by the purchasers. May have been ordered this way.

I know that sometimes on big dump trucks and cement trucks they have a double frame from the factory.

Dump truck and wrecker haul heavy loads, I bet they came from the factory this way, maybe as a special order like Spanky says.

I doubt that THIS was a factory job, the cuts of the donor frame are not square, not even length, (one side of the donor frame was cut short enough to clear the cab, The other side was longer, and rubbed the bottom off the cab.) Maybe a copy of a factory job?

prolly someones way to get a complete dump setup on a truck that worked but didn't have a dump

Bill

My 38 has nearly the same style of re-enforcement,it also looks to be the same dump body on it too.

These trucks weren't available with reinforced frames from the factory. When using dump bodies or other heavy bodies, the body builder would fabricate a 1/4" plate that went from under the cab to just in front of the rear spring hangers. The plates were call "fishplates". A truck body exerts the most stress to the frame at the extreme front of the body where the body stringers end, while a hoist puts its stress at its mountings. It's usually not as hard on the truck because the truck is standing still when the hoist is used, but I've seen a lot of frames collapse and bend at the front of the hoist mounts. A properly selected hoist will take into account the truck frame strength.

Probably more than you need to know, but it explains why fishplating was done