The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Narrowing a frame to fit a bolt

I'm thinking about using a late model 3/4 ton frame under a 48-53 bolt. Is it as simple as stripping the frame, cutting a section out of the center of the cross members and carefully welding them back together while keeping the frame straight? OR.. would that cause a risk of breaking the welds and causing a failure of the frame?

Sounds like a project that would never be completed. Is anything wrong with the original frame or are you blueskying? An easier solution would be an S10 frame as there are kits to accomplish it.

An S-10 would be the best choice in my opinion. One of the better conversion kits comes from AD Engineering in Sonora CA. Their address is;
[email protected]

rdbates,
I have done it before and it pretty much is
as simple as you described. I made new cross members out of rectangular tubing, except the
front x member, which I took a section out of the center. I'm guessing you want to still keep the 3/4 ton rating, but have the ifs as well.
An S-10 frame and running gear will emasculate your 3/4 ton truck. If you want to do it, go for it. I have a chassis jig that I built for doing this kind of stuff, but it certainly can be done w/o one on a level garage floor and some solid jackstands. Make sure it's very level, not tweaked when you put it back together and take lots of diagonal measurements to keep it square. This is not a hard job for someone with good welding skills and mechanical aptitude. You could even make the new x members to bolt in and just have to weld on the front one.
Good luck with it.

How good a welder are you? If your welding is up to the task its just precision work. If your welding is not up to the task you are risking a dangerous failure.

There are other options. You might think about widening the fenders instead of narrowing the suspension. The welding has to be prettier, but a failure is not nearly as scary.

My only concern with narrowing is: You have to relocate the motor mounts thus the motor would sit higher, rear springs would have to be relocated and the center link would have to be narrowed. Sounds kinda risky.

I'm in the process of doing just that, but with a 1 ton dually(BradB's 1 ton dually panel truck). I've got the crossmember narrowed and mounted to the frame. It's going through the paint stage now, then reassembly of the suspension pieces. When I cut the section out of the center, I cut it about a 1/4 in too wide. I then put a filler strip under the joint so the welded area was double thick and the quarter inch gap was filled with weld to insure the joints strength. In this application, the modern crossmember only needed an inch taken out so reassembly shouldn't be too tough,
Scott

P.S. OldSub, I've taken alot of pictures of the process, like you asked. I should have the front end reassembled and on the ground in a few weeks. If everything turns out, I'll burn the pictures to a CD and send you every picture I have of it.

Thanks Guys. I'm thinking about one for business use and really want a 3/4 ton truck that matches my 2 ton but need something that the average employee could drive easily. There was a thread a while back about buying a rolled late model truck to use for parts that cost less than the engine alone in my 2 ton.

As far as the welding, I have the tools but not the talent. I would definitely have someone who can really weld come over to do my frame welding.

OldSub- Do you know how big the plugs would have to be to widen the fenders?