ugly discovery

[slinginrods]

well this is what i discovered after tearing the drivetrain out saturday.the frame is cracked on both sides(see circled ).what blows is i already fixed the frame where the box mounts,and totally replaced the steering components,well i guess its time to get out the welder .any body else ever run into this? i never realized how weak these trucks were.

[Goldfinger]

explains why to next generation trucks had it reinforced in that area. I've jumped my truck and still haven't seen that.

[slinginrods]

im gonna weld the whole thing up,its stupid that an s10 has a stronger front crossmember area than these trucks.i wonder what the engineers were smoking when they said 'hey,lets just bolt everything together,im sure it will never loosen up or crack around the bolts".i know somebodys gonna say the reason they did it was so it would be esier to fix,but its just weak in my opinion.so shes gettin welded at every seam,besides if i ever need the replace the crossmember its time to put her down.

[Axle]

Whenever you find yourself asking 'why?' Remind yourself they (manufacturers) only want the vehicle to last through warranty and if they can save 1/10th of a cent per vehicle all the better. Besides, they want to sell you a brand new one in 3-5 years.

Overall though, given the use and abuse these trucks got/get, getting this far is darn good.

Alex.

[jmedero]

I had a customer that was retired 45 years from gm. He was an engineer in the 50's 60's and 70's. His exact words were in 71-72 they were told to stop making them that good. The life span that they had engineered into those era vehicles would last too long.
Posted via Mobile Device

[cableguy0]

Theres not much stress on that area. I would be suspect of that frame being bent from a crash that caused the cracks. I have seen a few cracked but most of the time its because of rust through

[slinginrods]

i can believe that,ive been building 30s and 40s model year hot rods for 25 years and i can say ive seen my fair share of frames.a stock 1932 ford roadster frame is easily as strong as these frames are.matter of fact i would say stronger

[Goldfinger]

It's got to be from a collision come to think of it. Nothing in that area could do that beside an extreme impact force.

[LUCKIN-FOU]

I've seen that on a bunch of trucks.

[slinginrods]

Originally Posted by LUCKIN-FOU

I've seen that on a bunch of trucks.

did you weld the crossmember and frame all together?or did you just fix the cracked section?i know its causing the truck to wander all over the road like it is

[broey]

Originally Posted by Axle

Whenever you find yourself asking 'why?' Remind yourself they (manufacturers) only want the vehicle to last through warranty and if they can save 1/10th of a cent per vehicle all the better. Besides, they want to sell you a brand new one in 3-5 years.

Overall though, given the use and abuse these trucks got/get, getting this far is darn good.

Alex.

as a former employee of multiple car manufactures I completely disagree with this statement. dealerships loose money making any sort or warranty repairs. so they absolutely want the vehicle on the road for as long as possible. this way profit can be made from dealer service out of warranty, and through parts sales down the road. and, on the flip side. more money can usually be made from used car sales than from new car sales. chevy knows not everyone can afford a new car. but most people can afford to keep their used cars on the road and will use dealership service and parts for 10-20 years and even longer. plus, to say that chevy (or any other car company) would intentionally make a frame that will crack right there after a certain amount of time is crazy. the time and effort to design a frame with mixed strength metals that blend seamlessly through the frame and will crack at the right time would be crazy money. chevrolet spends countless millions of dollars on safety and employees top end engineers specifically to design higher quality longer lasting vehicles.

[slinginrods]

i would think if it was hit hard enough to crack the frame in two places it would be pretty bent up.besides its cracked around the bolt holes.i too have been a gm tech as well as other brands for 25 years ,am now a service manager at another brand dealership,i dont think they are engineered to fall apart.i just think these were just a poor design(comared to the later model hydroformed crossmembers).the idea of a bolt together front crossmember area is just crazy,considering the car frames of that era were not.infact they were much beefier(look at a 78 impala).remember these are trucks

[motornut]

that looks like a hard hit
I hate surprises like that
kinda looks like a funny bend on the top rail?

mind you back in those days they were thinning out the frames etc ,in some cars to save weight

[J Knight]

I agree with motornut, it looks like it was in a collision and got repaired. The top flange on the drivers side is a sure sign of it.
Posted via Mobile Device

[hatzie]

Passenger side top rail looks like it took a fair belt too.