Body and frame welding needed

[chief_shotts]

If you pull the bed, cut and fit your new section in place,make fish plates. Diamond shaped plates with a big hole in the center and drill bolt holes in the four corners. Use the fish plates and bolts to hold everything in place. If you can drive it to someone and all they have to do is run a bead around the fish plate,another inside the hole on the fish plate and then the seam. Shouldn't be hard or expensive to get that done. Any farmer down here could do it. Just showing these as examples Id make my own to fit what I was repairing the best. But you weld the perimeter and tgen aroundbthe inside of the hole then up and down the seam. It will outlast the rest of your truck.

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This is what I needed to hear. Thank you.

 

[chief_shotts]

If you pull the bed, cut and fit your new section in place,make fish plates. Diamond shaped plates with a big hole in the center and drill bolt holes in the four corners. Use the fish plates and bolts to hold everything in place. If you can drive it to someone and all they have to do is run a bead around the fish plate,another inside the hole on the fish plate and then the seam. Shouldn't be hard or expensive to get that done. Any farmer down here could do it. Just showing these as examples Id make my own to fit what I was repairing the best. But you weld the perimeter and tgen aroundbthe inside of the hole then up and down the seam. It will outlast the rest of your truck.

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Have lengthened shortened and repaired broken frames. Weld in a doubler that does not have vertical welds such as a diamond shape. Will last using proper methods. One of our trucks we added 24" behind the cab to make into a rollback. Was used hard for over 200k.

Here's my question to you guys.. given the location of where these fish plates would need to go there is some limitations because of the rear spring hangers. Obviously I can do a descently sized fish plate on the back side of the frame rail but I'm bit limited on the outward facing side of the frame and some limitation on the top and bottom of the frame rail. Does this pose a problem or is that enough surface area for the fish plates?

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[Ricko1966]

I'd drill out the 2 rear rivets use bolts through those holes to hold the fish plate on the inside of the frame rail. Drill 2 more holes in the rear of the fish plates hang your piece like you want it and point a 12 year old with a stick welder at it. Simple easy

 

[TotalyHucked]

Holy ****! Someone picked up a die grinder after way too many beers….

Too many beers? That's a factory dually bed. I was shocked the first time I saw one lol

 

[TotalyHucked]

Agreed with the above, I'd just buy new bedsides. There's plenty of guys out there looking for dually bedsides since they're specific to the dooleys. That'll help offset the cost, to "fix" those into normal fleetsides would be astronomical

 

[Beast496]

Here's my question to you guys.. given the location of where these fish plates would need to go there is some limitations because of the rear spring hangers. Obviously I can do a descently sized fish plate on the back side of the frame rail but I'm bit limited on the outward facing side of the frame and some limitation on the top and bottom of the frame rail. Does this pose a problem or is that enough surface area for the fish plates?

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If you have access to another frame section as you stated, then take off the frame forward of the spring hangars, where you'll have more space to weld in your fish plate. then you won't need to worry about interference with the spring hangars. It'll be a little more work, but better in the long run.

 

[Grit dog]

Too many beers? That's a factory dually bed. I was shocked the first time I saw one lol

Hahaha never seen one naked I suppose…

 

[TotalyHucked]

Hahaha never seen one naked I suppose…

Yeah one of our guys bought a dually and started pushing for us to do fenders. Once I took them off, it was a major WTF moment. The bedsides are hacked like that, there's a filler piece in between the outer and inner, then all those nutserts to attach the fenders.

 

[bucket]

Personally, I'd kep the seam rear of the spring hangers. Plate the backside, call it good.

 

[chief_shotts]

I'd drill out the 2 rear rivets use bolts through those holes to hold the fish plate on the inside of the frame rail. Drill 2 more holes in the rear of the fish plates hang your piece like you want it and point a 12 year old with a stick welder at it. Simple easy

So you think the one fish plate on the inside will do it for each side?

Personally, I'd kep the seam rear of the spring hangers. Plate the backside, call it good.

ya that's what I'm was thinking.. if the joint is rear of the spring hangers it's only really stressed when I tow something every once in a while, where as if I put that joint before the spring hangers that joint will be getting stressed every time I go over rock and bump on the road.

 

[chief_shotts]

As of now the plan is to keep the seam in the same location. Use some nice big tapered fish plates on back side of the frame rail. And possibly do smaller plating on the top bottom and side for piece of mind. Any point to actually welding the vertical buttjoint seam of the two pieces of frame rail?

 

[YakkoWarner]

If your new frame section is actually a peice of real frame from another truck, you might be able to box in the open side with a plate in addition to using the fish plates. That would let you go forward over the spring mount rivets without disturbing them since you'd be turning the spliced section of frame into a square tube instead of just a big C channel.

 

[xm20k]

Think I would plate it inside on the back side of the hanger, on the top outside, on the bottom outside, and then box the rail about 6-8" or so beyond the vertical cut.

 

[Broken85]

Personally, I'd kep the seam rear of the spring hangers. Plate the backside, call it good.

Agreed. The patch is past the hanger so there will be no vertical torque on it from the suspension, so even an amateur fishplate job will do. A Reese hitch is likely going to install under both sides of the seem, and even if you do tow something this will be horizontal torque and your fish plate is even stronger in that direction, bolstered by the Reese hitch spanning the bottom. Box the frame if you want but it is redundant and that is coming from a guy that over engineers things like an oil derek. Even weight in the bed is just going to lay 95% on the original frame.

Looks to me like someone hacked it up to make a flatbed fit and then threw a bed on it to sell it so they could keep the flat bed for their next truck, and make an extra $5k on the resale!