[57taskforce]

Little more… I was able to actually locate the remnants of the drivers side front crossmember rivets. The top was under a puddle of buggary welds and the bottom was ground smooth on the top and bottom of the frame. With a little grinding thru crap welds I was able to get the top out with my air hammer and a punch tip. The bottom came out with absolutely zero effort of the air hammer. I was afraid I might end up having to drill at least the top hole. Glad I got lucky. Here it is with a new to the truck front crossmember re-installed. I got the repair plates in for the frame so hopefully this week I’ll get them welded in.

The inner plate that a PO poorly welded in is going to have to come back out as well as it sits a 1/4” or more off the actual frame rail. I think I’ll modify it and then re weld it back in for added support. These short bed K frames are quite a bit thinner than the longbed K frames. The inner, outer and lower plates along with an ORD steering box brace should fix this up for a long time to come. I’ve got some things I’m going to try as far as mounting the front crossmember and engine crossmember that I think will help keep frame flex down a bit too. More on that to come soon.

Speaking of pervious owners and here bad welding, the outside of the frame rail repairs are pretty rough too. Some people just shouldn’t do their own work, period!