Bought a mess - are these welds ok?

[Mgicm]

So I am ripping apart (still) this 51 on s10 debacle I bought a while back. Looking at the frame it appears it was cut and rewelded back together with some huge plates. Since this is probably the best place for advice, I was hoping you guys could look at these photos and let me know if this is safe, done ok or I should get a new chassis. Everything seems to line up bodywise (fender openings) but if not safe I will scrap the frame.

[spreader]

Safe, I dunno, probably not. Certainly not the correct way to stretch a frame. A number of welds; well, just about all of them, looks as if the penetration is not there. If the front end is good and you can get another frame why not re-do just the rear half. You're going to have to stretch a new frame also. This time use a 'Z' cut or a 45* bevel cut. Take about a 1' section of this crap frame and cut off either the top or bottom so you have basically a piece of 'angle'. Place this piece inside of frame centered over the weld joining the two halfs. Either drill and bolt or 'rosebud' weld this inner & outer frame together. This is basically the correct way to stretch a frame, but a lot of people just use a diamond shape fish plate either on the inside or outside.

[IIGW]

how long has it been like that? any road miles? while athestically not pleasing, if its been that way for 20 years and has 100k miles on it, id say its not going anywhere.

[msaintg]

i agree with the other guys... not pretty, not the best, but I would not scrap and replace the frame because of it. I think I would just put a 2' long plate on the inside to box it if I was worried about its strength. look on the bright side, no one will see it after you put the cab back on.

[1project2many]

I would rebuild as described by spreader. Those welds look poor and the "stretch" is incorrect. That vehicle would not pass state safety inspection at our shop.

[lv2tri2]

The welds would not pass any inspection made to a weld standard. Poor welds are more likely to fail with age. Agree with Spreader's advice, the weld was cold and the penetration is questionable.

[mr48chev]

Those photos may be the go to photos for "cobbled up mess" in the future as that is about what you have there.

The right way would be to get a new back half and splice it together as Spreader suggested.

The practical way would be to get someone who is a top notch welder to reweld what is there correctly and then box the frame. I think I would add a plate on the inside of the outer rail that extended several inches in each direction at the same time. It would still be ugly but you would only have a few hours of welding time in it plus a couple pieces of steel plate involved and the frame should be sound.

[_Ogre]

mr48chev has a good suggestion, but i don't like the one inch overlap on the splice
if you can find a frame section, cut it out, weld in the section, weld in filtch plates on either side

those cobbled up step supports are pretty (iffy) too