Good evening listers,
During recent maintenance we noticed some cracks where the
rear axle crossmember subassembly connects to the main frame
rails. This is the crossmember that begins just behind the
rear brakes and goes up and over the differential. The
cracks are where it attaches to the main frame rail just
below the shock mounts. On both sides are cracked on the
bead running along the main frame rail. One side is cracked
on the short bead running perpendicular to the frame rail.
We do have the tube shock conversion that mounts to the
lever shock holes with two bolts.
When we get the front end put back together, we'll take it
to a local restoration shop and have it welded. My
questions are:
Is this normal?
Should we have them grind out the old welds and just replace
them?
Or, should we have them fabricate a small gusset for the
sides and put a strap on the crossmember coming down at an
angle and onto the side framerail.
This crossmember is part #DC16 on pages 214-215 of TRF's
Spare Parts catalog #1.
Thanks,
Jim Farris
Montgomery AL
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