[lime chev]

Frame has seen better days! Have two pieces but some are missing probably long gone and also have repair panel but I personally don't think that it is thick enough to bolt to without it cracking again. Would welding extra material to the repair panel help or just make it harder to fix if or when it broke again. As always time and money are short.

 

[cybrfire]

Tough call on that one. I'd say repair it best you can. Maybe graft in a piece from another frame, plate it and be looking to go hydraulic assist or full hydraulic as soon as possible. Or there is always swap out the frames. :banghead:

 

[twistedjack]

I have seen a lot worse. Like Kert said fab in another piece of frame if the budget is tight. You really need a steering brace.

 

[Nakedonadrenaline]

First off slap some more metal in there and get her back to snuff but wana keep if from doing it again... a fellow member on here big boze cracked his frame in half month or 2 ago at the steering box and this fixed her after the weld.... its on one of the video's i posted under general forums i posted if you wana see the break LOL,,, called Lake Kapowisn.... but anyway on to the FIX........ 8)


Hey wana know how to keep that sucker to keep from breaking where the steering box is ,,, first weld it up again and you could brace it or not it dont realy matter that much,,, but the problem is when your axle flexes... when your wheeling .your springs wana move and it forces lots of stress on that drivers side weak point is right there.

here is an easy 15 buck fix.. Autozone sells an extended shackle kit for like 1.5 inch lift for the rear it allows the springs to move front and back as they flex ,,, tons more movement ,,, cause the stockers even with a lift move up and down but


NOT

font and back

movment is severely limited,,, and the frame cracks in that spot on the stering box,,,due to the springs constantly pulling on opposite sides of it and just constant hammering on it and just the weight of it in general etc etc,,, if you can eliminate some of these problems for 15 bucks it clears up and the diffrence is immeidate plus 1.5 inches of lift for 15 bucks its win win deal :thumb:

i have had this problem,, guy told me about this... and it cleared it right up... not happend again... so now i spread the 15$ schackle love :thumb:


hope this helps

 

[DougK20]

?????? I don't see how shackles have anything to do with cracks at the steering box :?

Repair it and brace it :thumb:

 

[lime chev]

Interesting..............was going to put on slightly longer shackles anyway cuz my spring just kisses the frame at full stuff.

Can't hurt to try as long as I don't get to crazy with the shackle doah

Thanks

 

[Nakedonadrenaline]

when the spring bottoms out the stock length shackle hits the frame,,, think about it how it works stress travles down the frame till it finds a weak spot,,, its gota give somewhere,,,, since i did mine i havent had so much as a smidge of a thought of a crack again.. :beer:



here is a pic of my 15 buck autozone kit,that i am running on my short bus,, i am running at the 1 inch over stock hight... i could click it up if i wanted to .. but there aint no need to..too much shackle rigs get squirly

 

[Lumpdog]

The shackle theory is interesting......but there is some good sense in it.


I have ORD extended shackles on the front, and noticed when I disassembled my white chevy this weekend that the frame looked perfect under the box. I have no brace either. Yet I have beat on my truck hard by pushing it through the rocks and prerunner'ing it through the desert for the last five years...... I kept wondering why I have never had a problem with the steering box.......This could be why.



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[twistedjack]

Get the weld in repair kit or graft part of a frame and get a STEERING BRACE :deal: The frames crack due to the twisting force on the frame. The brace will help stop that.

 

[AJ]

so, basically a longer shackle in the rear of the front springs fixes it? I have a set of 6" shackles from DIY4X that I am putting there... will that work?

 

[Nakedonadrenaline]

yep,,, but six inches seems big big for my taste....but hey give it a shot,,, mine are only an inch over stock but can go 2 inches over stock...

And if you go 2 big with lift schackles.... it gets REALY squirly and then you have to shim the axle cause the shackles change pinion angle... just keep that in mind ..

i am running an inch over stock.. but i can go up to 2 inches over stock if need be.. but i ran out of brake hose length LOL dont wana stretch them suckers to much to bad things happen... :scared:

 

[AJ]

stock shackles are 4" long, so with the 6" shackles, it gives me a 1" net lift... is that what you have, or do you have 5" shackles with 1/2" net lift?

 

[blazinzuk]

I don't know if I agree with the shackle theory but I can tell you this when going to a crossover steering you are putting stresses on the frame it was not designed for with normal steering the boxs forces are back and forth instead of side to side like with a xover steering even a slightly loosened bolt will cause the metal to start to fatuige in a xover steering :rotfl: :rotfl:

 

[Nakedonadrenaline]

Sorry i had a brain fart,,, LOL doah doah doah

i have 1 inch net lift with the setting i am running now,,, just refer to the pic i posted up there... i can crank em up more if i want to... but then it gets squirly,,, and i run the risk of breaking crap and having to shim stuff,,,

yeah man that will get er done :beer: :beer: :beer:

 

[DougK20]

It doesn't matter what shackles you run. If you drive stock or xover steering without a brace, it's only a matter of time.

But this does remind me, I've got some new 5.5" shackles for sale =$15. They were made by Boise Spring Works and are drilled to 9/16" for 52" swap.

 

[Nakedonadrenaline]

There was a place ,,, i cant rember that made a brace,, thats dern near dirt cheap that goes on the inside of the frame and bolts to the center crossmember but i cant rember where i found it it was like 20 bucks...

give me a while let me see if i can do some digging and see what i can find.... i havnt had the need to run one since i did the shackle thing.. so i cant rember exactly where it was at...but i will try and find it again

 

[DougK20]

You won't find one for $20. But, here's the best option....

www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/steeringkit.htm

 

[twistedjack]

Hey wana know how to keep that sucker to keep from breaking where the steering box is ,,, first weld it up again and you could brace it or not it dont realy matter that much,,, but the problem is when your axle flexes... when your wheeling .your springs wana move and it forces lots of stress on that drivers side weak point is right there.

here is an easy 15 buck fix.. Autozone sells an extended shackle kit for like 1.5 inch lift for the rear it allows the springs to move front and back as they flex ,,, tons more movement ,,, cause the stockers even with a lift move up and down but


NOT

font and back

movment is severely limited,,, and the frame cracks in that spot on the stering box,,,due to the springs constantly pulling on opposite sides of it and just constant hammering on it and just the weight of it in general etc etc,,, if you can eliminate some of these problems for 15 bucks it clears up and the diffrence is immeidate plus 1.5 inches of lift for 15 bucks its win win deal

i have had this problem,, guy told me about this... and it cleared it right up... not happend again... so now i spread the 15$ schackle love

I call BS on this........The 2wd truck frame breaks too. If your spring bottoms on the frame I could see how maybe.........it might cause the frame to stress there but that is not the primary reason these break :roll:

 

[Nakedonadrenaline]

Well with 4x4's its one,,,, key word ONE,, LOL :mrgreen: of the prime culprits bro for premature breakage.besides piss poor design in general LOL.. and any thing you can do expecialy for only 20 bucks its well worth the cheap insurance... call it b.s. if you want to.. my self and others that have had it done can attest that it works.. granted its Not by anymeans a cure all but heck anything you can do to fix a KNOWN bug with a GM and lets face it folks Chevrolet/GMC has had there share LOL is well worth at least investigating...

"opinons are like buttholes and i know mine stinks 2" :thumb:

 

[DougK20]

In 1988 GM lengthened their front shackles by 1/2" to keep the springs from hitting the frame. Yet, the steering boxes continue to tear-out the same? Bottom Line, no brace = frame failure.