Bent frame ideas

[MattyT406]

Hello guys,

My new to me ranger continues to dish out bad news. Today I pulled the bed with the intention of replacing the filler tube which leaks, and the pump/sending unit because my gas Guage doesn't work.

The first sign of trouble was a 1.5 inch stack of washers shimming the left rear of the bed, and a pretty hack custom bumper bracket job to make the bed/bumper appear straight.

Long story short. The frame is bent.

Two questions:

Does anyone have a slick way to identify where the frame is bent?

Any ideas or tried and true method of unbending this bad boy?

Thanks in advance!

 

[JoshT]

If I had to guess I'd say that it is more twisted than bent. If I had access to a frame rack, I'd identify the low corner, chain down the rest of the frame and twist it back up. Use something like a bottle jack to press it back up while the rest is held stationary.

Unfortunately without something like a frame rack, I'm not too sure how you'd accomplish that. A bottle jack or floor jack would do the job for lifting, I'm just not sure how you'd anchor it. I suppose you could use concrete anchors into the floor, but they aren't designed to hold that kind of stress (something pulling like that) and I wouldn't want to want to drill holes into the floor for that. If I had a 4 post lift I'd probably use that about like a frame rack. Not going to take a whole lot of force to remove the twist, just got to be able to anchor the rest of it.

That's my train of thought anyway. Dad straightened the frame of a truck many years ago with a port-a-power, but that's the closest I've ever come to doing frame work.

 

[pjtoledo]

generic info:
factory service manuals have frame specs .
find a level floor, get a measuring tape, carpenters level, and a plumb bob.

then add a 20 ton bottle jack and really heavy chain.
anchor points will need special attention.
have any heavy I or H beams available?

for checking how level a floor is, rig up a way to put an inch or so of water inside a makeshift dam.
sort of like a very shallow kids ice rink.

or get one of those laser devices that project a beam around the entire room.

 

[MattyT406]

Hmmmmm.... twisted. Maybe? I'm gonna have to dive in this weekend.

The floor of my shop is dead level all the way around, which is actually crazy. So i plan on getting it up on stands and pulling numbers. The left rear is definitely low. Whether or not its worth messing with though? I've only driven the truck about 200 miles, but it doesn't feel crooked to me.

At least the gas Guage is gonna work now...

 

[scotts90ranger]

If possible put something heavy on the rear passenger corner and take a farm jack and jack up the drivers side rear corner, in your picture it looks like the bend has to be on the drivers side (unless it's the other side... but the description says this should work). In my shop while I built it I put in some frame shop style tie down points so I can hopefully one day get my frames straight...

 

[Curious Hound]

Hmmmmm.... twisted. Maybe? I'm gonna have to dive in this weekend.

Twisted is what I see in the picture. In my opinion, twisted = torsionally bent. So, yeah. It’s bent.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Any local frame shops? Lol

Those tie down points for home frame straightening are typically imbedded into the concrete floor when the floor gets poured. Not sure what would be acceptable to do for anchors after the floor gets poured because as has been mentioned, the anchors that bolt in are not really rated for that sort of thing.

I would also check the frame good for any rot or breaks. That will cause things like that too and these trucks are notorious for frame problems, just Ford didn’t do like Toyota and offer replacement frames…

 

[Jazzer]

The way we’d try in the country when I was young and broke;

Obtain 12’ long 4” x 4”
Insert one end into DS C channel frame at rear
Block inside C channel on opposite side w/ 2” x 4” cut to fit
Lay 4” x 4” across PS frame channel over 2” x 4” blocking
Get buddies to weigh down free end of 4” x 4”, essentially using leverage to take out twist.

Not responsible for injuries or excessive beverage consumption.

Might work, might not.

-Jazzer

 

[MattyT406]

I pulled some string, did some things, eyeballed it like crazy.

Seems to be bent downwards at the axle bump stops. Both stops are kicked in and both shackles are tweaked on the leafs. Seems like someone put way too much wieght in it behind the axle. Dropped a bail o hay maybe.

But I got the front wheels straight and pulled hub to hub on both sides and it's within 1/16. The drivers side leaf shackle seems to be absorbing the tweak, and the axle appears straight.

So basically I'm just going to shim the bed to keep the body in line and call it good. $500 truck things, no big deal. Haha

Onward

 

[MattyT406]

The way we’d try in the country when I was young and broke;

Obtain 12’ long 4” x 4”
Insert one end into DS C channel frame at rear
Block inside C channel on opposite side w/ 2” x 4” cut to fit
Lay 4” x 4” across PS frame channel over 2” x 4” blocking
Get buddies to weigh down free end of 4” x 4”, essentially using leverage to take out twist.

Not responsible for injuries or excessive beverage consumption.

Might work, might not.

-Jazzer

Dang I might try this simply because it sounds wild and I have lumber lying around.

 

[Jazzer]

Archimedes was a really cool dude.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Any local frame shops? Lol

Those tie down points for home frame straightening are typically imbedded into the concrete floor when the floor gets poured. Not sure what would be acceptable to do for anchors after the floor gets poured because as has been mentioned, the anchors that bolt in are not really rated for that sort of thing.

I would also check the frame good for any rot or breaks. That will cause things like that too and these trucks are notorious for frame problems, just Ford didn’t do like Toyota and offer replacement frames…

The anchors I used can be installed after the fact, they involve a 4" hole cut in the concrete and they have a wedge and sleeve with a chain, I believe they're a "chain pot", I forget they're there...

To me it looks like it's bent at the axle hump, your best bet is weight and leverage, if trying the lumber method I would use two 4x4's on top or a 6x6, there's crossmembers there so you can't put it in the C but yeah, same idea...

 

[MattyT406]

The anchors I used can be installed after the fact, they involve a 4" hole cut in the concrete and they have a wedge and sleeve with a chain, I believe they're a "chain pot", I forget they're there...

To me it looks like it's bent at the axle hump, your best bet is weight and leverage, if trying the lumber method I would use two 4x4's on top or a 6x6, there's crossmembers there so you can't put it in the C but yeah, same idea...

Well....... it needs more bracing.... it's gonna happen just gotta keep messing around. Definitely gonna get the torch out and hotten him up a bit.

 

[SenorNoob]

Now that's a pry bar!

 

[Blmpkn]

Well....... it needs more bracing.... it's gonna happen just gotta keep messing around. Definitely gonna get the torch out and hotten him up a bit.
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