What did YOU do today?

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Finally got everything as good as it’s gonna get for now with the F-150 and as I was finishing up I noticed something super unwelcome…

 

[sgtsandman]

I cleaned up the pieces for the trailer spare tire racks and started painting.

 

[JoshT]

@alwaysFlOoReD I really don't want to hear about a repeat of your profile pic while rolling down the highway. As such, I'm going to reitterate what these two said:

Where do we send the flowers if it doesn’t work?

And you guys were on me about fixing the kitchen chair. Kitchen chair won’t go as fast….,

hate to tell you, but the vertical lip is what gives the barrel it's strength.
no way would I use that wheel. YMMV

You have a lot to loose from applying the cold steel. Not only is the barrel strength compromised, that crack is going to continue to grow. Applying that seal is going to do nothing except possibly seal the crack temporarily for mounting the tire and getting up to speed. The crack will grow, only way to prevent a crack like that from growing is to find the actual end of the crank (likely invisible to the naked eye) and stop drill it. The only way to reliably seal it is to have it ground out and welded up. With the cold seal allowing you to mount and pressurize the tire it is liable to give out if put under load (simply driving is enough) and cause a massive failure on the road, resulting in a major wreck.

Finally got everything as good as it’s gonna get for now with the F-150 and as I was finishing up I noticed something super unwelcome…

View attachment 112706

At least this crack terminates into a hole so it's not going to grow. Unfortunately, a lot of the frame around it is also missing. Maybe a good place for a frame repair patch? Weld the crack, treat the rust, and cap with a patch? Only other option is probably attempting to source a frame.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Don’t get too worried guys, if it’s dry enough tomorrow, I’ll pull it up by the house and weld a patch. It’s just unfortunate. And annoying. But it just has to last long enough to get the dump truck back up at this point. I have a good frame to rebuild the F-150 with already. Just need a big truck for big truck things. The dump truck should be good for a few years when I get it back together because it’s about to undergo a solid overhaul.

@JoshT

 

[JoshT]

Don’t get too worried guys, if it’s dry enough tomorrow, I’ll pull it up by the house and weld a patch. It’s just unfortunate. And annoying. But it just has to last long enough to get the dump truck back up at this point. I have a good frame to rebuild the F-150 with already. Just need a big truck for big truck things. The dump truck should be good for a few years when I get it back together because it’s about to undergo a solid overhaul.

@JoshT

I'm less worried about that than @alwaysFlOoReD wheel repair. I haven't seen a major wreck caused by a rusted frame. I have seen major wrecks caused by catastrophic tire blow outs, and that is one waiting to happen.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I'm less worried about that than @alwaysFlOoReD wheel repair. I haven't seen a major wreck caused by a rusted frame. I have seen major wrecks caused by catastrophic tire blow outs, and that is one waiting to happen.

My concern with my F-150 is that most of the frame doesn’t look a whole lot better and I’ve already done 4 or 5 patches. So it’s definitely on its way out. Drivers door is actually pinched shut from cab rot. It’s in rough shape, but I need a full size truck right now. If I didn’t, it would have been parked already. Just did a slave cylinder, front driveshaft u-joints, some exhaust rigging, leaf spring plates and U-bolts, and a few other things just to patch it up enough to last until the dump is done.

 

[Rick W]

My concern with my F-150 is that most of the frame doesn’t look a whole lot better and I’ve already done 4 or 5 patches. So it’s definitely on its way out. Drivers door is actually pinched shut from cab rot. It’s in rough shape, but I need a full size truck right now. If I didn’t, it would have been parked already. Just did a slave cylinder, front driveshaft u-joints, some exhaust rigging, leaf spring plates and U-bolts, and a few other things just to patch it up enough to last until the dump is done.

We worry about you, friend. If money is tight, do you have a spare tire you can use? If the spare goes flat, maybe use that defective wheel to roll off the road at 20 miles an hour?

I know the mag wheels don’t grow on trees, but it’s incredibly unsafe. You can probably pick up a a safe steel wheel in the scrap yard for a little money.

If you continue down this path, the next thing you know, you’re gonna be putting trailer hitches upside down and backwards on your truck…

A smile is always good. That crack wheel is Russian roulette, odds are good.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Thanks to everybody for all the concern. I'll practice my aluminum welding and fix it properly. These are the spare set of rims and tires and are not on the truck.

 

[Rick W]

Major noticed I was not feeling good and he came right over and started to lick my face an nuzzle at me.

When I was laying half upside down and backwards with my feet damn near sticking out the window to fix the stereo, as soon as I got right in the middle of something close, Lincoln would hop in and lick my nose to help.

I’m sure you’re like me, I wouldn’t trade it

 

[Rick W]

Thanks to everybody for all the concern. I'll practice my aluminum welding and fix it properly. These are the spare set of rims and tires and are not on the truck.

At the rare risk of sounding like a know it all, one more important point. From the little you showed, that has the earmarks of a fatigue failure, not ground impact damage. Fatigue cracks are the result of casting defects. The vibration and the stress on the piece eventually causes the defect to appear in the form of a crack.

Here’s the bad news. The assumption that it will just continue to crack is a false assumption. Fatigue cracks are usually catastrophic failures. If it’s something the size of a dime it’s annoying. If it’s something the size of that wheel with a big tire on it it’s going to be instantaneous and violent. I don’t know the percentage chance that it will fail, but if it fails, the possibility of a catastrophic failure, pieces instantly flying apart, is actually likely.

As regards welding it up, there are all kinds of things about welding temperature, what alloy, and how the thing is cooled weather it just cools down, you call it with oil or you quick cool with water, etc. If you weld it to look perfect, but you affect the casting, you could actually create a bigger hazard, even though it looks prettier. If your time is worth a few bucks an hour, for the same amount of money, you can hunt around and find a decent wheel.

That’s the last of my two cents, but it’s a good two Cents.

 

[Rick W]

Thanks to everybody for all the concern. I'll practice my aluminum welding and fix it properly. These are the spare set of rims and tires and are not on the truck.

Hey, how ‘bout this. At least send us a picture of what kind of wheel you’ve got and maybe one of us will stumble up on one.

 

[Curious Hound]

Hey, how ‘bout this. At least send us a picture of what kind of oil you’ve gone and maybe one of us will stumble up on one.

?????

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

We worry about you, friend. If money is tight, do you have a spare tire you can use? If the spare goes flat, maybe use that defective wheel to roll off the road at 20 miles an hour?

I know the mag wheels don’t grow on trees, but it’s incredibly unsafe. You can probably pick up a a safe steel wheel in the scrap yard for a little money.

If you continue down this path, the next thing you know, you’re gonna be putting trailer hitches upside down and backwards on your truck…

A smile is always good. That crack wheel is Russian roulette, odds are good.

Think you quoted the wrong person…

 

[Rick W]

?????

Siri dictation.

What kind of wheel…

 

[Rick W]

This is confusing as hell. It seems like everybody on this website drives a Ford truck, hard to keep track.

@alwaysFlOoReD post a picture of the wheel and we’ll see if we can find one and get it to you

@lil_Blue_Ford we’ll get you a couple welding rods and rustoleum….