Keep an eye on the frame of your mid 90's truck!!!

[dparkguy]

Just a little FYI that scared the crap out of me. I had to replace the leaf spring hangers on my 1994 XLT supercab 4x4. They had rotted out and eventually a crack formed making my daily driver not so driveable. To make replacement easier, I removed the bed and fuel tank. What caught my eye was the pile of rotted mulch and dirt that was sitting on top of the fuel tank directly behind the cab. I cleaned the area up only to discover that the lower part of my frame rail was GONE. This problem occurred because debris falls between the cab and bed, sits on top of the tank and gets trapped inside the framerail where the cab mount secures. I sandblasted the entire frame, welded in a large piece of formed steel and my daily driver is like new.
Has anyone else encoutered this?

Dave

 

[94 4.0 5-spd 4wd ranger]

i had a similar situation with the shackle bracket. When i took the shackles off i was able to break them with my hands and i was also able to rip off the hangers with my hands, kinda scary. I had a little bit of rust on the crossmember next to the gas tank but nothing that needed to be cut out nd a new piece welded in.

 

[86ford]

Just a little FYI that scared the crap out of me. I had to replace the leaf spring hangers on my 1994 XLT supercab 4x4. They had rotted out and eventually a crack formed making my daily driver not so driveable. To make replacement easier, I removed the bed and fuel tank. What caught my eye was the pile of rotted mulch and dirt that was sitting on top of the fuel tank directly behind the cab. I cleaned the area up only to discover that the lower part of my frame rail was GONE. This problem occurred because debris falls between the cab and bed, sits on top of the tank and gets trapped inside the framerail where the cab mount secures. I sandblasted the entire frame, welded in a large piece of formed steel and my daily driver is like new.
Has anyone else encoutered this?

Dave

uhh yea, others have encountered this, around one out of ten ranger owners in the rust belt have seen this kind of rust.

I am not intending to sound like a dick but you seem to think a 15 year old truck wont rust out?

86

 

[sbsumerix]

i replaced the hangers with the bed on the truck so i didnt inspect that area i will try to get a look at it later on

 

[ZMan]

ANY ranger will do this, not just the mid 90s. Its pretty common, F-150s do it too.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

yeah, mine did that too. i found it when i took the bed off to blast the entire frame and rebuild the rear end. the brakets that are riveted to the frame that support the cross member were also rotted out so i cut and welded some patch pieces in.

 

[marcehboy]

I just replace my rear hangers and shackles and flipped em while i was at it but to my surprize the frame was mint they were the only things that rusted, when I got my new ones I scufed em up and caked on two coats of rustoleom. I should be set for a while.

 

[Mark_88]

I'm sure your frame can be repaired...

This was the reason I did a frame-off restore...first thing I had to do was repair two of the cab mounts...

Fortunately, the rest of the frame was in great shape...I had the entire frame and cross-members sandblasted and then an epoxy sealer coat...then rust paint coat...then rubber guard coat...then I had the bottom and firewall of the cab done the same way...

It was a huge project that cost quite a bit since I didn't have the tools to do the sandblasting myself (but you can rent them)...and it may be worth your while to look into that for the back end of the frame if it is worth fixing...

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

regular and thorough under-body flushes well help keep crap from collecting on horizontal surfaces under the truck and causing them to rot out

 

[Downey]

i replaces mine too on my 94 a torch and they are really easy to do i didnt take my bed off eithor

 

[Insanejughead]

I already got holes in my bed from where the leaf springs had pushed through after God knows how long they were trying to punch through.


I definitely need to get to my body mounts. They're making lots of rattling and clicking noises from shifting around.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

+1 my truck is only getting rust where rocks have chipped paint off, I take a pressure washer to it every few weeks or so and clean out all of the build up of mud and junk.

 

[racsan]

alot of the problems arise from where the body is in good shape and you take for granted its a 10-15-20 y/o truck. mine looks awesome from outward appearances but underneath its showing its age, my rear spring hangers show signs of detereration. back in the day with the full-size 73-79's the body gave out long before the undercarrage. these days you need to look beyond the sheet metal and roll underneath to see what you realy have as far as rust/corrosion is concerned.

 

[joey7478]

uhh yea, others have encountered this, around one out of ten ranger owners in the rust belt have seen this kind of rust.

I am not intending to sound like a dick but you seem to think a 15 year old truck wont rust out?

86

I live in ohio and my one truck a 91 and the frame is as solid as the day it was built!

 

[Doofy]

Gonna hose mine down with Fluid Film as soon as Winter is over!