Rusted out rear bed frame on a 1999 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4

[JONNY246]

Need some advice from another Ranger owner, I have a 1999 Ranger the body is in great shape it has 165,000 mi I bought it for 1,000.00 about 3yrs ago I just replaced frount/rear shocks and both rear shock mounts. I noticed the rear end of the frame near leaf spring mount and behind bumper is in rough shape its cracked near the bumper and there are some rot holes around leaf spring mounts I seen where the sell frame repair kits where you cut off part of the rear end of frame bolt new frame pieces on and weld em. Has anyone done this? is it that hard the rest of frame seems fine just surface rust and scaling I have gone over it with a wire brush put rust reformer and painted it black. I like to keep this truck for a couple more yrs be honest its been good to me no major repairs except reg maintinence Should I fix the problem or just keep driving it until the ass end of frame rots off Thanks

 

[racsan]

well my rear frame from the spring hangers back was in real bad shape, I took some heavy channel iron and put over the ends. Ive heard of those repair kits and its about the same as what I did, just not as heavy of metal. I’ll go look for pics

 

[racsan]

well here it is, I also used a product called POR-15 to coat everything with.
IMG_20170716_111258 by anon omus, on Flickr
IMG_20170718_174930 by anon omus, on Flickr

also be aware shock mounts can rust/break off. I had it happen when I went to go get my 4.10 rear axle, so I made this:
IMG_20170726_064202 by anon omus, on Flickr

Untitled by anon omus, on Flickr

added another peice to drop down so I could have a crossmember and add a 2x2 receiver square:
Untitled by anon omus, on Flickr

it did work for me, I do think the bed is structural now. plus bed is 1/4 higher and rear bumper is 1/2 lower. so gap between tailgate and bumper is bigger, not much but noticeable. added a "gap filler" (plastic political sign remains) and painted it black to clean things up.
Untitled by anon omus, on Flickr

you can kind of see the diffrence here, the ranger with the cap is my ranger trailer, doesnt have quite the gap that the truck does. a better picture would of been with truck and trailer right beside each other.
Untitled by anon omus, on Flickr

 

[JONNY246]

Thanks for the reply RACSAN and pics Mine is most likely just as bad I just haven't messed with it yet I was going to buy new leaf spring mounts and shackles to raise it some when I was inspecting the area I noticed the mess. and most likely when you start disassemble the parts it will become much worse When I put new rear shock mounts on, passenger side was fine when I got to the drivers side and started drilling out the old bolts a piece of the frame crumbled had no problem with the other 2 bolts a few days later heard noise coming from the rear on driver side when I checked it out the area where I bolted the new shock mount just crumbled I removed the shock and had someone weld a piece of steel to the area and now its fine. This is no surprise to me at all My buddy owned a 2001 and the frame cracked 3x it looked like someone submerged it in salt water in the rear it just was covered up with undercoating I can do most of the work myself except for the welding It wil prob cost me around 600.00 parts and labor if I do it I am replacing both leaf spring brackets and shackles and hope for the best. again thanks for the response

 

[chvlfrk]

On my Son's 01 Edge I used the repair pieces he bought for like $60, bolted it on through the shackle mount, and then used 2x4 rectangular tubing in the rear as he didn't want the spare tire winch.....
BEFORE:

https://imgur.com/H8WXeMr

https://imgur.com/8Excg6J

https://imgur.com/bQ9HGJx

https://imgur.com/twMZlYT

AFTER:

https://imgur.com/QsQOojs

https://imgur.com/m1xMiTn

GOOD LUCK with what ya do and post some pics.....

 

[don4331]

My $0.02 comment for a '98+ Ranger - get rear frame section from Ranger in non-rust belt region.

My daughter and I removed box, repositioned jackstands, remove springs from front & rear spring hangers and sawzalled frame off at back of cab in less than couple hours. Which provided us with like new back half frame section.

Removed box, wiring and hoses from the good truck, disconnected springs. Then we ground out rivets where front and rear frame sections are joined on both existing (grinder not being allowed in pick-n-pull) and new frame; removed the rusted frame. Bolted the frame sections back together as per Ford's repair guide, reinstalled wiring, hoses, springs, box and truck is repaired to like new.

 

[racsan]

Ive often thought about making my own supercab longbed by cutting two trucks behind cab mounts and splicing it all back together. would be alot of work though just to have one more ft of bed space in a supercab chassis but would be one of a kind. Ive heard its been done before but ive yet to see any pictures. maybe someday I will build one.

 

[chvlfrk]

My $0.02 comment for a '98+ Ranger - get rear frame section from Ranger in non-rust belt region.

===================================
I have done this, drilled out the 16 rivets and used Grade 8 bolts to put it back together, but then started workin on cab and realized the truck had been rolled to the point the used doors I installed wouldn't hit right, the cab was tweaked. So I had a good 95 cab and was going to put the 4" shorter cab on the 99 chassis and move the rear frame section up 4" and drill new holes, but I ended up scrappin it.

 

[Ranger850]

There is another guy here looking for a front section of Frame, maybe OP and him could buy one frame and split it.

Front Frame Rust 1998

Hey there, not sure if this post is in the appropriate section. I recently purchased a 1998 4.0 4x4 ranger. The vehicle is in pretty good shape for its age, and when i got it, i was sure to check out the rear frame as the previous truck i had was rusty there. it seemed ok, so i paid the guy and...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[JONNY246]

On my Son's 01 Edge I used the repair pieces he bought for like $60, bolted it on through the shackle mount, and then used 2x4 rectangular tubing in the rear as he didn't want the spare tire winch.....
BEFORE:

https://imgur.com/H8WXeMr

https://imgur.com/8Excg6J

https://imgur.com/bQ9HGJx

https://imgur.com/twMZlYT

AFTEReryo

https://imgur.com/QsQOojs

https://imgur.com/m1xMiTn

GOOD LUCK with what ya do and post some pics.....

Its been a while since I posted about fixing my 99 ranger 4x4 . Ran into some unexpected problems but shit happens. My frame was as bad as yours the spare tire holder underneath was shot so I eliminated it and put some homemade steel frame cross member in also wire brushed most of frame put Rust Reformer on it primed over it and repainted it I also removed approx. 11 inch of the frame and replaced it with a frame repair kit its has just been welded looks good. Only problems I have right now is the crossmember over fuel tank forget the junk yards being in the NE they are usually rotted out. went through several Ford Dealers only to find out the crossmember has been discontinued but they sell every other crossmember cant fig that one out?. Have spend around $1.000.00 so far on parts and supplies plus the welding not bad... If anyone out there can help me locate that crossmember or how to replace it please let me know. I have taken pics along the way will post them soon thanks for everyones responses

 

[racsan]

you could always just build your own crossmember with a section of small guage channel iron, or a road sign post ( they’re galvanized) or even a simple piece of angle iron is better than nothing. remember, once the bed is bolted down it will add to the structure too.