Frame measurements

[mercado1211]

I have been posting here trying to get some input but don’t think I’ve included information. So now I’ve included measurements of the frame using a plumb bob and markings on the garage floor. It appears my frame has a slight diamond shape it’s out of true by about 5/16, is that enough to cause bed to cab vertical gap issues? It appears to have some twist which might be causing the front passenger wheel to dip about 3/4 of an inch. Should I just take it to a frame shop and have them give me an estimate? They charge 75 bucks to tell me what’s wrong and how, if it can be fixed

Thanks for looking.






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[Irish_Alley]

i honestly dont think youre going to find a answer on here about frames. ive been on here a few years and dont think i recall someone who ever mentioning they worked in a frame shop or really worked on frames. we do have some guys  who do body work but that might be about it. but if you think about it, the frame not being aligned this should throw the rest of it off. by how far idk, maybe a body shop could tell you but then they might exaggerate it to buy your business   

[mercado1211]

Thanks for the reply, I just finished swapping the rear leaf springs and gained about about a quarter inch in the front right passenger. The passenger rear spring was sagging about an inch compared to drivers side. It still sagging in the front passenger side a bit but not as bad. I think the tank has something to do with it since I removed the drivers side completely and left only the passenger side, thinking with fuel in it its got to contribute to sag to that side. I’m still gonna take it to the frame shop. Figure for 75 bucks it won’t hurt. But like you said it’s off by 5/16 corner to opposite corner and they might exaggerate something that isn’t that critical.

Thanks for the reply, appreciate it.


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[JohnnyPopper]

Wow Market-Man! Those are good measurements!

Looks like your frame got a little tweaked, I would definitely have the frame shop take a look at that price. 

I think it's enough to worry about the bed lining up.

As far as the passenger dipping, have the frame shop look for a vertical tweak.

Welcome from SoCal!

[mercado1211]

Thanks Popper,

Appreciate it. Yeah I’m gonna make an appointment next week with the collision shop. I was badgering him for a rough price, he got a little irritated but finally said it could be a couple hundred bucks to five or six hundred. But he said he’ll put it on the rack and check it for 75 bucks. Truck drives well and the numbers I came up with when measuring were not that severe so I’m hoping it can be fixed.


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[mercado1211]

Just wanted to give an update because it might or might not help someone else out. So I took my C10 to a frame shop and they took a look at my problem. Well, they were able to somewhat correct the twist in the frame, cab to bed at the rear of the cab measurements were 5/8 of an inch off from driver to passenger side(the bed dipped to the right when looking at from the rear. They now appear to be off by only a 1/4 inch, I discovered that some of this was corrected by placing a 1/8 spacer on the passenger side rear cab mount, I wasn’t too happy about that but none the less that still meant the frame was corrected by more than a quarter inch itself. The diamond in the frame, which was equally as concerning to me was not even addressed, actually; what ever was done at the frame shop made it go from 5/16 inch off to a full 1/2 inch!

Anyhow, I chained up the corner of the front frame horn of the truck to my shop post. I chained the opposite end of the rear frame to my 3/4 ton diesel truck and mashed on the gas, purely out of frustration of course. Well long story short, I once again took measurements and the diamond shape disappeared for the most part, some of my measurements crisscross were about equal, the only one that was still off about 3/16 was the rear bed area corner to corner. I can live with that, I suspect the frame may have a very slight bow in the back half of the truck. I am only hoping it holds position, I made sure to beat crossmember points on the frame with a hammer to relieve stress and help it hold. I DO NOT ADVOCATE THIS  METHOD AS IT IS DANGEROUS, just letting the people on this forum who took the time to respond to this post know how this turned out.

Thanks,,,

[JohnnyPopper]

LOL!

Thanks for the disclaimer but I'm sure many on this board have done some MacGyver moves when nothing else worked.

Good Job man.

[mercado1211]

Thanks man,


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[mercado1211]

I was actually thinking someone might tie their truck to the garage wall of their house. I read a story of a guy who pulled part of his house down doing that. The post I tied it to had footings three feet wide and deep with a surrounding concrete slab as well as I beam braces at the top.


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[JohnnyPopper]

I would use a telephone pole and a heavy chain.

Seriously, I did laugh out loud when I read your post, just picturing your face as you gassed it!!

[mercado1211]

Haha, yeah


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[fitz]

Now you have to check the frame on your 3/4 ton diesel....

[mercado1211]

I thought about that afterwards, I connected the chain to the center of the hitch receiver, pulling from the center of the vehicle. I exaggerated how fast I went, really I just released the brake and got about a 4 to 5 foot run-it stopped at the end of the chain. I checked the receiver and it didn't look like it was tweaked. The frame on a 3/4 ton 4x4 Dodge is not the same as the frame on a c10. It has a fully boxed frame with welded crossmembers-don't think it was in a position to tweak the frame; maybe shift or shear the cabmounts, but that didn't appear to happen either. I had already tried to pull out a tree stump with it once.

[mercado1211]

If what I did tweaked that frame, then that truck has no business towing anything over 5000 pounds. Let alone the 15 to 20 thousand pounds these routinely tow. I imagine the tugging motions of that amount of weight are much higher than what I applied that day.

[fitz]

I hear ya, that cummins is a towing machine.  I'm sure dodge built a frame to match.