blk96

ok so my story is that i just bought a 97 2500 4x4 ctd about a month ago to replace my near perfect 96 which was stolen. i bought the 97 for $7200 from an older man that has owned it since 2000 the truck has 183000 on the clock and he primarily used the truck to pull a 24' 5th whell travel trailer. i live in new mexice and here it is very difficult to find dodge diesel trucks of any sort so i found this one in colorado and drove up to see ot upon looking at the truck it looked pretty nice drove well no leaks rebuilt trans had a few issues with the body but not realy a huge deal so i bought it, as soon as i got it home i started to find things i didnt like. i found that there were some spot welds that had cracked behind the front fenders and i also found some small cracks uner both the front and rear windows so i had those repaired along with a large dent in the roof from a tree brach in a wind storm he said. so now i have invested 1500.00 in the body i also rebuilt the whole front end ie. ball joints, axle shaft u joints axle seals track bar changed all the fluids installed new exaust and a fuel plate and today while i was under the truck removing the drive saft i found cracks in the frame right under the rear of the cab where the frame goes from being boxed to just being channel on the drivers side the crack is all the way across the butom and the passenger side the crack is just on inside and starting onto the botum portion of the rail i just cant help but feel stupid for not seeing the issues before i bought this truck. i would like to know what you all think should i just roll with the punches and fix things as they come up or sell the truck or... thaks for all your help i think i just need to hear you alls opinion.

Clinebarger

I say fix it, plate it weld it then keep an eye on it. I whould not sell it that way without disclosing it has a broken frame. besides you already fixed alot of things that go wrong. Dont forget about the KDP.

Wicked500R

I would NOT weld the frame in the middle of the truck if it was me. The proper fix would be to drill the end of the cracks to keep them from traveling and then install sister plates onto the frame rails.. drilled and bolted. If you sell it, your gonna lose money !