Anyone hear about broken or bent frames on these trucks? Such as from off-roading? How strong did Dodge make them? Just curious.

 

I am really curious about this too. Anyone....

 

I've seen axils bent, but never seen a bent frame. But I'm a mechanic so I probably wouldn't see a truck that had the frame bent.

 

It's a welded, boxed frame...pretty stout but heavy.

 

That's good. We're the opposite of ricers... The heavier the better! lol..

 

the frame an my 97 had cracks along the bottom of the c- channel where it goes from being boxed to channel i did not find it till i got it home and drove it for almost a month but its fixed and holding fine now with no trouble.
the guy i bought it from lived on a rough dirt road and towed a goose neck travel trailer which i think over time caused the cracks. they werent bad and werent hard to fix just sucked at the time.

 

How do you go about fixing something like that, especially if there are a lot of cracks? Unless you looked, would you have noticed them?

 

Anyone ever hear about welding extra plates to Dodge (or any brand truck) frames for added strength because they're too weak?

http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/...rength-220245/




image courtesy of speedrcr78

 

looks like a scared cat!

 

a buddy of mine has a 97 12v 13" of lift on 37's and hes pretty hard on his truck.... offroading and stuff like that hes cracked or broken his frame several times... theres all kinds of plates welded on under his truck lol

 

I have personally never seen any bent or cracked. But im sure it happens.. I have seen them cracked on a few semis tho...

 

that will happen to any pick up Ford Dodge Chevy with a slide in wrecker overloaded I have seen all 3 bent. over load anything and it will bend.

3rd gen frames are strong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKUWv8MjwJY&NR=1

 

I've Seen some ugly repairs on frames. The problem with a lot of guys in the oil feild is they think they can drive 140kph on gravel roads that have two foot holes in them lol. I think if you bend a frame you did something you shouldn't have, It may have a tractor engine in it, but its not a tractor!! lol

 

I have helped weld a 97 dually reg cab; broken in half right at the cab. It was a ranch pickup with a round bale handler on it, and they would load 2 round bales on it and rattle down the gravel road!! NOTHING holds up to that for long!

 

i see bent frames all the time. and i fix alot of them too.