This week I discovered that the crossmember in my '99 Ranger's frame that supports the rear end of the fuel tank is starting to rust out, despite my attempts to stop it. The crossmember is somewhat K shaped and connects to the two frame rails at the 4 points of the K. The passenger side lower leg of the K is rotted completely out, which I've known about, leaving only the horizontal element holding the tank and frame up on that side.
I've got a minor in mechanical engineering, and the solution I thought of is to drop the tank, pull the bed off, drill out the rivets holding the crossmember in and replace it with the same piece from a junkyard truck, providing I can throughly bang on a "new" one with a hammer and not have chunks fall off. I'd grind all the rust off, and pay my employer $25 to refinish and plate the replacement with electroless nickel, which would basically guarantee it will never rust again. I'd bolt the member back into the truck and reassemble everything with large bolts, possibly carriage bolts or something similar.
The rest of the frame is in pretty decent shape for the age, it looks good and it runs like a top, so I'd really hate to condemn it to the junkyard.
Does this idea sound even remotely feasible, or like a lot of hassle?
I think it sound like a great idea. Why not?
Sounds fantastic. Please take photos of your work and post here.
Is it feasible? Yes.
Is it going to be a hassle? Absolutely.
B-U-T......
These are the projects I like. {black}:cool:
I understand it is a Ranger and not worth much money, but in your case I think just the experience of being involved with a project like that would be good. You have a project plan in place, and IF you are doing your own labor and you love the truck...I say go for it. Just be sure that the rest of the frame is ok and that you take your time and don't rush.
If you were not doing it yourself and needed it done, I would say no as the labor costs would be prohibitive in my opinion.
I sure hope he saves the thing.
Me too. I just think it is a cool project. And they were neat little trucks.
You can do whatever you want but an old ranger truck isn't worth much I wouldn't bother doing all that work on it the rest of it's going to rust out too they just weren't made that well
How big are the rivets?
You may find it easier to use a SHARP hardened chisel and cut them off with a couple big whacks.
I'm not sure how big they are, actually. I'll have to take a look. I learned the local junkyard I go to doesn't allow grinders, so that might make it interesting.
As long as the rest of the frame is solid and you can do the work yourself sounds like a plan. 👍
I may go ahead and start checking the local LKQ for suitable donor trucks. The reason I came up with the idea is Scotty's attitude of hating car payments is starting to rub off on me, and I personally refuse to pay these crazy used vehicle prices - I saw a 2013 F-150 quadcab with 230k on it the other day, they wanted $18,000.
I don't have welding experience, so that wouldn't really be an option to fix this particular issue, so I'm using my available resources, and knowledge.
Since I own the Ranger, I'm a lot more inclined to do the work to keep it going, a friend who introduced me to Scotty's channel actually offered to help. The few parts of the frame rail that have rust I've been able to get under control. Pretty much anything I do to the truck I look at like spending money on TVs, etc. I'm not gonna get it back.
What kind of drill bit would I need to drill out those rivets in a frame? That's probably the only thing I'm not sure on. I have a DeWalt sawzall and metal cutting blades, so I can take the flanges of the donor truck's frame with me and grind rivets out later if need be.
Ehhhh, just get the parts you need don’t waste time trying to make sure it ain’t gonna rust again, jsut get the donar parts and run like mad.
I did some digging around online and found a place that actually fabricates new crossmembers to replace the particular one I need to replace. The actual piece is $250, which might not be too bad of a price vs. wrestling with trucks in the junkyard.
https://www.autorust.com/product/forward-fuel-tank-cross-member-art-149/
There's also a local yard that will pull parts for you, including frame parts. I'm not sure what that would cost, but probably not much cheaper than the pre-fabricated one.
Before I do anything further to my truck, I actually thought about paying a local mechanic who specializes in trucks to go through my Ranger like Scotty does and see if there's anything hiding that would make the job not worth the effort, and also having them check out the remainder of the frame to make sure I won't be chasing my tail with future rust. Would this be $120 or so well spent? I personally don't have a scanner and have never actually seen the data in the PCM. Haha. I know the check engine light works, because it comes on before starting the engine.
Did you ever end up making any progress on this build?
I haven't yet, but I'm working on it. Trying to source the crossmember from an existing truck instead of buying the new replacement. LKQ doesn't allow grinders. I moved recently, and there is an auto salvage yard nearby that will cut frame sections out of their vehicles for you for cheap. I'm going to get in touch with them here soon. A plumber friend I know got the whole front right half of his GM utility van for $350 pulled!