frame

[gobigorgohome]

i have heard from several people over the lasst year that in the first gen dodges there was a problem with the frame bending when pulling under normal load. i have 2 questions to this. 1, were they actually pullin normal load or way too heavy and 2, is this a common problem to see or not? what should a person be on the watch for?

[ellis93]

My truck will flex some. Noticed that between cab and frame. Seems normal though. I have also notice that right rear of my bed sits a little higher than my left side parked on level ground.

[BobS]

Read what the owners manual indicates as maximum combination weights and then read again what the ones with problems were pulling. Excessive tongue weight on a bumper hitch WILL in time make the frame see this as multiple mini collisions and the built in impact crush zones over time will act as they were designed to do in the event of a collision. You can pretty well assume that the trailer is severely overloaded for the truck when the tongue weight causes the frame to bow upward ahead of the rear wheels. Also note that in the rust belt of North America that most of the frames of these trucks have been slightly hampered by rust.

[gobigorgohome]

ok thanks for the info guys, if yall hear anything else id love to hear about it

[Mark Nixon]

Having scrapped my share (and then some) of these trucks, I've also noticed that the earlier, pre-'92, 3/4 ton "short" frames are susceptible to cracking.
It tends to happen behind the rear of the cab, on the driver's side.
I have also noticed on several occasions where the framerails over the rear axle have been torn from the top edge of the rail through the mid-point of the rail, with evidence that the rear bumper likely dragged.

THAT'S a real sight to see, and a definite sign of gross overloading.

Mark.

[ellis93]

Mr nixon did the trucks that had the torn frame over the axles have the over loads on top of the spring pack.

[Mark Nixon]

Not all had the overload strikers, but the last one that I had that did that was a 1990 1 ton Cab and Chassis, that was SEVERELY abused.
It had the overload strikers and they had even been replaced.
So had the rear spring packs.

Mark.