Cracked frame?

[73dartneedswork]

Hello,

I’m in the process of rebuilding the front suspension on my 73 Dart. After removing the upper and lower control arms on the passenger side, I discovered what appears to be a crack in the frame, right above where the frame bolts to the K member. Is this common, and how do I fix it?
I appreciate any insight.

 

[pettybludart]

Dang that,s nasty!What engine are you running?The K will need to be removed to fix that up properly.Good luck!

 

[moper]

Yes it's common, and you need to properly fix that by finding the ends and then carefully welding the crack or a patch in place of it. (Cant see the pic from work. But any "frame" issue is a big deal on these cars, and pretty common)

 

[4flats]

Hey, man, looks nasty, and the new, tighter suspension parts will only make it worse. I don't know if this is a common area for darts, but to fix cracks like that on trucks and jeeps, you need to weld on a fish plate. It's basically a piece of steel the same thickness as the frame section welded over the crack after you weld and grind the crack. You want to be able to spread out the stress away from the cracked area. That is a much tighter area than I am used to repairing, maybe some of the hard-core racers on here have a better solution.

 

[cudamark]

Hey, man, looks nasty, and the new, tighter suspension parts will only make it worse. I don't know if this is a common area for darts, but to fix cracks like that on trucks and jeeps, you need to weld on a fish plate. It's basically a piece of steel the same thickness as the frame section welded over the crack after you weld and grind the crack. You want to be able to spread out the stress away from the cracked area. That is a much tighter area than I am used to repairing, maybe some of the hard-core racers on here have a better solution.

X2.....that's what I would have told him. We don't see many cracks like that in a street car here in "Sandy Ago" but I've seen some in race cars. Find a shop with a good mig welder and you'll be good to go.

 

[73dartneedswork]

An update on my cracked frame. I pulled the motor and dropped the "K" member, so I could get a better look at the damage. It's worse than I thought. Also I've noticed that the other frame rail is cracking at the exact same location, it's just not as bad yet. Can a good welder stitch this back together, or is replacing the section the best option. Also what about the Safe-t-cap products? Would this be a good situation for that product?
Also the torsion bar adjusters that are attached to the lower control arm, have been gouging the frame. Would it be caused from the cracked frame?

 

[dodge freak]

Looks like my old high school buddy car frame who wound jump curbs at 45 mph, lol.

I would replace if you can find decent parts at a fair price. Good thing you caught it!

 

[omahamoparguy]

yes safty cap would work {Auto Rust Technicians} careful welding would work also.
believe it or not, I wish my frame rails were in that good of shape, I replaced both my frame raols with 2 x 3 square tubing. [long story...and its still going]

 

[omahamoparguy]

if the bump stops are gone and the car is set too low, I could see how this would damage the frame, especially during hard driving on bad roadways.
YA GOTTA STOP DOIN' THOSE DAMN WHEELIES !!!

 

[autoxcuda]

Had a very similiar deal in my Barracuda. But not that bad. After that I started checking out the A-bodies in the junkyard around that area. And I found other cars with cracks at the bottom of shock tower has an overlap weld unto the frame rail. My car is a unrusted So Cal car and so were the other cars I saw cracks in.

When I noticed the cracks in my Barracuda was when I broke the K-member from moving 1600 miles back from college after I graduated. I weighed my Barracuda at 5600 lbs.! I weighed 3500 before!

The K-member on the right had the busted out LCA pivot hole.

Here's the welding we did to fix the area around the K-member bolts.

 

[73dartneedswork]

It has taken more time than I thought it would, but I got my frame and suspension put back together. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the process of fixing the frame. Basically my dad drilled holes at the ends of all the cracks, so as to keep them from cracking further. Then he welded in all the cracks. On one section of the frame, where the K frame bolts to ( there was a big hole) he had to weld a new plate and nut inside of the frame tube. For added strength he welded a plate over the frame. He did this on both sides, since both sides were fatigued.
One plus side to this whole ordeal was since I had to take the motor out of the car to access the frame, I was able to paint the engine compartment and motor. Also, I'm happy with how my front suspension looks. Soon I will be able to take the car to the alignment shop and be able to finally start driving the car.
With everything back in the car it’s hard to get any good pictures of the area we worked on. One picture is of the plate my dad welded over the repaired cracked area. The other picture is of my rebuilt front suspension.
Thanks again for your help,
Kris

 

[1BadDodge71]

Had a very similiar deal in my Barracuda. But not that bad. After that I started checking out the A-bodies in the junkyard around that area. And I found other cars with cracks at the bottom of shock tower has an overlap weld unto the frame rail. My car is a unrusted So Cal car and so were the other cars I saw cracks in.

When I noticed the cracks in my Barracuda was when I broke the K-member from moving 1600 miles back from college after I graduated. I weighed my Barracuda at 5600 lbs.! I weighed 3500 before!

The K-member on the right had the busted out LCA pivot hole.

Here's the welding we did to fix the area around the K-member bolts.

Hey,who needs a truck,right?:thumrigh:

 

[1BadDodge71]

Good progress :cheers: