What's Living In Your Frame?

[Elwood]

Apparently, a small rodent and a wasp colony had taken up residence in the engine cross member of my "new" M37 frame.

Judging by the rust on the inside of the lower plate of the cross member, the rodent nest must have been perpetually wet.

[Cal_Gary]

I still have California dirt buried in mine which is why I'm going to have the frame blasted later this year or next year.
Gary

[Elwood]

Good idea. Hopefully they'll get inside the boxed cross members front and rear. Short of removing the rivets and the bottom plates, there aren't any large openings to clean out those cavities, and anything that traps moisture can be a long term problem.

Eastwood makes an internal frame coating that might be a good idea after the blasting: http://www.eastwood.com/internal-frame- ... -14oz.html

[Carter]

Did not have any tenants but a load of dry sand in several locations which blew out easily once hit by the Black Beauty blast hose.

[52 M-42]

I had some mice and rats living in my truck at various times when it sat outside all winter. Now that it has been restored for the second time, it lives inside and no more nasty creatures or insects (wasps & yellow jackets). I also now keep an open container of peppermint oil in the truck (nothing like closing the barn door after the horse has gotten out) to keep unwelcome visitors out. Should have done it when it lived outside, I know.

[Murf]

When my parts truck sat outside I can't tell you how many times I started to unbolt something only to find myself running for my life from the wasps. Winter was a painless season.

[MSeriesRebuild]

The truth about frame rails and cross members is very simple. The boxed sections of cross members will ALWAYS be full of rust, dirt, sand, and God only knows what else. Simple reasoning, they were never coated with anything except on the outside surfaces. At 60 plus years of age for many of these trucks, it is just a natural fact. The only way to clean and treat interior surfaces properly is to COMPLETELY disassemble every piece; clean thoroughly, repair as needed, and coat with a premium product designed for the specific application.

David Cial has a Power Wagon frame in process here at the shop currently; it was a mess. He will have info to add to this thread also I imagine. Power Wagons have double frame rails, so they have to be separated as well as all cross members. Yes it can easily become labor intensive; but unless you want to be faced with addressing this again in the future; doing it right the first time is the only way to prevent future undesirable issues resulting from a lack of proper attention at the onset.

[HingsingM37]

Yes, the truck frame I am working on had a real surprise in the rear cross member, an actual rat carcass along with all the trimmings. This Power Wagon was a plow truck from up north and had plenty of rust and scale on the frame along with all sorts of "accessories" welded to the frame over the years. A good needle scaler followed by a heavy duty stiff wire brush are essential for prepping the metal for blasting. The cleaner you can get it the better.

The frame had spots where the rust scale was so thick between the inner and outer frame rails it bubbled the heavier outer frame out nearly a 1/4 inch.
As for disassembly of those "ship rivets" on the frame and cross members it is labor intensive. Drilling the heads out with a drill a few sizes smaller then the rivet shank od will allow the head to be chiseled off with less effort than not drilling them. Then I use an air hammer to drive the rivet shank out.

[Elwood]

Charles and David, thanks for the comments. I've seen a number of frames with the "bubbling" between frame plates. M37s are vulnerable where the bottom plates of the front and rear boxed cross members overlap onto the bottom edge of the frame rails, and especially at the rear ends of the frame rail reinforcements, behind the rear engine mount castings. Amazing that the scale (and perhaps ice?) can distort those frame pieces like that.

After you've disassembled and repaired the frame components, are you reassembling the frames with the original style solid steel rivets? TM 9-8031-2 states that the rivets should be formed cold, which seems like an odd thing to me. I'm planning on heating the rivets in a small forge, than installing with an air hammer.

I'd like to find a cone point rivet set, at least for the 1/2" rivets, but short of having them made special, I'll probably have to settle for regular button heads.

[MSeriesRebuild]

We have used rivets in the past; and grade 8 bolts more recently. My personal preference is the bolts; reasoning behind that is heat treated, thick, washers can be used with bolts, which distributes the clamping force over a much broader area than just the head of a rivet, and of course there is ease of disassembly to be considered should a cross member ever need to be removed at a future time. With the broader area of clamping pressure; it is evident that components just fit together better as the various components are reassembled. You do need to pay special attention, (as with anything) to your workmanship; we use all grade 8 hardware, torqued to spec with center type, all metal, self-locking nuts. We also use red lock-tite on all fasteners as added insurance. Have never had issues with anything working loose as a result of frame flex, etc.

[Elwood]

Charles, your comment about "workmanship" is spot on. The front spring brackets on one frame I looked at had been lifted, by removing the three factory 1/2" button head rivets that hold each one to the frame, and then inserting a short length of 2" square tube. Instead of the three rivets, the tube was connected to the frame and to the bracket with only two bolts at each face, and grade 5 bolts at that. Not a truck I would have trusted to drive anywhere except onto a trailer.

I've been debating about the advisability of removing the frame reinforcements, but as long as I'm this far into this job, and since I have the tools to install the rivets, I'm going to remove the reinforcements, and media blast and paint the area behind them, then re-rivet them in place.