Front frame section rust repair ten

[turbopower6]

Hi All,
Just as I crest the road of getting all mechanical issues aligned with the moon and the stars....I am wrenched back to the reality that the northeast weather is going to extract this vehicle from my worn out hands and return it to the ground it came from. The rust is killing it slowly.
I noticed the front frame section where the sway bar mounts is rusting and at some point the sway bar will pull away. Has anyone dealt with this and would be nice enough to enlighten me on some options to repair it? I am of the persuasion that it is still less expensive to repair it than replace it. Considering all of the work I have put into it and the fact that it runs so beautifully after the “re-engineering” applied to it .....with huge thanks to my friends on the site for encouragement and guidance...I am now at this crossroad.
I have already welded a patch on the opposite side of the frame to correct rust before. I am wondering if there is a frame repair section available to weld in for this vehicle. 1996 Suburban K1500 6.5
I imagine I will need to have the radiator support and most of the front end off to access the frame for a potential “resection” of the front frame section if that is even a possibility.
Does anyone have any suggestions on quality shops in the northeast that they had personal success with in a repair like this that they might share?
The adventure continues.......

Regards,
Ted

 

[MrMarty51]

Buy a welder, grinder, cutoff wheels and some steel and cut out the bad sectikns and weld in new.
Thats about the best way. To have a shop take care of all the rust on tje frame would be cost prohibitive.
throw is out some pics of what You are dealing with.

 

[Will L.]

 

[Husker6.5]

What do we say around here? Oh, yeah. "It didn't happen without pictures!"

 

[turbopower6]

Hi All,
Working on getting the pictures from my phone to the site.....
Stay tuned.
I’m much better with wrenches than I-phones!

 

[Turbine Doc]

Feeling your pain, temporary repairs on my 90 C1500 GMC, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2460224967361522&type=3

 

[MrMarty51]

Feeling your pain, temporary repairs on my 90 C1500 GMC, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2460224967361522&type=3

I have never seen a frame rusted that thin. That appears to be more of permanent repairs instead of temporary.
Nice work there too.

 

[Turbine Doc]

I have never seen a frame rusted that thin. That appears to be more of permanent repairs instead of temporary.
Nice work there too.

Temporary in that I'll eventually be going full frame up resto of the truck after I retire next fall, the extra metal added to driver side put a bit of a tweak in the geometry for tension of the sway bar, and driver side slightly higher than passenger side now.

Truck is usable now without that "clunk" I was having when parking, only to find the steering box literally hanging on "by a thread"...or threads of the single bolt that was not compromised.

I'll be going with a 6.5TD in it as well, the original running take out removed from my 98 K1500 when I installed the "project engine"in the 98.

 

[Husker6.5]

Feeling your pain, temporary repairs on my 90 C1500 GMC, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2460224967361522&type=3

That really reminds me of my old '72 Dodge D100 Adventure Sport's frame around its steering gear box. I noticed one day that the steering suddenly seemed more "loose" than usual, that it did turn as tightly to the right as it used to and that there was a noticeable 'clunk' when turning the wheel back to center when turning right. The frame around the steering box had cracked so badly that only a small 'flap' around the upper front mounting bolt was still attached. When making right turns, the bottom of the steering box would swing up and about 3" away from the frame! Needless to say, since it was 27 years old, about 300,000 miles on it and well into its second (used) motor in it, parted it out then hauled the hulk off to the scrap yard.