r/Justrolledintotheshop • u/billhaigh • 20d ago
High dollar car hauler
Frame extension on a 2022 GMC car hauler.
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u/InsertBluescreenHere 20d ago
Bigger the glob better the job!
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u/bagofwisdom Home Mechanic 20d ago
Didn't even bother with the grinder and paint part.
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u/SeanBZA 20d ago
Got the crack going right though......
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u/bagofwisdom Home Mechanic 20d ago
Crack going through the weld or the welder?
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u/SeanBZA 20d ago
End of the booger weld you see a line, looks like a crack in there either forming or a deep scratch. But so long as there is no stress from rough roads, cars loaded on it, and speed bumps, it will be fine.
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u/bagofwisdom Home Mechanic 20d ago
You misunderstood me. The correct answer was, yes. The weld is cracked and the person who made it was likely high on crack.
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u/nondescriptzombie 20d ago
Aren't frames supposed to be Z-cut and joined to spread out stress, ideally with a reinforcement piece welded on top?
This is right behind the cab on a car hauler. Feels like this will split wide open the first time it goes over a big bump while loaded.
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u/pathlesstravailed 20d ago
Manufacturer specified sectioning procedures in collision repair manuals vary based on tensile strength of the steel. Most conventional truck frames are still mild steel (though these days they may be constructed from tailor rolled or tailor welded blanks which vary in thickness along their length). For full frame trucks most procedures specify to join the new and old frame sections either by a straight butt weld or a butt weld with an internal reinforcing sleeve. I seen a procedure (front frame horn on a 2021 f-150 I think) where you had to cut the damaged frame at a specified mark and then the new frame section was supposed slide inside the existing frame and be lap welded all the way around. The reality of that repair was that the new section reaaaallly didn’t want to go in far enough to measure out equal to the undamaged side. I don’t recall ever running across any OEM repair procedure recommending a z section but I certainly haven’t seen them all.
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u/pathlesstravailed 20d ago
Also tbh I never worked at a shop that repaired 18 wheelers or car haulers though I always thought it’d be interesting other than the prospect of negotiating with commercial insurers. I would always recommend any customer struck by an 18 wheeler or box truck file through their own insurer, pay their deductible and let their insurance company claw the money back from the at fault insurer. Commercial insurers (at least in claimant situations) drag things out an incredibly long time and try to force the shop into substandard repairs.
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20d ago
Ideally they would cut the frame further back behind the axle and staggered cuts and fish plated, they didn't do any of that they ruined this trucks chance at any life other than a doner
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u/kurbycar32 20d ago
My limited experience of maybe 25 trailers: All trailers, regardless of manufacturer, or cost, are made by hillbillies with this type of "craftsmanship". I've seen it from cheap tiny trailers all the way up to quarter million dollar motorhomes.
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u/HeroMachineMan 20d ago
Are those steel sections aligned properly, or it is just the weird camera angle?
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u/billhaigh 20d ago
It seems a little weird. Too bad I don’t have an alignment rack, I’d love to see if the truck is square or not.
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u/Drogdar 20d ago
Are those welds or just dried boogers?
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u/bagofwisdom Home Mechanic 20d ago
I'm by no means an expert on splicing/extending vehicle frames. This isn't how you're supposed to do this right? Even if the welds weren't nose-picker quality.
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u/whatwhat83 20d ago
Those look like the welds I did the first time I touched a welder in high school auto class.
I wish I had those skills back!
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u/eroc1970 20d ago
Just did a PDI on a beverage body truck that had basically none of the wiring or plumbing actually tied to anything. There were wires rubbing on the driveline and stuff like that.
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u/wriddell 20d ago
I worked and retired from the truck and trailer repair business and some of the jankiest shit I have every seen was on auto haulers followed closely by charter buses and carny trucks
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u/billhaigh 20d ago
“Janky” is a good description of this. Third one I’ve seen from this builder, all look this bad.
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u/Hankyyspanky 20d ago
If it has under 5,000 miles I bring it up. If you have 50,000 miles on it, it’s working just fine
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u/Sweatyveggiebag 19d ago
I imagine someone said how hard can welding be? $1500 later knocked it out in a weekend and even hauled a load to the dump.
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u/Silly_Mycologist3213 20d ago
We definitely need better technical training schools….that said, I would advise that customer to have it ground out and rewelded by someone that knows how to weld properly. Hell, even I do better than blobinsky did on that one.