Check in your area for a frame and alignment shop.
It looks like you live in Wisconsin where they throw a pound of salt on an ounce of snow! I have gone trough this with my 1988 Grand Caravan that I love dearly. It got so rusty, both rear shock mounts rusted off the frame rails. Makes for a pretty bouncy ride at low speeds!
A body shop may be able to help with this too, or they should be able to recommend a shop. Typically we look for solid places where we can weld a piece of sheet steel to, then build up the brackets we need from there. Keep in mind that doing that strengthens the purposely-weakened areas that are designed in to absorb crash forces.
I cannot remember, but I seem to recall this truck uses a frame assembly that can be unbolted from the cab and box. If that is correct, and since it is just a matter of time before this happens to the other side, consider getting a used frame from a salvage yard down south. "Pull-A-Part" is a chain of yards that are very clean and well-organized. People there are very friendly, and parts are inexpensive. Their yards are between Ohio and southern Georgia, and they have some new ones in the southwest. I have been to sixteen of their yards. They do not buy crashed vehicles from insurance companies. They only buy what people drive or tow in. In Nashville, I unbolted steel brake lines with a small wrench that would have been long rusted tight up here.
Friday, October 14th, 2016 AT 3:49 PM
