Ran into some problems on the 64 Patrol we are restoring. It lived it's life in Aspen, Colorado and plowed a driveway for 40 some odd years. Unfortunately the snow plowing duties damaged the frame at some point.
Plate welded on the frame rail, no damage can be seen yet.
removed plates and found frame is buckled and cracked under them. This is RHS, you can see the buckle in the frame, top just behind the shackle hanger. Also buckled on side facing camera at the front of the shackle hanger.
This is the LHS, the side that cracked. The frame rail tore up top and on the outside edge. The old tear is at the weld just behind the holes on the top and just behind the small holes on the side facing the camera.
it was repaired many years ago but not repaired very well. Here you can see how the frame rail is distorted form the damage.
This is the backside of where it cracked. Not good.
This could be repaired correctly. However it will take a fair amount of work. Strength is very important here too since the shackle hanger holds the front axle under the truck. It appears to me the snow plow must have hit a curb or something at speed and caused the plow to be forced under the front end of the truck. Something had to give and it was the frame rails. The owner of the truck was given options and rough cost to fix this right. This 64 came with a 67 parts truck. That 67 is in stellar condition so it was decided to use the frame from the 67. Unfortunately that makes this a non-matching numbers truck but sometimes budget has to be the deciding factor. That as well as even if kept a matching numbers truck it will have a repaired frame which could bring down value. So I will be proceeding with working on the 67's frame rather then spend any time on the 64's frame. Overall the 67 is in much better shape but it lacks an engine, now it will live again with the engine from the 64.
Cheers
