I did a write up on this truck a while back (2009), and since then it has fallen into disrepair. I have started a frame off rebuild and was wondering if anyone has sealed their frame shut and what were the long term effects of doing so. My frame needs some plating, so I am thinking of just plating over the entire frame, and in the process re fabbing certain parts and making this thing sealed as best as I can, but not air tight, as that would be very very hard to do using the stock frame.
Today I cut windows in the frame and roto rootered all the crap and mud out of the frame with my garden hose and the forklift. I am thinking of making reinforced areas with removable gasket seal-able windows at strategic locations in the frame to do this flushing operation in the future. Im just kind of worried that if I do seal this frame completely, will there be rotting issues if something does get in, or after a yearly flush out using my proposed window system? Id like to make this frame last me atleast another 10 years.
I live in NJ, so things rot away here, and the trails here are mostly sandy and muddy. The frame was damn near packed solid with dirt.

This is how I got my truck.


This was after my build


This was the truck a month ago


Today's frame cleansing

 

If this is a off road only Truck that is not a bad idea.

Different to be sure.

If you drive this on the road in the winter the liquid brine will get in every place.

The only way to really seal the frame would be to close all the holes then pull a vacuum which you would most likely need to check at least once a month.

Living in the great rust belt we do what needs to be done.

Make a new frame out of Stainless or at least those parts prone to rusting out.

 

It does get driven on the road, but its really just a play toy. In the winter months when theres alot of snow and salt im usually running a plow truck or just not going out wheeling, as sitting stuck in an ice hole isnt much fun to me.
I have decided to plate the entire frame in 3/16 steel. Im more worried about stuff gettin inside the frame and sitting in there without drying. That is what has caused alot of my current swiss cheesing issues. Im figuring the added weight of the steel is probably close to the added weight of dirt that I washed out. The strength factor will out weigh any weight issues.

 

Have you thought about cleaning your frame really well , cutting the inside of the frame out maybe even sand blasting down to bare metal and then weld your plates up solid with just a hole to fill the frame with a ... what the heck was it called, I cant remember but it was a airplane fuel tank coating. I think it kept rust from forming, and all you did was fill your tank with it and splash it around, until you were certain everythign was coated then drain the excess. Then you could paint or rhino line or POR 15 the outside?


If you have the frame off already and access to a fork lift I would deffinently coat the inside with something.

 

there are lots of products for coating the inside of frames - go look at all the stuff people use in auto restoration for areas like rockers and pillars and frames, Eastwood is one company that makes several. Even if you used one of these products, I still think you'll have issues because of the debris/water getting inside and sitting and rotting it out - I don't think any of those products can help against that. Annual cleaning and oiling of undercarriage is probably smart too but what do I know, I live in CA.

I think if you took your time to plate everything really well, most of your access points would be taken care of and you'll likely only have funk water coming in vs dirt/debris (unless you're mudding like in your avatar, lol). Not sure how badly rusted out your current frame is, but another thing to consider might be to make a new frame from scratch. You control all the holes in the frame from the start.

 

Fill the frame with POR 15 until it bleeds out every hole? . then you could use an expanding, closed cell foam product to fill the frame and keep dirt out.

For the money and time you could spend on this, you could also drive south and get a better condition frame, put it in a uhaul and bring it home. So just consider how you'll spend your $ & energy, try not to polish a turd. It just smears.

 

The thing is your always going to have condensation live in the area where they use liquid brine it gets in every where.

The worst part is how it takes out the fuel and brake lines to me they are more of a pain then the frame it`s self .