kingsandman

So what started off rather small, escalated rather quickly. I haven't been using the Winter Beater much lately and finally drove it the other day.
I noticed a slight bearing noise in the rear end and decided to check it out. While long story short, ended up completely rebuilding the rear end (new inner/outer bearings, pinion bearings, new axles). No big deal, but while on the hoist I really didn't like the look of the spare tire hanger.
It was really rusty and I've never been really thrilled with the look of the frame in relation to the fact the truck is absolutely mint.
So what started with digging out a new spare tire support and mounting a 31" spare underneath, turned into a cool learning experience.
Here's pictures of "before", really not bad but not where I wanted it to be.

kingsandman

The old guy that had the truck before me was really good at keeping it rust free, but part of that meant there was multiple coats of paint/undercoating on the frame. I always had the lingering "what if" in my head if I was ever to find out what was under all that crap. I've seen rusted out frames before and while I was certain (almost) that it was solid, I did resign myself to changing frames if it wasn't.
While after talking with an old friend who owns a Sandblasting Company, we decided to blast it. Now I've always admired how clean his trucks were underneath, I always assumed they had never gotten too bad and he'd only had to "clean them up".
He tells me that he lets them get ratty looking and then blasts them with the truck in one piece. He's done dozens of them and has a great system of not blasting what doesn't need blasting using the right media so as to not damage anything.
The wheels were obviously removed and everything blasted shy of the brake rotors. This was "1st pass" and he went back and fine tuned the difficult spots.
The good news? The frame's mint!

gDMJoe

Better get some primer (at least) on that or it won't be that way (mint) for long.
.

kingsandman

It's in the booth now, we've just finished up. The frame and axles/suspension got two heavy coats of zinc chromate primer (black in colour) and three coats of epoxy black.
Fresh undercoating on all the sheet metal.
Will unmask in the morning and post pics.

kingsandman

Sneak peak, better pictures tomorrow after the wheels are on and I can get it outside.

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

Wow, beautiful work! You are commended with your efforts, I am thoroughly impressed!

tiresmoke

Agreed! Very nice.

Z7What

Looks great!

Wayne

jerseymark

Wow, that looks great

Crab Balls

Damn, that looks really nice! I have to say you have more time and energy that I do.