Project Yellow: Cutting the Frame, Shortening the Truck, Welding It Back Together - 1987 GMC 7000
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- čas přidán 13. 08. 2021
- Special thanks to Cody's Cuts Lawncare for adding some muscle to the day's chore: cutting down the frame of the 1987 GMC 7000 (Project Yellow), rolling the back half of the chassis up to the cab, and welding the halves back together. Beware. I put a little extra nerdiness into this one.
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Great back up plans Sir 😏🤣👍Great set of sunglasses 🤣👍😎 Yes SIR, Stick welding rods is the way to go 💪👌👍😉 The look of the welding is not important Sir, it is the good mix of the two surfaces of that weld bead 👍😉 Outstanding Job Sir 😉👍👌💪 Cheers 🍻
I’m impressed, great job Logan, can’t wait to see it rolling 👍🏻😉🙋🏼♂️
Thanks for the support, and thank you for watching!
Great job! It's coming together nicely!!
Thinking about painting it pink... what do you think?
@@FabbedFun if that's what makes you happy and reflects who you are, I say go for it!! 😏
@@davidlanoue6713 I mean red. Yeah. Red.
How's she goin'? Well you made that look pretty easy!!! It just proves that if you take your time, prepare the pieces well, and line them up they way they need to be, it can be done!!! Nice looking job. The diamond plate reinforcement pieces I think will be a big help too. Thanks for posting and take care!!!
Going well here. How are you? Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching!
FYI, modifying the outside of the frame is a problem for the DOT for structural reasons. The outside should always have a factory appearance. Always weld your plates on the inside of the frame.
Due to crossmembers and other structure, I didn't have as much room for large plates. But that is good advice... more "covert" to put on the inside.
This is going to be a cool truck when you get it finished. That part seemed to go smooth! Take care
Thanks for watching! Yes, it was easier than I thought. I need to double check all my welds, especially the overhead welds on the bottom of the diamond splice.
Wonderful job! Hope I didn’t make you mad about the blocks, I’m not a safety freak by any means but wood blocks are much safer! Everything looked really nice and aligned from what I could tell, the length I think will be nice too! Take care!
No, not at all! I'm just picking at you. It's all I had, but you are absolutely right. I do plan on getting some extra jackstands and big shop stands as well. I'm planning on it, but my wallet is hiding...
@@FabbedFun just don’t want you getting hurt. If you could find some scrap 6x6 posts from a pole barn project or something would be nice. They work great for crib blocks.
Hi just caught your video this morning…I’m anticipating a similar frame shortening on a 96 L7000 with the longest frame I’ve seen …however I’m considering just unbolting the rear axel and spring mounts and redrilling the frame to accept the new position…had you considered that as opposed to welding ?
I did consider it... But didn't have room in the barn to be able to put the tractor up and use it to move the axle on my small concrete area. If you have the right environment to do it, I think that would be the absolute best possible way to go. Also, getting the first hole drilled lets you make a template for drilling all the other holes (make a rod with a hole as a guide at one end, a bolt at the other... slip the bolt in the old hole and the front hole should be positioned the same distance forward that you'll need) Thanks for watching... will you video your build?
Why would you cut the frame in the middle instead of cutting the leaf spring mount rivets and just roll the rear end forward? Then cut the end of the frame off, redrill the holes for the leaf spring mounts.
I think, if I were to do it again, I would try your method. However, some of these C-series medium duty trucks have a slightly different frame shape near the leaf spring's rear mount. I didn't know if that would throw me off. Bigger trucks (and probably some newer ones) have straight frame rails. Great comment! Thanks for watching!
Why stick not wire ?
I have more practice with stick... and my wire welder is too small. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I got a question. After cutting it what all did u do to make sure the frame was straight? I have a truck I wanna cut in half because of rust and weld a new back half on
Find a common point that's symmetrical to each frame rail in front of and behind the cut, measure off of the first point to the second point and compare sides. It's probably better to grind the long side to clean up any "high" spots that keep the frame from coming together in an equal manner. Fortunately for me, I was only about 1/16" off and just rolled with it. No issues driving down the road straight. Well, none of my roads are straight anyway haha! Thanks for watching.
What engine and transmission are in this GMC?
Gas 366 V8 with a factory Holley carb, 5 speed transmission (I believe it is a Clark with Reverse top left). Thanks for watching and commenting!
curious why cut frame vs moving up, sold last project truck an picking up a gmc 6500 sunday, first object is shorten it, i went older vs newer, see if that bites me later
I was afraid I wouldn't get all the holes cut right. Frame seemed simpler to cut and weld., fish plate, weld, double frame. Moving the axle is probably more "appropriate" for most, though.
@@FabbedFun mines a tandem if we like what we see an buy, im gonna measue an rent or buy a mag drill an move, i want short for pulling my car hauler an build more western hauler bed
@@bigjim11566 I expect video and a link in the future!
@@FabbedFun back to the hunt, just drove almost 4hr to see trk an guy wasnt there, seen trk, but no one to talk to, waited trying to get him for 2.5hr
Looks like if you where going to cut and weld a frame and show the entire world you would do it the correct way/ just sayin
You're a bigger fan of the z cut? I've had a few say they prefer that but I knew I'd have enough redundancy that it wouldn't matter.
You sectioned a frame without even doing it on a 45? Wrong dude. Not even legal where I come from.
Legal/Illegal is not necessarily right and good/bad and wrong. But I guess that dabbles in political topics... Anyway, yeah... that's why I added a fish plate and then reinforced with bolted on sections of additional truck frame. It is a weld reinforced by another layer of overlapping steel and weld at different angles, reinforced by G8 bolts and additional steel. I think I'm okay. Beverage trucks for YEARS have been cutting out sections of frame, dropping at a 90, turning another 90, and running mild steel C-channel back to another set of 90s that connects back to the original frame. If I'm not legal, no similarly-modded beverage truck on the road is legal. They are aftermarket straight frame cuts and welds. Once I started getting a close look at professional frame mods done across the transportation industry, I realized my little GMC would be just fine. If you do it differently or better, great. You can't be too safe or too strong. Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@FabbedFun It's funny I came across your video after someone said I was doing a frame job wrong on my video lol. You can check it out if you want on my channel. I did it with a torch and a mig. Cut 21 inches out of the frame and mounted the box all in one day.
Your truck will likely be fine, its just proper form to always do it on a 45, even with fish plates. Cheers keep on fabbin, it looks good.
Nice job and video editing. I to have gotten many comments on my "straight" cuts vs. "Z" cuts . Their comments, I believe are originated from what looks cooler. Also there is the fact that an angle cut and weld will have more surface area (length) than a straight one. However, I personally have always done straight cuts and never experienced any trouble whatsoever. I have also done and seen done by others, frame splicing with no fish plating at all on trucks that regularly gross 100,000 lbs. If the weld is good, done with the proper rod and processes and attention payed to dynamic truck loading characteristics, the straight cut is a great choice all the way around. But I will say that an angle cut is mighty pretty, kinda like chrome stacks! Good luck with your build.
@@turbo1438 where I live it is law. Period. Not allowed straight frame cuts because it is stronger on a 45. Period end of story.
@@EliteTruckRepairs I don't care