i-beam tips.!

[<Rancimo322]

Hey guys, so i bent my beam and
I was wondering what tips/tricks you old timers
Can share that can aid me in said mission...
Besides whats in the chilton. Thanx

[CWbronco]

Replace it? How'd you bend it, those things are tough.


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[fartman]

cheapest is to just replace what you bent from a junk yard, or you can upgrade to a solid axle but thats a little more $$$.

[JBfab]

Get a replacement and get a plate kit from one of the go fast companys. Once plated youll never have to deal with bending them again.

[Kingfish999]

really how did you bend it? ive bent only 2 and those were from jumping and getting some good air without any lift

Originally Posted by JBfab

Get a replacement and get a plate kit from one of the go fast companys. Once plated youll never have to deal with bending them again.

any recomendations? i should be doing that to mine but this is really the first i heard of a kit. only find beams already made like that

[JBfab]

Solo makes a plate kit, i wanna say southwest performance. Or do what im doing and save some dough. Look at a bunch of pictures of what others have done. Make cardboard templates and go for it. If you can find a shop with a torch mate or similar take them metal and templates to them and have them cut out. I have a buddy who can sneak me into his shop on sundays to have at it :-) Its nice knowing a welding inspector for a large company.

Heres a set of extended beams that was for sale on GFB, good referance pics of what could be done. Some dont go this far but gives you a good idea of where to start should you go at it yourself.
http://www.gofastbroncos.com/forum/v...hp?f=26&t=2202

[<Rancimo322]

Thanx ya'lll well i had originally thought i was my radius arm but after swaping that out i went out and got a second and third opinion from a 4x4 shop close by .A lil bend so the beam and axle rub now...
Im a broke as uff college student !! Ima shoot to a junk!! I just want
A good "safe" easy way Of doing all this and not spend a day there. Like "shot in the
Dark" but can i just unblot the beam at the center and pull out the
Whole beam, axle , hub and roter as one peice?? Also i didnt think i could
Weld plates on to the beams like that. Would i just be able to chop up
My old beam for this??? It seems better then the few $ for it as a core.
Ohh" and this one night coming home i ran into my parking spot a lil lil to fast
And bashed into one of those cement fill poles all up in my psngr side..
I was still getting use the full size of this beast.

[Kingfish999]

ya you can pull the whole beam with radius arm. but its difficult to put back in the same way. if you can unbolt the radius arm bracket and it will really help alot.

pics of the dmaged axle? it took nailing a half exposed cement pad doing 30mph offroad and it didnt even damage the axle, jsut bent the engine crossmember quite bad

[Steve83]

Click this & read the captions:



These may also interest you:

. .

[<Rancimo322]

Steve 83. These pix will be extreamly helpful thnx!!! im hoping ill luck sack
This job. The last time i was up at the junk i saw 2 late 90s with there psgnr
U-joints gone. Hopfully they still there and i can just pull the beam and axle
And save all the hard work for when i swwap it in. Also need to pull a
Exhasut , a few relays and a thicker steering wheel. Not really a fan of cc
+ none of mye bottons work not even my hore. Ill also flash a
Few pix when i head out.

[Steve83]

ths nt txtg; s dxn 4m use hole wrdz n ck ur splg plz maks ezr 4 ev1 2 red

[JBfab]

Do any of your buttons work? It might not be the wheel, could be the clock spring located under the wheel. There know for going bad and i believe there was a recall on some way back when.

[<Rancimo322]

My fingers are to fat for my phone, but ill take the advise. jb fab if I were to chop chop my old beam what dimensions do I use? Is wieght an issue??

[<Rancimo322]

Originally Posted by JBfab

Do any of your buttons work? It might not be the wheel, could be the clock spring located under the wheel. There know for going bad and i believe there was a recall on some way back when.

Buttons? Are you talking about auto hubs?

[GetBent4x4]

beams are actually really easy to bend, they are junk like the rest of the axle setup on these trucks.

[Billy89EB]

solid axle swap now and forever

[JBfab]

You could use peices of your old beam for plating on a new beam. By buttons i mean horn, cruise etc. if your cruise and horn dont work but the fuses and wiring is all good it might be a bad clock spring. Did you check out the link i posted above? Thats what a well plated i beam looks like. Some dont go that crazy but look at that one and as many as you can put your eyes on and go from there. I plating mine in some key areas and also added a front brace. Its all matter of how far you wanna take it.

[<Rancimo322]

Originally Posted by JBfab

You could use peices of your old beam for plating on a new beam. By buttons i mean horn, cruise etc. if your cruise and horn dont work but the fuses and wiring is all good it might be a bad clock spring. Did you check out the link i posted above? Thats what a well plated i beam looks like. Some dont go that crazy but look at that one and as many as you can put your eyes on and go from there. I plating mine in some key areas and also added a front brace. Its all matter of how far you wanna take it.

Truck boat truck didnt come with a working horn, all the buttons where bunk.
I unhooked all that till I got a replacement.

[Kingfish999]

if this truck never sees offroad, there really no point in welding plates on them. jsut learn to drive it and ull be fine