kenworth frame rail

[k whopper]

are kenworth frame rails known for cracking i just found a crack on my 2000 w9 driver side behind the front spring hanger. will this be a costly fix or will the rail need replacing

[truckmechanic]

Pretty common for all trucks frame to crack I know kenwort frames were common to crack on the earlier 8 bag suspension behind the lower arm frame mounts.it would be better to replace the rail but it can be fixed. I would take it to a shop that stretches frames if it were me I would repair the crack on the frame and the at minimum sleeve the frame it would not be wize to try and gals ##### it not worth your life or anyone else's in my eyes just my .02

[RHay]

Seems to be really common on the W900. the crack usually starts on the bottom flange of the frame where the shackle bracket is riveted on. What we do is get a set of shackle brackets for a k100 and use those instead of the w900 brackets. this gets rid of having the rivet in the bottom flange of the frame. We jack it all up so the frame comes back together and then vee out the crack and weld it up. We next get a length of frame rail and cut the bottom flange off and run it inside the old frame from the very front to right in front of the rear engine mounts. drill any holes you see in the original frame and bolt it all together. sometimes we add a couple holes if we don't think there is enough. then put it back together with the k100 shackle brackets and have never had one rebreak.
The w900's are known for cracking in this spot and often times goes unnoticed because the power steering resivoire hids the crack

[k whopper]

thanks thats what we ended up doing to it just like you said

[MNdriver]

how think is the rails on your W9.

I pulled in my Century for a 50,000 mile semi-annual today.

Just behind the cab mount on the drivers side, we found a crack just like you describe.

I have a 1/4" thick rail.