Freightliner stepping away from cracked frame rail.

Thank you!

I've been at home in NC since Wednesday when I put the truck in the shop to get an oil leak fixed and two brake hoses repaired. Seems that it was a good week to be off the road.


You know, it just occurred to me that there is an attorney on staff at the carrier that you're leased on to. I'm sure that he'd be happy to offer his opinion on this matter, and it would be much more useful than opinions that you'd get from any of us. Especially since liability with respect to compliance of the O/Os would roll back uphill onto the carrier if there was ever an issue going forward.

 

May even be a source of financing a compliant repair, if funding is the reason to not do it.

 

After reading further I seen where you said you had experienced frame guys do the work. Did they relieve the stress on the crack, clean it and clean it out then fill the crack by welding? If not and they just layed a bead of weld over the crack, I'm willing to bet its already cracked. But being they are experienced they most likely did it the right way.

@windsmith..... I can now see why you are so obsessed with the manufacturers recommendations.... most mechanics are cause all they are taught is how to replace, not how to repair.

 

And the good ones understand that in some cases, while repair may be less costly and time consuming, replacement is the only way to repair something correctly - and be legal.

 

What is the official stance of the manufacturer? What is their written policy on frame repairs? That written guidance is the only repair that you are allowed to make to the frame. Any other repair would make it non compliant.

 

So you're a part of the 'everyone is doing it so it must be right' crowd?

I don't know how many different ways I can re-state it. According to 393.136(d), your welded repair is compliant provided that Freightliner recommends that type of repair. And you've already stated that Freightliner recommends a different type of repair.

 

If it were me, I'd pin them down and get an official written response from corporate or a repair estimate from a few of their dealers.