109 chassis work.

[Tom Santoli]

I've finally been able to spend some time assessing the chassis on the Series III 109 I bought last month and have also removed the fuel tank. As I could tell from behind the truck, the rear cross member is rotted pretty thuroughly; the rot extends to just ahead of the rear spring shackle mounts.

Can this repair be done without removing the rear body?

I can weld alright but am leary about taking this repair on myself due to a lack of time and garage space; how do I find someone that can do this type of work? Does anyone know of a shop in eastern PA that could do this work?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Tom

[thixon]

You can remove the tub easily enough. Of course, you'll have to pull the roof as well. This can be done in an afternoon by enticing a friend to help with the beer of his choice.

I can't tell exactly where the rust extends to by what you wrote. If you mean it stops at the rear bumber side of the shackle mount, then thats good. If it extends past the shackle mount (which is what I think you mean), then thats more of a pain. That means the rear springs must come off (at the back anyway).

You should be able to find a local welder to do this, but once everything is out of the way, I think you'll see it won't be that daunting (you did say you could weld).

Good luck.

[SafeAirOne]

When I first pulled the floormat out of the rear of my 109 I noticed the 2 factory access panels for the fuel tank fittings and 2 other plates neatly rivited on the left and right rear part of the floor.

It took me a while to figure out that some previous owner in the UK cut 2 access holes in the floor of the bed to weld the topside of a rear quarter chassis on. The panels are fairly neat and undetectible under the huge rubber mat back there.

I suppose that's one way to do it...

[thixon]

When I first pulled the floormat out of the rear of my 109 I noticed the 2 factory access panels for the fuel tank fittings and 2 other plates neatly rivited on the left and right rear part of the floor.

It took me a while to figure out that some previous owner in the UK cut 2 access holes in the floor of the bed to weld the topside of a rear quarter chassis on. The panels are fairly neat and undetectible under the huge rubber mat back there.

I suppose that's one way to do it...

Or...you could take the above route. Which I like!

[Tom Santoli]

Thanks,

The rot extends to a point 2-4 inches forward of the passenger side rear spring shackle mount; on the driver side, it stops just about where the shackle mount is.

I suspect I could make the repair but just can't see having the time to do so. When I was younger, I had plenty of time and no money for this type of thing and now it seems to be the opposite; I've got the dough but time is at a premium. Sad.

I see rear cross members available with 18inch extensions, I think these are for 88" trucks, correct? Are similar pieces available for 109s?

Thanks again,

Tom

[greenmeanie]

When I did this on a 110 back in the UK I left the tub on initially so that I could use it as a jig.

I put the truck up on stands and took a lot of measurements to determine the position of the body. It helps to have another truck for reference measurements just to confirm yours is straight. I then cut the rotted section out. With that done I put the new section in and bolted it up to the tabs on the rear of the body, took a lot of measurements to make sure everything was where it should be and then applied some tack welds. Finally I loosened the body mounts, jacked the tub up a fair bit and made the final welds. It worked well although access to the top welds was still a pain.

Cheers
Gregor