Bad News About the Build

Well, I was gettin in to the nitty gritty of things today and ran into a problem.
I removed the bed and about 6 inches back from the cab, the frame has been cut and re-welded in what looks like a hack job of a shortened frame attempt. It looks like this frame was a long wheel base and someone decided to go short. Along with the crappy c-notch for the flipped axle, I'm not to comfortable putting over 500hp to the rear wheels of this frame.

The build is gonna have to wait until I find another suitable chassis.

Anyone know if an 81 will fit on an 88 frame? My buddy has one that he'll give me.

is it an 88box body or the round body that came out that year? if it is a box body it SHOULD fit. measure cab mounts and bed mounts to make sure. if its the rounded front im not sure that itll fit. ive seen a bunch of guys swap the 89-98 beds onto the box body frames but im unsure of the work done to make it work.

Thanks for the input. Not sure what body was on the 88 frame. It's just sitting off in the woods. I'll go take some measurements.

how hard is it to just z the frame and box it in that way your current frame is stronger? or why not just back half it since your going with a custom build. just curious i dont know exaclty what your looking at so a new frame may just be easier for you

I don't think they made a RV 1500 in 88. It would be an OBS frame and they are way different.

PM sent to you

put some pics of the poor welding job. is there no way to save the frame?

Have you considered posibbly backhalfing the rear with the s&w backhalf kit? It might save you a lot of money and time in your buildup.

Dude, it's just welding a frame, not rocket surgery. If you don't trust the job they did, take it to a professional welder and have them fix it. It's not terribly difficult.