1500 Silverado Stepside 4.3L Vortec 2000

Just discovered the rear crossmember over the differential has rusted/rotted apart. The Rear Shocks are hitting the bed at this point. I'll be removing the shocks so they don't got through the bed.

Does anyone know where I can find this part???

 

The same thing happened to the guy here named Wiked. Here's his thread on the same subject: https://www.truckforums.com/forum/ch...k-today-17131/

He fixed this by buying a new truck, but more than likely, you can pull the bed off and drive it over to a welding shop and have a new crossmember built and welded in.

 

I am not sure what the crossmember looks like on your your 2000 but on my 1995 I believe you should be able to grind the factory rivets off and get another one from the autowrecker . I would bolt the other one in using the old rivet holes but I would use a grade 8 bolt and maybe even take it to a qualified welder and have him tack weld it in a few spots as well. The very front crossmember on my 1986 chev was cracked around the factory rivets and I replaced it this way and its been holding out for the last 20 years.

 

you will have to do some serious welding and grinding but my whole frame was so bad me punching it knocked a hole into it

 

and its not a bolt on its welded directly to the frame.

you cant find a part because it is the frame. you will have to get a new frame or a new truck

 

Dont junk it yet
i know this is a dead thread but i finally diy repairs my rusted crossmember and it is not a bad job plus i guarantee my fix is stronger then factory first go buy yourself a pipe from a welding supply co. the dimension are 2.3/4 by 45.1/2

also i know the crossmember in your truck is arched it is not nessisary to be i used a straight pipe and its much stronger now heres the answer to one question i had before i did this job is the frame weekend without it , answer is yes with my pipe only a few inches threw one side i could easily twist my frame by hand was incredibly scary to think that i could have toasted my truck , now first thing first my truck i performed this on is a 99 silverado 1500 ext cab

lift your bed off i did this with two people we both put our arms together asif we were genies and placed them under each wheel well one person on each side is doable but yowl hurt in the morning the skirts of your bed are strong enough to place it on the ground or even just leave the front of the box leaning on the rear bumper without having to put blocks under the skirts won't cave , now remove whats left of your rusted crossmember mine just meant unbolting from shock and tossing it in the garage you will need to cut around the original welds of both the tank mount and the shock mount (sawzall) works best trust me tried a air cutter just vice and slice.
then grind the hell out of the outer edges get yourself a extremely clean welding surface exspessially if you suck at welding like me
get them nice and ready to put on new pipe now take your pipe and slide it threw the old pipe that is still intact threw the farm rails i used a 4ft maul for this its a tight squeeze but any smaller then 2.3/4 is to small and larger won't fit.
grind down the edges of the old crossmember weld your pipe in

again it will look like crap if your like me who cares
feel around where your shock will be most comfortable and also eyeball the other crossmember to make sure you get the mount welded in close to oem and mount your tank bracket as close to the tank as you can without killen yourself ( you are welding)
replace shock and strap your tank until you can get a new factory strap i assume its rusted out with your crossmember and slap your bed back on if you have any questions or need photos please feel free to reply to me i will try to do my best


i only wrote this and actually only joined this forum because i searched every where and found nobody with a solution or any help at all on repairing my old truck so i hope the next guy that searches finds this it was a 5 hour job flat with two guys you will need a 18mm to remove the underside bed bolts there are 4 each side and a extension to gget them out also reccomed impact to remove them i used a corded electric impact a cheap harbor freight one did the job fine. you can defiantly fix yours don't junk it yet





also thanks to my buddy dave.w if he finds this and thanks to dave.l for letting me use his garage and tools

 

Ummmm guy...this thread is 2 1/2 years old....I am sure he has it fixed or has junked it by now....Good info though

Welcome to the forum

 

^^ thank you but like i said i only wanted to drop the info somewhere being when i searched i could not find any help so its hear for the next guy who looks weather its dead or not somebody may stumble upon it threw google and have some light on the situation

 

Hey Justin thanks for the info I have an 03 Z71 I'm getting ready to do exactly what you just told me to. Thank you for the good info.

 

I know the thread is old and blah blah blah, but I appreciate the info.. about to do just that