Spray Foam Strengthened Pickup Frame

Spray Foam Strengthened Pickup Frame PICKUPS Miscellaneous 34-4-31 Michael Gilbert strengthened the frame of his aging 1981 Toyota pickup with half a dozen cans of Great Stuffé polyurethane foam sealant. The Marblemount, Wash., farmer got the idea when he noticed how strong the sealant's straw applicator was when it had foam in it after being used. He needed to add strength to his 4-WD SR5 after he revamped the bed to make it a hydraulic-powered dump bed. He started using it to haul gravel and other heavy loads. "When I went over bumps, I could feel the load twisting," he says. Gilbert blew out the truck's hollow frame with an air compressor and duct taped most of the holes shut, then sprayed the expanding foam inside. He filled both sides and the crosspieces with about six cans. After the foam dried he cut off the excess that poked through the holes and sprayed the frame with black enamel paint. "It really stiffened the frame," Gilbert says. "The foam absorbs a lot of road noise too, and it keeps dirt and water out." He's used his foam-framed truck for five years and says it hasn't rusted, which he also attributes to the foam. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Michael Gilbert, P.O. Box 15, Marblemount, Wash. 98267 (ph 360 873-2301).

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