I would do the bottom of the frame with plate too. The majority of the strain is going to be vertical if you put any weight on that thing.

 

those welds look like ***. either you didnt have enough heat, or the feed rate was too fast.

thats of course if you were using a mig welder.

if i were you, id grind those welds down, and check em, and re-weld as necessary, and then plate the frame, and/or box it.

 

Looks to me like he was running out of argon.

 

+1 on grinding to check and reweld as necessary, and boxing. Need a good full pen weld.

 

or he was using the wrong shield gas...or just forgot to turn the gas on.

maybe using one of those cheap wire feeds that use coated wire...(they suck)

or he was using CO2 instead of argon...

my buddy uses CO2 with his mig welder...it sucks as a shield gas...though it does work good using both CO2 + coated wire.

but bare wire + co2 = crap welds. argon is definitely needed with bare wire to make a nice weld...


also does not look like he prepped the weld area...rust is not a good conductor...gotta sand it down to bare metal before welding.

 

Thanks for all the opinions on the welds, we are still planning on plating it so that will help too.
I dropped off my driveshaft today, my new one should be ready Thursday or Friday.

 

that's why ya posted it right?! opinions from the peanut gallery?!

 

I didn't mean to sound sarcastic about that, I was trying to say that I read all the opinions and I've thought about all of them. I just wanted to update about ordering my driveshaft but wanted to throw in that I did read all the replys about the welds and didn't just ignore them

 

Sorry Hiusmell,

You have an accident waiting to happen. It won't matter with plating on the inside of the frame (your plan) or even on the bottom (QCL). You have incomplete welds over the entire length. Unfortunately, it started out with an improper cut with the right angles in there. I understand you were working around the existing brackets. It would have been more appropriate to cut the brackets off, flush to the frame, to reuse them.

Those right angles in the existing frame are corners that become stress concentrations. They become the root of cracks that will then tear the frame. Adding the plating will only slow it down. If the weld technique used as shown in the pictures is done on the plating, then it's all for nothing.

The FSM for our trucks actually has an example of frame repair like this. You could at least follow that. Another method is having the plating in fishplate pattern.

It's very hard to gauge by the pictures, but I'm venturing you are using an underpowered welder and it's flux core. Flux core is NOT bad when used properly. That is applicable to any wire feed/gas setup. I suggest you recheck the machine's settings for the thickness, which is 1/8" on the web. Make sure your POLARITY is correct for the type of wire assuming it has the option of running flux core or solid+gas. The polarity is not the same for both. Welding vertical is a very particular technique. Go to the following website for some helpful information and good demonstrations.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/



The most highly stressed thing to do when welding is to make the parts to be joined as clean as possible. This is the only thing Jigabop is accurate about in his comments. Use an angle grinder with a flap wheel for the quickest and best results.

My recommendation going forward is to cut out that section again. Remove the adjacent brackets. Get some 2"x8" square tube or C-channel. The C-channel can fit on the inside b/c the frame is open. Make it extend no less than 4" either side of the joint. Then add a crossmember where there is room. Use something simple like 2x2 square tube or round minimum 3/16" thickness.

The only nice welds are ones done with CLEAN joints, proper technique, and a machine capable of the material thickness. There is most definitely not enough heat put in. That is the clearest feature.

These comments from myself and others are in the interest of preventing an major accident to yourself and others. Please consider them seriously and take action.

You don't want to be on this other thread:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/gener...hack-jobs.html

You want to strive for things like this:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/shop-...ld-thread.html


I'm not suggesting you become the ultimate welder over night. I'm very far from it myself. Take the time to improve with practice before putting it onto a moving vehicle....please. I apologize if this comes off flaming....but consider it constructive.

 

I could browse through those threads all night.....