I have a couple cracks in the frame where the sway bar bracket holes are drilled. A PO "fixed" the one on the drivers side but I want to redo it. I have a decent stick welder, will it be OK for the job or would you suggest something else??

 

Never hurts to reinforce stuff like that. I'd probably stick in a two inch tri-angled piece on either side of the hole to join the mount area at a 45.

 

What rod are you going to use? I would think 7018.

 

i'd use a wire feed, and turn the heat up, try to penetrate the meatl, to make the longest lasting hardest weld, if you use a stick use a 7018 like boatnik said, but still make sure to penetrate the steel! good luck, and be careful!

 

I always use a 6011 or 6010 rod for welding on a frame. The theory I have heard is to run welds at an angle or horizontal wherever possible. The two thoughts that I adhere to is to run a smaller diameter rod colder and do more passes to get the material build up. What you are trying to do is keep from overheating the frame material and chrystalizing it, thus making it brittle. Also skip welding is usually a better method of approach then long continuous welds when adding a patch or similar to the outside of the frame. One frame I welded on I did a root pass in a nicely ground groove with an 1/8" 6011. Then I capped the weld with a 7018 3/32" diameter rod. I ran two passes to cap it. That was on a frame splice though, not a reinforcement addition. If you are careful you won't have much trouble. The other thing that might help on a splice is to make your filler groove in the shape of a radius rather then a v groove. The v groove creates a stress point where it comes to a point. Almost all of this is probably more information then necessary to simply add a reinforcing piece of material to the outside of your frame.
-Greg

 

Don't ever use 6010 or 6011 on a frame, it's called farmer's rod for a reason. It is ment to hold two pieces of dirty metal together and is far to weak for frame repair. I would use 7018 as sated earlier and reinforce it with some plates the same thickness as the frame. You could also use 8018 but I have found that it is sometimes too brittle for this type of repair (a C channel frame that is meant to flex). Go with a small diameter rod like 3/32" or 1/8" so that you can contol it and get the heat as high as possible without cutting into the parent metal (the frame) to bad. Also be sure to clean the spot to be welded with a grinder before you start or you will just be wasting your time. You can also use an inner or outer shield wire feed welder if you have access to them and achive the same quality of weld as long as you use the same 70xx series wire. Hope that I could be of help, if you already did the repairs and you used 60xx series rod it may hold but if it doesn't you can always just grind it out and try again.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. Once I got a chance to look really good, I found more cracks. One on the passenger side and 5 or more on the drivers side, two of which are around the steering box. This is on the half-ton frame. I have decided to use the d250 frame and shorten it for the stepside bed. About as broad as it is long but I would rather have the heavier frame with no repairs around the steering system.

 

That sounds like a good idea to me.

I have always had better luck using stick welders than wire feeds. Never can get the wire feed welders hot enough to do more than exhaust work, and they arent much good at that even. I guess I like the control of the stick vs the wire; kinda like the manual vs auto tranny.

I have been told that humidity renders the low hydrogen qualities of the 7018 uselss, and that for most places outside AZ and NM, you need a rod oven. Any tuth to that? I see a LOT of people keeping 7018s in 90% humidity.

Daniel

 

they say not to because of heat treatment but i would pay a welder for an hour of his time and call it done if i wasn't a welder ... but if it was mine i would gind a grove in to it and run a hot pass 7018. then grind from the other side and run a hot pass allow it to cool slow! then grind flush. then round the corners of the peice u use for reinforcment (no sharp corners)use uphand and not down hand travel. only use stitches do not weld solid when reiforcing !!! 7018 3/32 would do it. use a dc machine not an ac! electrode positive... ground right close to your work... clean with a wire wheel first even grind to bare metal. good luck

 

no need for a rod oven unless you are going to weld heavy strutural or pipe ie 1/2 or greater and high carbon steel... just open a sealed box then keep in a dry place ... if they did come from a box that was open and not damaged use a tiger torch for 30 seconds to heat them up