Ya so that weld is a little on the sad side. Anyway it is in there now. Live with it and go forward if it breaks you know where not to take it.

 

i couldn't have said it better my self...
it looks like a wire feed weld which i would not have done
by the i am a retired boilermaker welder, i have welded tig, mig ,stick, on boilers( pressure welds) and support steel of all configurations ... all had to be certified asme code

 

I'd be leary of doing any welding on a frame aft of the front spring perch or forward of the rearmost rear spring perch. Especially on these frames. I'm not sure if this frame was hydroformed or not, but I do recall these frames at one time were very prone to cracking, and also very particular about what welding processes and materials were to be used. But really, the first part of my statement is the more important. The frame areas I said I would be leary of welding on (most of it) is what carries the load of the truck and its contents. Your life depends on it being right. But I am very cautious safety wise, and if I am not sure about something, I err on the side of caution. And somehow I still manage to hurt myself once in a while.

 

Funny,I've never had ANY weld that I've made,stick or mig fail,I guess that the welders that had tryed to weld it together before I got there just sucked REAL bad.

He'd have been better off getting a good weld with a mig,rather than trying to weld it with 7018....it needs to be **** clean for both 7018 and mig.
6011 is good stuff for that kinda welding,ugly,but it works.

I think the weld will hold,you were driving it without even knowing that it was broken,could not have been that bad.

(keep in mind I don't know much,I've only burned a couple hundred pounds of rod)

 

I've burned a few pounds myself. I just didn't burn 'em on Dodge Ram frames. No lack of confidence in my welding or yours, just a lack of knowledge of the properties of the metal used in these frames. Do you know the material they're made of? I don't, but I would want to be sure I did before I bet my life on my work.

 

I don't know for sure,for all I know we should use bronze or something,but it looks "ok" I would bet,but not anyones life.
He was driving it broken,so I'm guessing that most likely as long as he looks every now and then for cracks he should be fine.

 

I think you will be fine, just keep an eye on it.

FLEX , some metals can, some can't. I'm no expert but If I remember right they are nickel plated.

Whenever possible, you are better off to drill, plate and bolt on chassis. That area is a doozy to try that. I've been working on my chassis the last few days and if you notice, The crossmembers are held with drilled holes and rivets. The spring hargers are rivets not welds. There is even a section connected with rivets around the fuel tank that looks like they either used a short section for short wheel base and a longer section for long wheelbase.

Good luck.

 

6011 is an absolute taboo on frames. It is never used on a dynamic load.

 

I tig/mig welded for Eastern airlines for 10yrs.,mostly titanium and aluminum, but that weld looks scary, I'd keep an eye ball on it.

 

That's

Dad flew the '9 for Eastern for many years, when there was such a thing... I bet my brother and I were the only teenagers to take checkrides on the JFK-SRQ run!

 

he was driving with it completely broken and didn't even know it. i'm skeptical that if the weld cracks he is putting anyone in danger.