My Sky Jacker trac bar drop down bracket keeps on loosening itself up so I've decided to weld it to the frame. My buddy has an arch and tig welder. Which one would be better? We have done some welding in the past, but not much to brag about. If we decide to use the arch, how hot should we get it and which size rods would be best? The welds are only going to be 2-3 inches long (against the 1/4" thick bracket) to the frame. Also, would it be smart to unhook the batteries before hand? Thanks for any info.

 

TIG would be better. You have more leeway on burnthrough. I haven't done that specific weld yet but as long as you clean the area REAL good, tack it in a few spots, check for alignment then stitch it the rest of the way. you should be able to get a good hold with no warping.
ALWAYS disconnect before you stike any arc! Probably overkill but I always unplug the comp and pull the radio fuse. But I'm paranoid about extra electricity going where it shouldn't.

 

use the tig on about 140amps you wont hurt anything if u dont unhook batteries but still thats 5 min for alot of insurance im a certified welder just incase you was wondering pulling fuses wont help anyways everything will still be grounded to the truck just pull batt. cables and weld away just watch burnthrough

 

Your buddy has both of those welders and doesnt know which would be better? Ask him if he wants to sell the tig setup for me if you will.

 

Well we ended up using a mig welder instead. Unplugged the battery cables and put a couple of real thick, strong beads on there and voila, the bracket no longer moves. We also found out that the driver side ball joints are shot and passenger hub is shot.

 

Now just keep an eye on that welded spot to watch for frame cracking around it.

chaikwa.

 

shoulda welded the ball joints too
I just changed mine last week end (pain)

 

The thought did cross our mind to weld his whole front end into one solid piece.

 

Did you keep the bolts in with the welds? I am sure you did. A guy at Four Wheel Parts here in Indy fixed his Death Wobble by welding huge tie rod ends off a combine too a huge bolt he welded an reinforced off the frame. It looks nice and beefy and he has no more wobble.

 

Bolts stayed in. We even put a tack weld on the bolt to the washer and the washer to the bracket and the nut to the bracket. That bolt ain't loosening up anytime soon (nor tightening any time soon).

 

Unhooking the batteries is a good idea but it is more important to have the ground close to what you are welding.

 

We grounded the mig on the frame right next to the bracket. We were just being careful by unhooking the batteries to aviod electrical problems.

 

That why *I* would use a TORCH to weld something like this. The torch has a larger HAZ (heat affected zone), but this means the weld anneals better, and is much less prone to cracking.


There's a REASON that torch welding is so preferred in critical areas like 4130 chromoly tubing for light aircraft. If you need a reliable welds, torch is very good.

 

3/32 7018 at about 80 amps

 

Aint it amazin what you find when you crawl under there
I try to get all my vehicles in the air at least twice a year in the garage...and much more then that in the wide open Touch up rust starts, tighten things , look for leaks. When my wife had a Ferd Aerostar I got under it one spring and couldn't figure out what looked different, until I went to pull out and grabbed for the spare it was gone. I'm glad I wasn't behind her when it came off. I've gone deep sea fishing with bigger wire then was holding that donut up to the underbody.