Need some welding advice

MountaineerTom · May 26, 2002

First off, I know very little about welding.

I want to weld the strip on steel attached to the bottom of the frame to the front step rail bracket that is in the pic below. Both are 1/4 inch. I talked to a guy at a local garage that was going to do it, but he was under the impression that it was much thinner metal. When he looked at it, he said he didn't think he could do it like it should be. He said the welder they had was a 110 and it wouldn't penetrate the metal very well since it was pretty thick and using a 220 would be better. (I assumed he meant 110 volts vs. 220 volts.) He offered to do it, but didn't think it would hold up well. This was at the only garage that was open on the the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, so I wasn't able to check anywhere else.

Does this sound right? Just wanted to check.

Here's the pic.

I havn't decided on exactly where I'm going to have the two pieces welded together yet, but I got to make sure I have enought room to access the cab bolts and step rail bolts. Probably bend it and have it welded right to the open side of the bracket.

A few more notes about the pic and what I did to the bracket.

- The top of the original hole was where the bottom of the bracket is now. I cut it off so I didn't have the extra metal hanging down from the step rails. That was as high as I could go with drilling a new hole to raise the step rails, because of the cab bolt and step rail mounting bolt being too close together if I went higher.

- Notice I had to trim/round out a little off the body mount bracket (the part that the body lift block/mount sits on) so the top part of the step rail didn't hit it when tightened down.

- The metal strip is 1/4 x 1 1/2 inch steel. A little narrower than the brace from Westin, but thicker.

The rear was pretty easy. I just redrilled a new hole higher on the steprail bracket, cut the extra part off, and had to drill a new hole in the mount coming off the frame for the rear support brace.

MarkD · May 27, 2002

Tom,

I don't think we are supposed to weld to our frame. Something about being hydroformed/heat treated.

I know that your can't weld to the frame on our Kenworth w/out ruining it.

MountaineerTom · May 27, 2002

No, no. Nothing will be welded to the actual frame. The metal strip is held to the bottom of the frame by the bolt that drops through it (on the left side of the pic). The step rail mounting bracket is the piece that the body mount bolt goes through. I want to weld those two pieces together.

MountaineerTom · May 27, 2002

I forgat to add, I had some professional help doing some filing for me after I cut the brackets. ;)

Jpshostr · May 28, 2002

Yes, 220 does give better welds, but if the guy knows what he is doing 110 shouldn't be a problem. My welder is a 110V and I've used it in many situations on our farm machinery that are much more demanding then what you are wanting to do, I wouldn't be scared of it. Granted, I have a pretty decent amount of experience with a welder, but I wouldn't be afraid at all to take mine to that.

MountaineerTom · May 28, 2002

I don't think I'm going to let the guy I spoke with do it, just for the fact that he didn't seem to confident in it working, so why should i feel confident in him doing it? ???

I'll find another place that can do it when I get back from leave.

May 29, 2002

I would have it TiG'd or MiG'd by a pro. That metal does appear to be fairly thin and unless you want it to come loose at THE WORST possible time, have a pro shop do it.

Welding isn't usually that expensive if you have everything in place and the welder can put it on his bench. If he has to crawl under your truck to do it, he'll charge more.

illmac77 · May 29, 2002

Tom, do you know any buddys at work that are welders, i know being in the military and a welder im always doing some type of favor for people. i would go with tig welding it but you can stick or mig weld it if need be. all you need is enough heat to get good penatration 110v should be fine but im not sure since my mig, tig and stick welders runs off 220v, if you were closer to new orleans i'd hook you up from what i seen in the pics it shouldn't take long at all so it shouldn't be expensive

DuckhunterInTN · May 31, 2002

My 110 volt wire feed welder is rated for up to 1/4" steel on a single pass, so welding that should be no problem, and as long as it is not like 1/16" thick it should not be too thin to weld. Find a decent welding shop and they should hook you up no problem....you might even try running by the local high school and getting the shop/ag teacher to do it for you.

mikeb · June 2, 2002

I've done a lot of welding and you're best bet would be to tig weld it. Probably the cheapest place to get it welded is at a muffler shop with a mig welder, all they do is weld thin stuff all day long shouldn't be a problem for them at all. Shouldn't cost more than $10

alsz71 · June 11, 2002

With proper prep work you could weld almost anything with a household current "buzz box" welder Tig weldingg is THE BEST weld out there any welder worth anything will tell you this because it's true, although not anyone can TIG as it does take a considerable amount of skill and experince to make a nice job I would say that for this application someone with a little skill with 7018 stick would have no problem doing this for you.If I was closer to you I'd have you come to the shop and zip it up for you for a pop. As for the hydroformed rails with proper pre heating and post heating and using the proper rod welding would not be a problem on it after all there are already parts welded to it.

I just recently completed my second year of welding apprenticship and am due to become a journyman later this year so this stuff is still fresh in my head.

Also the welders I use at the shop run on 480 volt 3 phase system. But 110 v will work with proper prepworkand fit up and a little more patience.