What do you do when you do not trust the welds?

[Keeper]

After cutting off all the brackets that were installed by the previous builder, I just find that I do not trust any of the work that had been done. The frame was supposedly "Professionally welded" by the person I bought it from. Well the more I look at them the more I do not trust them.

So whats the best option? Besides buying a new frame that is.

Cut out, bevel and re-weld?

Leave the welds and cut stiffening plates and weld the inside the frame?

Any other options out there?

 

[VegasBruce]

Depending on how bad they are, I'd cut a nice sized groove in them and reweld. If they are really bad, like you said cut them back out and start from scratch. I could give a better answer with some pics. Lets see them.

 

[Screaming Metal]

After cutting off all the brackets that were installed by the previous builder, I just find that I do not trust any of the work that had been done. The frame was supposedly "Professionally welded" by the person I bought it from. Well the more I look at them the more I do not trust them.

So whats the best option? Besides buying a new frame that is.

Cut out, bevel and re-weld?

Leave the welds and cut stiffening plates and weld the inside the frame?

Any other options out there?

Yes....find yourself a competent professional welder, if you can't do it yourself. Alot of the time when I have to redo a job someone did just trying to get the job done and it doesn't kill someone and just breaks....alot of the time I can turn up the heat, after massaging the bad weld with a 4 1/2 disc grinder with a slicing wheel, I can 'burn in' that bad weld....remelting the poor one that was there, getting all the pinholes out and making it stronger than before. But, there's a art to it....if your not experiences....don't try it on something critical, like a frame, ot your suspension mounts. Only have a experience professional do this....

Like the guy that taught me, he said, "You'll find that there are alot of welders but there are few folks that know how to weld.....If you are smart enough to think about it and know the difference, your ready to learn to be a good welder...."

 

[Lowrollerchevy]

grind the welds all the way back to original metal and reweld. just leave a "tack" every 6 or 8 inches to keep everything together and give the frae to someone who can run strong passes

its really not THAT hard to lay a strong bead. im not the worlds best welder and ive used 2" wide lifting lugs to lift TONS of material before, including lifts that wind up bending the tabs over at a 45* .... which would break a weak weld

on one job after i had welded a bunch of lifting lugs on a piece, the boss asked me if it was strong, i said yes. he then asked me if i would trust them enough to stand under the unit after it was lifted in teh air, and i said no

he gave me a puzzled look and asked me why the hell not ... and i responded with "because i dont trust your chains as much as i trust my welds."

 

[Keeper]

I am just tacking the critical mounts in. I can weld but I do not have enough experience at this time to trust myself with the frame/suspension stuff. I will get the sandblaster out this weekend and clean off the primer off the welds on the frame to take a better look and snap some photos.

I just remember as I was grinding off the mounts that the welds looked cold, like they were welded with a 110 90amp welder, the frame welds were ground down so its hard to judge whats under the paint. The more I think about it the more I think I will reweld them.

Just glad I came to this realization prior to something breaking at an inopportune time!

 

[chopfather]

you are so right screamiong metal. i give welding tests where i work and i have found that one in twenty can pass the test
i think if i questioned somebody elses weld i would just cut it apart and start from scratch cuz that persons
weld will be in the back of my mind as im passin a car and that guy thinks i wanna race and im doin 70 to get around him.
but thats just what i would do

 

[Lowrollerchevy]

I can 'burn in' that bad weld....remelting the poor one that was there, getting all the pinholes out and making it stronger than before. But, there's a art to it....

yes, theres very definitely an art to this. ive seen many MANY "trained welders" create a bigger mess by doing this.

i think we can also agree that its a technique thats best left as a last resort, any place that can be fully ground out should be. that little extra time with a grinder will make it that much easier for the welder to do his job properly

 

[Keeper]

Okay I did not get a chance to get the sandblaster out to clean things up (I had to fix the steering on my truck that the wife messed up!), but I did take some pics. Even without cleaning the primer off they show pretty bad

They are not the best pics but I will get some better ones once I clean them off.

 

[Wild Mango]

Okay I did not get a chance to get the sandblaster out to clean things up (I had to fix the steering on my truck that the wife messed up!), but I did take some pics. Even without cleaning the primer off they show pretty bad

They are not the best pics but I will get some better ones once I clean them off.

Yep, see what you mean, that bottom pic is a lousy vertical down if I ever saw one. Don't trust it at all, we are thin enough on the ground as it is.
As the Screamer says, grind it out with your 4" grinder and re weld it. Beginner weldors usually find it easier to weld everything downhand, a thing like a bucket chassis is not too heavy to move about so all the welds are downhand. You'll find professional weldors will plan work to maximise the downhand opportunities as well, its easier and faster.
Not many people manage to teach themselves welding and attain a good standard, it's something you really need an expert teacher for advice and critique.

 

[blownt]

The bottom photo is not very pretty. Vertical and overhead welds are not easy for beginner or novice welders. One easy way around it would be to lay the frame on its side. Then the vertical weld becomes a much easier to make horizontal weld. That applies to all welds - rotate the work to make for easy access and as much of a horizontal weld as possible.

 

[Keeper]

The bottom photo is not very pretty. Vertical and overhead welds are not easy for beginner or novice welders. One easy way around it would be to lay the frame on its side. Then the vertical weld becomes a much easier to make horizontal weld. That applies to all welds - rotate the work to make for easy access and as much of a horizontal weld as possible.

I have a sneaky suspicion that all the other welds looked just like that prior to him grinding them down. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I can get to it. Have to finish up some honey do projects prior to getting back in the garage.

My frame is bare so I can flip it any which way I need to, to make everything a horizontal weld.

 

[Screaming Metal]

I'm a wrench...but I like to fool around some....we got this altered frame back once....I tuned it and was getting everything set....told the guys I was gonna take it for a spineveryone stopped what they were doing to watch me.

Got up to the line, sat there about 10 seconds, brake on, pulled the air shifter lever back, brought it up about 1/4 throttle, flipped the shifter.....All I saw was sky and I felt it load the wheelie bars, eased outta it...heard rubber squaling as the body sat down on top the slicks.

The guy at the chassis shop didn't weld the rearend brackets 100%,,,,,,I'd snatced them loose.....everyones eyes got really big.....I believe I soiled my fresh laundry!

 

[Screaming Metal]

I'm a wrench...but I like to fool around some....we got this altered frame back once....I tuned it and was getting everything set....told the guys I was gonna take it for a spin. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch me.

Got up to the line, sat there about 10 seconds, brake on, pulled the air shifter lever back, brought it up about 1/4 throttle, flipped the shifter.....All I saw was sky and I felt it load the wheelie bars, eased outta it...heard rubber squaling as the body sat down on top the slicks.

The guy at the chassis shop didn't weld the rearend brackets 100%,,,,,,I'd snatced them loose.....everyones eyes got really big.....I believe I soiled my fresh laundry!