Squeaky Penguin's (Trip Reports) Build Thread

Okay. So can you plate one side of it to make the sides even then plate over the joint??

 

That was just the initial pass to fill in the notch. Will grind it flat, fill in any low spots, and make some plates to go on the front and bottom faces.

FWIW, grinding that weld out, and then cutting into with the dremel, indicated there was a very poorly fused gap between those two pieces from the factory.

 

Shitty.

Good catch, though. I'm sure it'll be better than new when it's all said and done.

 

We'll see if this holds. Laying on the concrete and welding above your head is such a PITA. So more crappy looking welds. Still got the other side to knock out too.

 

Welding upside down sucks. High heat and as slow of wire speed as possible helps.

 

Before Image:

After Image: Now I know why you texted me.

Good Job

 

Yes, yes it is. Overhead welding is quite difficult.

 

I would rather do over head then vertical any day. I'm better at over head too. It's just dealing with burns. You get used to it after the first two burns.

 

you're crazy. I can slay beads vertical.

Upside down..still sucks. But i did get better at it.

 

Only after a really hard impact. Might be time for a SAS or long travel. Or you could just clean, groove, and re-weld.

 

Sheesh, sorry I was late to the game. Had a busy weekend and my computer went down.

 

Hmm, I was thinking there would be more stress on that crossmember for crawling and flexing than jumping. Regardless, it should be good to go again now.

LT wouldn't hurt though.



Also, here's the sad state of affairs when it comes to my Rack Doctor steering rack. Leaking pretty bad out of the input shaft. Between this and the play in the ITREs, and the fact is already mostly removed for the cam tab gussets, I finally got enough motivation to order a new OEM rack.

 

Yeah, fuck Rack Doctor, mine had play in it a month after install even before beating on it hard.

 

This is my same exact experience with my rack doctor rack. It was disappointing.

 

I'm getting pretty tired of working on this pile, mainly because a lot of the work is because of, or redoing, things I've done previously. This will be the third steering rack I've put in. It would have been cheaper and easier to just buy an OEM rack the first time.

Also spent quite a lot of time this weekend grinding away at my old shock tabs on the axle, and now looking at dremeling through all the welds I laid behind the stock cam tabs. Got 1 of 8 off and it was a real PITA.

Do it right or do it twice I guess. Oh well, should be worth it when it's all done.

 

Did you just lay a bead behind the tabs without a bar too? I guess you want to go the TC route?

 

Yeah, I did that a few years ago and in retrospect it's a half-ass solution IMO. Especially when you have previously bent tabs that you're trying to bend back.

I think the TC setup is better than anything you could back the OE tabs with.

 

Hope I don't regret my half-assed solution. But I'm working with a brand new frame and unbent tabs so that helps. When you do the install of the TC gussets with the LCA's out, shouldn't you have enough space to get in there with a flap disc? Would be a hell of a lot easier than a dremel.

 

Ah so you didn't add the 1/4''x1/4'' stick to the stock tabs?? I think that so long as the cam tabs are in good shape that is an okay solution.

But with Mig welding, you have to be careful with how the heat treats the tab. its very thin and the heat will try and pull the tab away from the bolt. Which is why the TC one is a better option.