‘Dad Shred build thread’ double locked & 5:29’s SOLD, now 2014 tundra cm TRD OR

Its a solid days work putting it in...if your motor mounts are in good shape...and if your a prerunner and don't have a front diff its ALOT EASIER cause u can put the rack in from behind the crossmember.

Quickest I've installed one is about 5 hours...and that includes drinkin a few beers

 

To my absolute shock and amazement, even up to 72mph on the freeway, these steel beadlocks on 37” MT’s are smooth and drama free. No shaking or vibrations - they have never been balanced but I mounted each tires yellow dot aligned w the valve stem. So stoked on that. Also - gathering all my parts for some killer steering

 

Tacoma or tundra inner tie rods?

 

Those are tacoma inner tie rods. The tundra rack made by both options are tapped for tacoma tie rods. I did order tundra sized inner tie rod boots though

 

Guys, I’m pretty freaking stoked. This is a long time coming… going to get some gas this week and then hopefully will be well on my way to fabricating all kinds of things for my truck, as well as handling repairs myself if needed.

 

Also, monsoon sunset last night was lit

 

Sweet man. They come in so handy it's almost a must if you wheel hard.

I picked up an Everlast 180A mig welder for the same reason. Just got done welding my strut tower cracks shut, welding strut tower reinforcements on, TG spindle gussets, and welding the damn battery tray back onto the fender. I still can't weld for shit but that's what the 40 grit flap disc is for. lol

 

Cheaper and less maintenance option to the gas is reverse the polarity and get Flux core .030 or .035 no gauges, tanks, or cones to worry about.

 

Hell yeah man! go pick up some scrap stuff and start practicing you'll get it pretty quickly.

 

Yeah I can’t wait

 

Oh most definitely, only problem is all the guys I surround myself with (friends) really hate the flux stuff and have made sure that I start out on the right foot with some 030 wire and gas hahaha

 

Flux can be really good in the right application. It's not as forgiving IMO.

 

Flux isn’t the devil or anything but I only have a roll of it around as an emergency backup in case I run out of gas mid job. Haven’t touched the stuff in years.

 

Here's a good little synapses on the differences. Good starting reference for ya on the stuff.
https://www.millerwelds.com/resourc...rsus-flux-cored-wire-when-to-use-them-and-why

 

I will take every single ounce or milliliter of advice on this hobby. It’s gnarly, and I’m so excited to get my hands dirty. I appreciate the abundant wealth of experience you all have. I know flux core isn’t the devil, but all my buddies were pretty keen on me just hitting the ground running with some solid wire and gas to start with.

 

A couple of tips, feed roller clamp tension is important. if you see knurling on the wire, it's too tight and that knurling will wear out a sleeve quicker, you want smooth wire. Too loose and inconsistent wire feed will show up because it's slipping. The other is quality regulators and gauges. Sometimes small adjustments make huge differences.

 

I learned with solid. Then trying flux and using it I found it really hard to get settings and good welds (not necessicarily pretty) that I felt had good penetration and stuck the shit together. Now with solid you can play with settings and wire size for the different thicknesses of metals and do what you feel comfortable with.

 

And I have an inductance knob so that’s cool, in addition to the wire speed and voltage

 

Flux core has its purpose, and i believe you should atleast have a roll as a backup and practice with it to get comfortable with it. One day you will need to use it, either for a quick repair before a trip, when all the gas stores are closed, or if you have to use a trail welder.

Flux core is fantastic for beginners, its not as susceptible to porosity, can have greater penetration than solid wire and the best thing is you dont have to remember to turn on the gas. But it does make alot more smoke and spatter, and you need to clean the weld if you make more than 1 pass.

Ill agreed that solid core is nice, but ive made alot more mistakes with it and have had to grind a few welds because of it. Half the stuff on my truck is welded with a 120v flux core machine and it hasnt failed yet, the other half i used a 220v mig. My rule of thumb is, if it fails and has a chance to injure someone, i use 220v. That being said, youll have parts fail, and youll make alot of mistakes. Sometimes parts just dont have enough surface area, have too much leverage or arent braced enough. Dont let all the internet welders talk crap to you, most cant weld anyways. Ask for help when you need it, and have fun learning.