Crack Repair

I done goofed and thought I could mount my ARB compressor to those holes, save myself $150, and it would survive some rough offroading. Nonethe less its clear it hasn't. I have already ordered a proper mount for the compressor but was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to make these holes and cracks look a little less painful to the eye.

I was thinking maybe JB-Weld the cracks, cover with some duct tape, add more JB-Weld over the tape to smooth it out and paint it with my scratch repair paint kit for the Cement color but im open to other ideas or criticism on my idea.

Thanks!

 

Straighten it, weld it, paint it. Anything else is hack work and worthy of a beater plow truck at best.

 

I repaired a cracked block on a VW engine with JB Cold Weld and drove it that way for several years. That shit is pretty amazing. It'll look like a Frankenstein scar if you go that route, but so will an actual weld.

 

License plate and zip ties.

 

a feller would be proud of such a fix.

 

Don't get me wrong...I love me some JB Weld, and it does serve a purpose. But OP's repair idea is terrible unless this truck is a POS.

 

That's wild, but confused about how this happened, especially the marring and pry marks... any more details about the root cause?

 

I don’t think there’s any prying marks. What I see is it? The compressor was mounted with only two mounting locations. The weight and vibration of the compressor while traveling ended up pulling the fasteners through the holes. Would guess that the cracks allowed the fasteners to pull through due to the sheet metal tin canning from the vibration.

 

I would have that TIG, welded, then grind down the welds and paint. As far as the torn out hole, I would open it up with a grinder, removing the burrs and damage.
Once cleaned up and repainted, it would be really hard to tell you anything was done.

The JB Weld idea, would most likely look like crap, and could possibly crack in the future

 

And double side sticky tape.

 

Hey! I resemble that remark!

 

Yea that is exactly what happened. I will likely go with the TIG idea, im just not well versed in welding.

 

Take to a welding shop……would be a very quick job. I wish I had a TIG to play with

 

Really doesnt need to be tig. Theres no way to clean the backside of the joint of the paint so the weld will have contamination no matter the process. TIG does not handle contamination very well. . A little bit of any weld and some time with a grinder and it will look good.

 

True but tig will have zero spatter, and less heat distortion And will be easier to clean up

 

Thanks guys, any idea what material the side panel is? I want to know what material I should get to weld the holes.

 

You said you aren't well versed in welding. Are you going to weld it yourself?

Also, if you take a pic from farther away, I can look it up in my estimating guide and see if it specifies that it's a steel alloy.

Here's an article about the various alloys used in the cab.
https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/...or-company-in-north-america-first-on-a-truck/

 

I would leave that battle scar like it is. It doesn't hurt the truck.

 

No lol i'd like to learn but maybe not on my truck. I have some people that work at my shop that weld, I'd see if they can do it. Appreciate the help!

 

+1

it really does though. TIG is the right process for thin metal.

speaking as someone that tried flux-core welding a trunk lid. now i have a trunk lid that started with a small hole, that ended with a large hole.

TIG is also a specialty type weld in an already difficult place. while it's great to learn new things, learn them in a shop, on a bench, not hunched over in a weird angle in one's engine bay.