Build regret(s)

Spending a lot of money on some DIY armor and telling myself I'd learn how to weld it. Haha.

I actually bought a Miller 180 to weld it together since my old Lincoln 125v unit wasn't powerful enough to do 3/16ths steel.

 

Cheap leafsprings. Couldve bought Deavers or Alcans with the money Ive spent trying to get what I want out of $150 springs. Also having them out 4 times has been a royal pain.

 

I have the Harbor Freight Vulcan 210. Love it. I had access to a miller 252 in college and I like the Vulcan better. Awesome little machine.

 

Buying cheap steel wheels and tires when I first got the Taco because the old tires were rotten thinking I would only use it as a "haul stuff to the dump" truck. Also bought spacers to allow the cheap wheels to work. Didn't expect the truck to turn out as good as it did. So then it became a multiple weekend adventure to deal with warped rims and multiple tire balancing trips. Managed to sell the wheels and tires for 1/2 price. Cut bait and moved on quickly rather than live with something that was shaking the truck to death. Live and learn.

 

why did you not stick with OEM leafsprings?

 

Go back in the garage and finish your build

 

woof if that's the one I found online it's pricey too haha. Tempting though because the duty cycle is so much better than the less expensive ones I'm looking at, just can't afford to spend that much on one yet

 

They asked. I answered hahaha. Give me a clean slate to start over and I’ll do it “right” the second time

 

I honestly wouldn’t change my build much even if I started over with a clean slate. The only thing I'd do differently is build a different front axle that is a little more future proof and wider. Ruffstuff/Diamond 9.5" center, 67" WMS, and D60 knuckes.

I think leafs keep my 8" front third together by allowing some axle wrap to take some shock loading off the gears but it didn't stop me from buying threaded body shocks justttt in case.

Also, I'll probably not have the financial firepower to buy a 4-speed Atlas lol

 

That’s the main I would want to do is a 9 in front and push the axle farther toward with links and put crawl box money towards a 5.0 atlas. And a few other things just to clean things up.

 

If off-roading is your thing, get out on the trail now - you don't need to buy a bunch of stuff to go out and have fun. It'll give you a better idea what you want/need and where your weak points lie, and you'll get valuable experience behind the wheel.

Start with an older, cheap truck so you can have fun and beat on it a little without stressing out.

Lights, electronics, roof racks, massive skid plates, bed racks, huge bumpers, all this stuff may look cool but it also adds weight, raises your center of gravity, limits clearance and takes away from the factory reliability. Choose your mods carefully!

Set a monthly budget for mods and stick to it. This will keep you from getting "Tacoma world Fever" and will also help you prioritize your mods and limit impulse buys.

Don't overbuild your truck for your local wheeling scene. You'll be bored on many trails, you will have a limited amount of wheeling buddies to go with, and your truck will suck on the road.

 

IDK why people cheap out on welders. It's like the top item on the list of buy once cry once. The price difference between a 110 and 220 isn't even that much.
A welder is as good as his machine. That's my opinion.

 

For me though, it was more about underestimating the type of projects I was going to be using it on. I did a lot of fence/gate building and other little projects and this little 125 is perfect for that. I certainly lied to myself and said I probably wouldn't be doing a ton of truck stuff, and what little work I would be doing, the welder is rated at 1/4" (max) anyway, so it "could" do the work...

I knew enough to know that I shouldn't cheap out and get a harbor freight model, and Lincoln is a trust brand, but I couldn't justify $1000+ for my FIRST welder. $400 was enough to spend on my 125. I did my research and concluded that the 125 could do the work. It did my bumper... eventually. Technically it is rated to do 1/4". It was definitely maxed out and I had to make several passes and even pre-heat some pieces.

When I do the math and compare the cost of complete bumpers/sliders/skids/etc... and the cost of DIY kits/custom fabrication, yeah, I'd still be in the black had I gotten a bigger welder (like a 180) first, it just would take more than one project to pay for itself, lol.

But for me, now, it's not a matter of IF the job could be completed with my welder (it clearly can), but pure convenience. Bigger welder = less time to do the job.

I just built a new shop and wired in a 220v circuit. You know, "just in case" I want to upgrade, lol.

 

We know you're already eyeballing the Craigslist ads for that 220V bad boy

 

Duh. Looking at the plans I had drawn up for the shop, the intended use of the "dedicated 220v line" was pretty obvious, even to my wife, lol.

Know anyone that wants a Lincoln 125?

 

They always know. Even when they say they don't, they do

 

#1 lesson here. I did the same thing

 

Not everybody has access to 220 wiring. I did all my fab work in apartment garages and parking lots with no option for 220 even if I was willing to pay for it. I can also run a 110 off a much smaller generator than one that requires 220.

Nobody I know runs 220 either and none of them has killed a bus full of nuns like this board would like you to believe would happen if you weld anything more than 1/8 with 110. All SAS’ed trucks with the usual fixins.

 

That's how it is for me, no 220 wiring in the house except in the laundry room but it wouldn't be easy to get a cord through there to outside. If it was in the garage then yeah.

Also not looking to open up a fabrication/welding business or anything, just want to be able to do my own small projects

 

I can agree with this, sorta. I could get good looking welds out of my $90 special. But there was always a lot of tinkering with that machine to get it happy. If someone is ok with working the bugs out and they arent gonna weld real thick stuff, sure they'll work fine.

But with my Hobart at home, or millers at work it always works how I want it to the first time. And the capability of those machines is much higher than Ill ever use, by a long shot. If I need parts for either, theres multiple shops I can go to pretty much any day of the week. I think a lot of people who buy chineseium welders dont take into consideration the inability of consumables except at the place or online store that you got the machine at. I know Ive had to run to Airgas at 4:30 on a Friday to get some stuff to finish a job that weekend, couldnt imagine having to wait a week for Amazon to ship it to you.