Had friend weld safe t cap

So I had my welder friend weld on a leaf spring safe t cap the other day and now there’s a substantial gap between bed and cab. (There was a negligible gap before) it was supported on jack stands for like a week before he welded it. I was going to do the other side and replace leaf springs but something tells me there’s a bigger issue. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Most likely the frame has distorted as a result of heat from the welding. I believe what happens is that when the metal cools it shrinks, so in this case it pulled the bottom of your frame shorter sort of bowing it into a rainbow shape.

not sure if it can be fixed without cutting the welds. You might just live with it. I’d be concerned about it getting worse when do the other side.

 

Agree with @Jakerou

Trying to undo (or redo) the weld reinforcement would be very difficult.

Perhaps place spacers under the rear bed attach points to line the bed up with the cab. Be sure to brace the other side and go slow with the welding (too much heat on one run can cause distortion.)

When it's all said and done you'll probably want to re-align your rear axle/wheels.

 

oof.

 

Yikes. Plenty of lessons to learn here.
I wonder if perhaps some of the mounts can be modified? Some sort of spacers on the rear ones?

 

My reaction when I opened this thread.

 

Heat deformation.
Bet he did long continuous welds instead of jumping around short welds letting it cool a bit in between zaps.
I might have bowed a trailer once putting too much heat in a weld.

 

Might have to shim the bed up off the frame

 

If it's gonna be ugly for the rest of it's life now, make it a food truck and call it a side hustle.

 

DId you do one side or two...?

 

and here i was just about to start to brave up and try to work on mine by myself. got quoted $1600 from a shop to do both sides and that's with me supplying the caps. my biggest scare is having to drop the fuel tank and trying to get the leafs reattached. they gave me absolute fits installing them a few years back

 

Best i can think is to take it to a body shop and see what they think, they might have ideas.

 

You’d need to cut the side he welded and square it up when you do the other side.
On my last 1st gen, I did my entire frame with safety caps and while they work well, if you’re in the salt belt they will rot again in 5 years or so. If I had to do it again I’d search for a clean frame out west.

 

I'd think about cutting a small wedge so it sits back down and then rewelding that cut. Maybe find a different welder...

 

I know this isn’t helpful, but if this guy is a professional welder, he probably should have anticipated this happening.

 

I'd guess it's more like this:

 

Take the bed off, cut the welds that allow you to put it back square with string / magnetic angle finder etc. and put some bracing on it while you weld - cheap sticks of 3/16 angle iron or .120 wall / schedule 40 round tube can be heavy tacked to the frame to help keep it square while fabricating.

 

That's insanity. It doesn't take much, maybe $500 in welder and gas and a couple hours of practice to start making acceptable MIG welds on thick steel. I'd definitely DIY at that price.
Take the lesson here and tack first, fill in in 1-2inch intervals

 

I was quoted $1500 to do both sides with me providing the sleeve

The work involves more than the weld. You have to drop the tank and perhaps brake lines on driver side and unbolt and cut off the leaf spring hanger on both sides. $1500 is fair for the effort for a professional job.

 

Yeah, having done a few welding jobs on my truck I'd call $1500 reasonable.
And I bet the shop's welds will at least look a lot better than mine.