Welders... I need your help

I have been working on a DIY wedge camper (GoFast Camper design) and last night I f'd up my frame.

Everything was going great, the frame was square, dimensions were correct, but then I welded in my corner braces (shows in green) and it caused bows and pulled the rear corners in 1/2" (shown in red).

I know what I did wrong, I assumed the frame wasn't going to budge anymore so I didn't take into consideration warping and ran too long of welds for the braces without alternating sides, and when they cooled it pulled on everything.

Is there any way to save it? The rear door opening pulled the lower corners in a good 1/2 inch. The sides, both top bar and bottom bar, bow inwards about 1/4 inch. Would welding something temporary to the opposite sides of the braces cause it to pull back into place?

I dont have photos at the moment. I was going to toss it up as a learning lesson and start over, but I'm sitting at work and can't stop wondering if it can be saved so I thought I'd attempt to ask.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AKPwvVojfXc

Start cutting the welds until it goes back into shape and tack weld some temporary bracing with some angle iron to minimize deflection if it’s still getting out of square. Cooling welds are like bullies - they’ll push anything around that can’t push back on them so put something it can’t push around in its way while it cools.

 

Best bet is going to be grinding/cutting out old welds and getting it all clamped perfectly in place again.

There are shortcut options but if you want to to not rub and grind and be off always it best to do it right and start over.

No biggie, man. Lesson learned practically always stick better than theoretically. Good job!

You already know once you get it tacked up perfect make sure it’s clamped down super well, use more clamps than you think you need to to be safe, and of course alternate and measure between welds to make sure you’re good as you go.

 

I already cut the braces out assuming it would pop back into place, it moved a little bit but not very much.

 

The ghetto option is use a bottle jack or come along or whatever you can and crank and pull and push it into place best you can. You’d be surprise how far we’ve bent fully welded gigantic thousand pound steel frames into square with enough force haha.

 

Start massaging it with the braces out. See ghetto approach above. Cheers ha.

 

Put a floor jack and some wood in the long gaps and spread it apart. Do it a little at a time to get it where you want.

 

I am thinking I'll just start over. I assume even if I can get it to move back, it probably wont be the best and I'll run into issues with leaks.

 

Without pictures it’s hard to understand what you mean by braces, but if it was on there while you were welding to keep it from deflecting, it wasn’t suitable for the task so it didn’t really matter.

I probably would have built this thing on my truck and welded as much of it as possible while being bolted to the vehicle - you can’t get a better fit than when making it on the thing it’s going to be mounted to sometimes. If you don’t have a good fixture table or way to fasten it to the floor, this could be a pretty good way to do it.

 

Don't overthink it, fix what you have and if that doesn't work, then and only then start over

 

I thought about this, and might see what happens tonight. I'm worried that it wont flatten straight enough and I'll end up with leaks.

 

That's what caulking is for

 

Are you referring to the seal between truck and topper? A center clamp and a rubber gasket will do wonders. Depending how bent up it all is I’d definitely dedicate a day to seeing if you can get it all straightened out. Metal is pretty pliable. The reason it’s bent is hope you can straighten it out. Up to you, of course! Could always sell the practice one for cost if you make another ha

 

The bottom bowed up about 1/4 inch, and the top bowed down bout the same. We will see what I can do after work. My biggest concern is the top because if it's too bowed it won't mate up to the extruded alum frame of the RTT without either having a gap or distorting that frame as well.

If I can't fix it it honestly won't take much to remake, I just won't be able to tackle it again for a month or so and I was hoping to have this done for a trip end of August.



On a positive note, all the .125 alum panel that I drew up in Fusion and had a local shop cut and bend fit fan-fucking-tastic before I screwed everyting up lol so at least I don't have to redo that!

 

Nice! Sounds worth a day of pushing and pulling to me. Let us know how it goes!

 

Welp, I think I'll be able to save it enough to use as a topper until I build a new frame, but I don't think I'll be able to get it back to flat enough for the RTT.

I cut the corner braces down the center to the corner, then I used the floor jack to push everything beyond where it needs to be, re-welded some small sections where I cut the braces, let them cool, removed the jack and I now see roughly 1/8 inch bow vs the 1/4 to 3/8 I was seeing before. I think I'll add some vertical supports in the middle to ensure it doesn't droop again. They'll be less than ideal, but for now it will work.

The rear is another story though. The upper bar across the rear has a droop as well, but theres no lower bar for me to use the jack to spread them apart. I'm going to try and temp tack in a lower bar that I can use for the jack, add some corner supports and hopefully it will be enough to reduce the droop. Again, not ideal and will look like shit, but it will allow me to mount my side doors and roof and use it for a couple upcoming trips until I can build another frame.

 

you could also play with selectively heating/cooling parts to try to re-form it. heating expands, and leaving it to slowly cool will encourage it staying in place, quickly cooling with a soaking wet rag will shrink the metal. but this process generally works best for flat panels, where the square tubing you're using, has more to do with how much heat everything takes on.

you didn't specify the metal dimensions or thicknesses you're dealing with, but if i'm thinking of the typical build, it should be around 1" square tubing, 1/16" wall, i think you're better off pushing/pulling it overall. mild steel is extremely malleable. if you're not opposed to altering the area you're working, adding metal tabs to the bottom edge and tapcons to the floor is a possibility to keeping it in place.

also, keep in mind most rubber seals should allow for around 1/2-3/4" deviation in surfaces, depending on the seal used. many commercially-built aluminum toppers run out at least 1/2" in most area's. when i inherited a work truck with one at the last company i worked for, i re-bent the panels with some creative pushing and a 2x4 to get it to seal better.


overall, i think any deviation under 1" is entirely salvageable, and far more worthwhile than starting over. but more importantly, even if you scrap it and re-do it, you'll likely encounter very similar thermal issues, which will put you in a similar situation all over again, making it more useful to save what you have instead.

 

Well I got it as best I can with my knowledge and skills. Still some bows but not much. The worst is the rear upper bar since theres nothing to support it against, but thats only like 3/16th or so, so not bad.

I had to add a vertical support to the sides. I don't like it, but I can't run a diagonal brace from the lower corners because they interfere with my latches. I figure I can use this for now, and maybe this winter I'll build another frame and transfer the panels over to it.

 

Well done. If you have propane a torch can help metal want to move some in the future as well.

Looks great!

 

I like SM’s idea with heat and some relief cuts so that you can manipulate back into shape. Pull as suggested, then use TIG rod or washers if it’s worse just to hold in place. When you’re ready to move to the rear/up, put a 4x4 in between the finished side to hold in place while you manipulate.

Good stuff though, looking good.