My car came stock with a quick ratio steering box and a wonder bar. The wonder bar doesn’t seem to be stopping the cracking problem thirdgens are cursed with. I know this topic has been posted before but I couldn’t find what I was looking for in my searches. I though I remember someone posting a link on this site to a place that sells pre drilled metal plates that can be welded to the frame rail. Does anyone have this link?

What should I do about fixing this crack, should I weld it as is or try and bend the metal back to its original position then weld? Also I have a Mig welder and I am currently using flex core wire (I haven’t bought masking gas yet) will this be good enough or do I really need masking gas for welding this up? Also any tips from anyone who has done this before would be greatly appreciated.

 

don't have the link but it'd be about as easy a job as you'd want to make your own, use the steering box as a template for the holes.

 

Bend the frame back as straight as you can get it first. Then weld a plate on inside of the frame, not the outside; the gearbox and the idler arm need to stay exactly the same distance apart, to keep the steeing geometry right.

The wonder bar doesn't "stop" the problem, it merely helps it out. There's still too much stress on that little place of the metal. It just can't flop around as far with the bar as it can without it.

 

If the metal's thick enough, you can use flux core. Flux core (FCAW) needs higher voltage to melt the wire, so you can burn thru sheet metal. The welds also don't come out as clean as GMAW, or as precise. Wait until you get the gas hookups! I'll never go back to flux core; it was good as practice, but that's about it. And I doubt I'll ever be welding outside in the wind with my car (only benefit to flux core, the shielding gas can be blown away)!