Welding the cracked frame
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Welding the cracked frame
Hey guys,
I have the infamous cracked frame syndrome, just aft of the steering box. I brought it to a guy today and he said he would mig weld it. Another guy at the exhaust shop said it should be arc welded. Which should it be? Also he quoted me $275 for the job and said the steering box needs to come off. Is this true. There is some delamination on the top of the rail near the steering box where the tack welds broke. Whatcha all think? $275?
Thanks,
I have the infamous cracked frame syndrome, just aft of the steering box. I brought it to a guy today and he said he would mig weld it. Another guy at the exhaust shop said it should be arc welded. Which should it be? Also he quoted me $275 for the job and said the steering box needs to come off. Is this true. There is some delamination on the top of the rail near the steering box where the tack welds broke. Whatcha all think? $275?
Thanks,
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Car: 91 Camaro RS
Engine: 305 TBI
Transmission: Pro-Built Automatic/Vigilante 2800
I'm not sure but I think my car might also be suffering from the same type of crack. I've been under the car and haven't found any, I'm thinking maybe I might have over looked it or perhaps it might be behind the steering box. Where exactly are your cracks located? Did you already have the wonderbar on before the cracks developed or did you install it after. I have both SFC and wonderbar on order right now but I still need to fix whatever is wrong with it now. What sort of problems or sounds did you have develop from the cracks? Please help!!
Mark
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Mark
#5
its directly behind the steering box. took me abotu 5 minutes to actually find it after someone else (the body shop) told me i had it. some place around here said 200, but im going to see if i cant get some friends to help.
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is the intire frame cracked all the way around?
if so you must go MIG ARC is a very weak weld, also this is a bandaid fix, the only real thing to do this correctly is swapping in a new subframe,
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Car: 92 camaro, 06 trailblazer ss
Engine: 5.0 tbi, 6.0 ls2
Hmm arc welding is mig welding but their are diffrent types of arc welding he could be talking about wirefeed, stick or even tig welding. If the metal is delaminaitng thats not good because you cant trust a weld if it's on delaminated metal find some way to reinforce it before you weld it.
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mig welding or more correctly GMAW is and can be a very high qualty weld, reguardless of what tempes t68 says or thinks. i'd clean it up and weld it with mig. the stearing box does have to come off and i'd say 2 hours labor tops.
#11
A good weld is stronger than the surrounding metal, if it's done correctly. Arc welding is antient, and the least desireable. Mig and tig are so much better because of the inert gasses they use, which helps for quality (less gas pockets), looks (less slag) and prevents damage (by overheating, esspecially TIG,which is also the best way,or only depending wh you ask, to weld aluminum). Only mig and tig are wire fed, arc welding only uses sticks.
Last edited by turningfast; 02-12-2002 at 06:22 PM.
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All of the processes listed above are arc welding. It doesn't matter which process is used if the welder is comfortable with it and gets good/complete penetration. If the material is laminated (similar to two or more thinner sheets than it is supposed to be due to inclusions/voids usually from the roll forming process) then I would definitely reinforce it or replace the laminated portion.
A full penetration MIG (GMAW) or TIG (GTAW) weld is NOT any stronger than a full penetration stick (SMAW) weld.
MIG is popular especially for automotive applications due to thin guage material, it is fast and it is easy it is clean (no slag). This is the same reason when you have heavy gauge material stick is the preferred process.
By far the majority of aluminum in the manufacturing world is welded with GMAW. TIG is way too slow and part fitup tolerances are required to be too tight, but it sure is pretty.
A full penetration MIG (GMAW) or TIG (GTAW) weld is NOT any stronger than a full penetration stick (SMAW) weld.
MIG is popular especially for automotive applications due to thin guage material, it is fast and it is easy it is clean (no slag). This is the same reason when you have heavy gauge material stick is the preferred process.
By far the majority of aluminum in the manufacturing world is welded with GMAW. TIG is way too slow and part fitup tolerances are required to be too tight, but it sure is pretty.
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