Hole in Frame

[bilbo]

So I ground back to decent metal, and made an insert. I’ll have it welded in, then weld a larger plate to the outside of the rail, drill the holes and hopefully be good to go. Photos of the pattern and insert.

 

[rangerenthiusiast]

Hey, that’s looking better already! Keep at it and you’ll get there.

 

[Ranger850]

Aren't those magnets the bomb. Totally replaces the need for a "helper" to hold things in place

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Magnets are awesome. Just don't get too close with the welder, the magnetism does weird stuff to the arc.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Lightly beveling the edges on the patch plate will add to the overall weld joint strength. Your work looks good so far. Much better than a lot I've seen from Toyota owners..

As for the frame and it's strength, most frames are factory heat treated in one way or another. As long as you don't go crazy welding on a frame for extended amounts of time building up massive amounts of heat, it's not normally a problem. Weld a section, let it cool for several minutes (which probably matches the duty cycle time on your welder anyway) and then weld another section, and repeat.



GB

 

[bobbywalter]

Someone mentioned to me that the frame is tempered/heat treated and can't be welded on. I'm not sure about that, but I did not notice anything else welded on from the factory so maybe it's true?

I’m no expert, but that seems unlikely. I’ve only started welding this year (still a total novice) and haven’t welded anything on the frame of my 1992 yet.

Digression aside, I say this because when I was plating the tops of my rotted out body mount brackets over the summer, I noticed something about the ones up front (under the radiator support). Whereas the others were all fastened to the frame with giant rivets, the ones up front were actually welded onto the front end of the frame.

Also, my brother bought a 1999 with a frame that broke just 3 months later. I told him about the replacement kits they sell for it and he welded it on with no problem (other than few beers and a little cussing). Good luck, man!

heat treat does not apply to these frames.


better off having the piece larger and behind and then a 10 gauge wrap section.

 

[bilbo]

Well here it is, the insert is in. And I agree about the magnets. I end up buying a lot of them because my kids make off with them. I still have some grinding to do to get the plate to sit flat.

 

[bobbywalter]

i would still wrap it. just driving a 2wd though it will probably be ok.


but it may see air time depending on where your driving so i prefer fishplate or wrap to get in front of the risers..

 

[bilbo]

The fishplate is going on next. I just have to grind the weld back enough to allow the plate to sit flat. The plate is 16” long. The frame flares out a little bit fore and aft of the point where the spring bucket mounts, so I made the plate to fill the straight section between those points.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

As long as there were no sharp corners in your hole/patch panel, then that weld should last the life of the truck just fine.. No corners = less stress risers. Reducing the chances of cracking quite a bit..



GB

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

^^^ This.
make sure there are no 90 degree corners on the fishplate.

 

[91stranger]

It's hard to tell from the picture. I can see a little bit of good penetration. Again it is hard to tell from the picture. Looks like it welded on pretty good. Penetration is key. A weld can look like a stack of dimes all day long but it wont hold up to anything if it doesn't have good penetration. Watch that grinder too. you don't want to grind your good weld away.

 

[Ranger850]

^^^^^This too^^^^^

 

[bilbo]

So here's the final plate all done. I only ground the weld on the insert enough to allow this plate to sit flat against the frame and no further. Even if it only works for a year or 6 months, it's not bad for $10 worth of metal. I don't worry about the time much. If I wasn't doing something like this I would be sitting inside miserable.

I still have to drill the holes for the bucket ,but that shouldn't be too difficult. Also, thanks for all the help and encouragement!

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Fishplate welds look a little cold, but it's still overkill for what it needed on a 2wd first gen.




GB