tougedreams

1/4 is fine for the normal metal work table, heck it might be too much. The reason why i'm not happy with the 1/4 and wish I would of used 3/8 is because I have my bender mounted on it so the table needs to be and stay "square" so I can do repeat bends for tube chassis/roll cages and not have to worry about it not being the same every time. I also use it as my metal welding table and yea again its very nice to always to have the same level surface. A 4x8 sheet of if 1/4in is a lot flimsier than 3/8 and I haven't had an issue yet i'm just thinking down the road. I could just be crazy though.

If you want to see pics of my table when I was building it ill be more than happy to post up some.

Mirage

First off I didn't do the welding, local drag shop that builds chromoly tube frame cars did it for me, said he would rather TIG it than MIG it and the price he gave me I wasn't going to turn him down. I did all the metal work and came up with the design. Its a stock bumper hidden winch mount for my '03 Xterra (supercharged). The pre-bent winch plate and clevis mounts are from ballistic fab. It will get rid of the stock pin dick metal bumper behind the grey/silver part of the lower "bumper", and that plastic piece hasn't been on my truck since it got ripped off last february.







Next project will probably be a rear bumper with spare tire carrier, the guys that welded it up said they have no problems with side projects and would bend me any tube I wanted for the projects as well.

Future_gohan

Final setup. It can lower another 3-4 inches but he has to lower the front first

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godrifttoday

Post it up

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Dark Spec

Closeups be nice so i can see where all lays... nice work

xdumbxguyx

custom catch tank im working on

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180wanabe1

those welds are Fuckin awesome!! sweat dealz

godrifttoday

I welded my battery tray and power steering... This is all done with a Lincoln 3200 hd I bought from home depot... I preheated the 1/8 metal to get a better weld any critiquing ???

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tougedreams

conrad_s13.5

Just curious y you chose that location for your battery.
otherwise fabwork looks good

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cONtRol FReAkS

duffman1278

Do you guys have any suggestions for MIG welding 4130 Chromoly steel that's 1" x .058"? I'm using a Millermatic 252 on, iirc 82% Argon 18% CO2. Or do you think I should just TIG it? The reason I want to go MIG is because I know it'll save a bunch of time for the project and time is kinda against us.

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brainfood

Not supposed to mig chromoly? Especially if it's something structural?

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180wanabe1

use er80 and it will be fine. good luck finding it in anything that will feed though. i think you can get huge spools.

godrifttoday

Because I want my methanol pump installed next to the cold side of the intercooler pipes and it cost more if I extend the lines for the pump... So it's much cheaper to run a longer wire for the battery

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MidwestMyriad

So it's been decided, I will be buying a welder very shortly here and had some questions for you master fabbers.

I took a couple of years of welding in high school, mostly stick welding on mild steel, but had my fare share of stainless, and mig welding experience also. The only real "fab work" I've done is popping some tacks on in interior wall frame at a paint shop in Gary for a favor.

Back to the main point. I'm looking at getting a mig welder and re-igniting my love affair with welding/fab work. Welder will be used for stitch welding, possible cage install, chassis gussets, etc. Question is what Mig to go with? Looking for something quality but not overly expensive, say $500 dollar range or so. So any advice you guys could give would great. I'm sure there is some talk about welders in the thread somehwere, but working full-time and school full-time make it difficult to search through a hundred or so pages. Plus curious as to what personal opinions are from personal experience with some welders.

Thanks guys!

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Jonnie Fraz

If you are looking to do cage work $500.00 is a little low unless you are buying used. If you want to get into building cages you really need a 220v machine.
Look into maybe an HTP machine. I have heard really good things about them. Other than that stay with the bigger names...Miller, Lincoln, Hobart, Esab...ect.
Do Not get a welder from Harbor freight. It would just be an exercise in frustration.
Hope this helped a little.

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godrifttoday

So after 25 dollars and a couple of hours of fabricating I finished my strut bar Ideally I wanted the front strut bar without any bends but it was not possible unless I dropped the motor or lifted the hood with washers, did not want to do any of that. I know it's best to have a straight bar across the towers, but in my case it was not possible... The bars going to the firewall are straight attached to a 1/8 plate which bolts on to another 1/8 plate behind the firewall.. The plates for the shock are also 1/8 thick. I made them from scratch, I rounded them off to give a nicer appearance... I just need to weld a master cylinder brace. But any inputs what you guys might think about the bar?

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GSXRJJordan

That's why everyone and their mother puts the battery in the BACK.

If the car's going to be competitively driven (I see the bash bar), why would you put the battery where it's guaranteed to get knocked around?

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180wanabe1

I use a lincoln power mig 180c that i got from ebay refurbished three years ago and still works great. i got it for like 650 or so, new they can be anywhere in between 800-1000, i've seen a few go used for around 500. I've done a few cages and it has plenty of power for all that stuff (its 220). also there is a tapped version for power adjustment were it has 10 settings were as mines continuous so i can chose anything in between 1 and 10.

Jonnie Fraz

Bar looks pretty nice buddy! The plates are a bitch to do by hand...Trust me I know.
Once you get the BMC stopper put on have someone stomp on the brakes for you so you can see if it moves around on you.

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godrifttoday

Yeah, I know lol.... I just don't want to go to a hassle of having a cut off switch... I just want everything.... I need to learn how to drift first before I can compete with other cars... And it's a drycell but I know where u coming from....


The longest time was cutting out the plates! Yes, I felt a difference in how it feels with and without it... Know I know why bars cost some decent money for all the time consumption

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atutt

Looks stellar. But there is a problem.
Those Ballistic tabs look to be around 1'' thick? And your plates around 1/4''?
There should have be a square plate welded under the tab. You see this a lot in Jeep fab. It helps distribute the load on the thinner material. Significantly reduces the chances of that tab shearing right off.

MIG is fine.

That's absurd. MIG will work just fine.

ER70 is better suited. It's more ductile. When 4130 is welded it becomes brittle and does NOT like to move. ER70 helps it flex slightly. Enough to adsorb the movement and keep the weld from cracking.

IF this is the only fab work you've done. Stay the hell away from roll cages until you're skilled enough to do so.
You put yourself and other at risk of injury. Or worse.


Why does everyone with a welder suddenly think they're capable and ready to weld things as critical as roll cages right off the bat?

180wanabe1

^^ so u suggest er70 huh? i was told on different welding forums that if u have to mig chromoly to use er80. your reasoning behind it makes sense though, thanks.

atutt

I've always used er70.

The metal needs to be allowed some flex. Or else, like I said, it becomes brittle and it will crack. Obviously resulting in a failure.

Now that's not to say er80 won't work. I'm just suggesting er70 as a better alternative due to the fact it allows it to be more ductile.

MIG or TIG. Er80 and er70 are the exact same for both processes. The only difference is the process itself. Er80 for mig is still the same er80 for tig.

MidwestMyriad

As far as experience, I've done other work, just decided the to highlight the one job not for myself. By cage install, meaning installing a weld in cage, shouldn't be too hard to mig that in. I have 2 years plus of experience, just been a while since I've welded, hence saying re-ignite. Anyways, thanks for the input from those of you who gave it. I'll be ont he search for a little while.

On another topic, will you be making any more of those strut tower bars? Maybe a solid bend for the front bar? I'd be interested in that shit then.

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Future_gohan

She's all done, the alignment is all messed up but she drives pretty good, just waiting on some adj arms.

This spring were doing a fuel cell setup when we do the sr20, but were just putting that off till later.

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Chamb-O

getting better

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Mirage

I get what your saying, but its not plate in front, its 2x3 tube with the clevis mounts welded on both front and back.



Finished mount, despite all the mud, the winch didn't see any action this weekend. That was early in the day while the truck was still clean.

DisEpyon

Looking good Chamb-O. Your on the right track. What is your set up? if you dont mind me asking.

Here are my ss welds from last week. My biggest problem is consistency. Just takes practice though.

Future_gohan

I cannot wait till my summer tig purchase

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