The more I drive around in my truck, the more I wonder if my cousin's high school welds will hold up. More I worry about my and my passengers' safety if one of those spring hats pops off or breaks during a drive. So, tearing it all off and hiring a professional welder to come and at least inspect it, if not re-weld whatever he thinks might need it. So, a minor setback, but I think I need to make sure I am doing it right the first time!
Don't want to take a chance. I have another distant cousin, who happens to live near me, who is a professional welder. He said he would love to come out and take a look, and use stick, mig, or whatever to make sure it is done right. It will only take me 30 minutes to pull everything off, so I am not worried about the extra work. Want it done right, and safe. Besides, I have ground many of them to smooth them out, but there are a couple areas at the bottom of the plate that holds the spring hat on, that I worry about. First welder couldn't get a bead to stay on upside down, and got lots of hangy downy things i had to knock off. So if nothing else, I want a stick run across the bottoms to hold the springs steady. I am sure the rest of the welds, ugly as they are, are plenty strong.
Thanks, bryant! :Handshake I think the problem wasn't the person welding, as much as that we had the welder hooked up to a 30A generator, and as soon as he started a bead, it would have a voltage (amperage?) drp[. and the weld would change. So it would start out fine, then get shoddy. Next guy wants to re-wire it straight into my 50A house 220 so it shouldn't have that power drop. Better welding tools, too.
A generator won't support a welder, unless it's made as a generator/welder! Been there, done that! You really need a dedicated welder ( including the person ) to do this properly!
X2 Just remember the shorter the length to your 50A source, the smaller the voltage drop will be. I hate long extension cords..especially when the wire is not rated for it..(some people just don't know) Id suggest a 8ga. Cord but 10 would probably be ok depending on the length
Now now.. No need to poke and prod .. I made the offer because it wouldn't take long and I would like the practice Currently waiting on a check to arrive to order a kit minus the cradle. I HAD the money but ended up buying other things that I actually needed.
Got it all off this afternoon, and good thing, too. I found that what I thought was a bottomed out large bolt holding on my brake caliper was actually cross threaded (somehow...) so I got to spend another 30 minutes fixing the threads in the hole and on the bolt. Now my wife's cousin (the welder), his cell phone is temporarily disconnected, so if he doesn't get it back up soon, I will be hiring a professional mobile welder. I have no idea how I cross threaded a brand new bolt, new hole, new part, after running it through a long hole that would have forced it to go in straight anyway. And I started it by hand...
