Bawlzdeep

Finally beefed up the gas tank skid with $35 of angle iron and my new $111 Harbor Freight flux core Welder. Not a bad little buzz box for $111 but you get what you pay for. Still trying to set the speed when it burned through and some welds just look mediocre at best but it will hold. Hardest part is beating it back flat after all the rocks this summer. Pretty happy with it. Also tacked in a steering limiter to the lower control arm to keep my tires from rubbing frame at full lock. Next is beef up plates on the rear trailing arm mounts.




1/2" spacer tacked in

Plenty of clearance now

tantacoma

You are the only other person I've heard of that re-inforced the gas skid. I did that on my '84 rock crawler, but since I don't weld, I paid someone to do it. I now feel vindicated with that decision.

Did you already know how to weld, or was this your first experience at any kind of welding? Do you think that this unit would create adequate welds to attach pre-built sliders onto the frame?

Toyota~Boy

iTrader: (2)

Absolutely not..... If your gonna add sliders then your gonna want to use a very good welding machine. Those little harbor freight welders are for welding small stuff. I'm running a Lincoln pro mig 140 with 75/25 mix. I could weld sliders with it but a 220v welder would be better. Sliders are meant to protect and upon receiving a major blow from a rock they will bust there welds if there not burnt in hot enough.

tantacoma

Thats kinda what I thought. Good to hear from an experienced welder.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Having never used one of these Harbor Fright little welders I really can`t say .

Or a Lincoln Pro Mig those are the ones built for Home Depot and the other chain stores.

I would have no problem welding to any Toyota Frame with the Lincoln SP-135 I used back in 1989

i will say only from my own hands on experience I have never seen a 220VAC welder nor do I know where one can buy that brand.

More output is most often better but even a top of the line machine does you no good if you don`t know what your doing.

Bawlzdeep

My Dad taught me to weld when I was 14, he set the Millermatic heat and speed but by the time I got to shop class at 16 I was showing the teacher better welding techniques. Dad had me welding everything from modular building frames to aluminum dump trailers. I've been out of it for 8yrs now and just wanted a play toy, that's all this is.

A 220V MIG machine is what you want for clean solid welds.

This flux core stuff is messy and only good for up to 3/16 metal. If you are interested in learning to weld then this is a great start. You can walk out of Harbor freight for under $200 and be welding whereas a good MIG machine setup is over $2k.

Toyota~Boy

iTrader: (2)

My Lincoln came from AirGas.. It's a 110v welder with infinity dials. Came with spool gun and bottle for less then $900.00 not including filling the bottle. What I meant when I said 220V is a welder that runs on 220 volts instead of 110 volts. The better the electric the hotter the welder. Lincoln carries a welder called a ProMig 180 which is 220 volts. All of the above is wire fed welders of course

Toyota~Boy

iTrader: (2)

dont know if you know this but a welder burning Flux Core wire will weld thicker steal then a welder running a gas. The gas is just cleaner then flux

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Sorry I got them mixed up when you look at welders all day long they start to be Blue red Yellow Green and sometimes Gray and lets not for get the old beige hobarts and the new white ones .

I refuse to even look at ones that are purple.

It all comes down to how skilled you are .

Sometimes the budget forces one to do what one needs to.

KZN185W

iTrader: (1)

to the OP, why not buy heavy duty rear LCAs, like the ones Sonoran Steel makes or from other vendors, instead of reinforcing the stock LCAs with plates?

Bawlzdeep

I'm not doing anything to strengthen the LCA's. That little square tube piece is to limit my steering to keep the corner of the tire from rubbing the frame at full lock.

The beef up plates are rear axle lower control arms/lower links. The drop down where they attach to the bottom of the frame get beat up pretty bad. There are some bolt on options but I'd rather just box it in.