1985 Toyota pickup extended cab lifted with 35's

So I had a couple questions on pinch welds for our toyotas starting with

How important are they?

If you clearence the front innner fender by hitting it with a hammer are you risking anything?

How much of the body staying together relies on that out side pinch weld that runs the inner front fender down the rockers

Also I basically cut all the pinch weld off the inner front and stich welded a bead to seal it up
I assume that will be more then fine

Do pinch welds like the inner fender one take much stress from the body flexing off road and such?

Thanks for all
Just trying to understand better

 

if im correct the pinch wled is only there too hold the two peices together and to keep moisture out, if there was too many issues nobody would tell you too beat it out

 

It holds the body panels together.

Beat it over or cut it out and weld back together. It is important for holding the body together under flex so I wouldn't just hack it out and do nothing else

:wabbit2:

 

I hammered mine flat probably 15 years ago and no problems since. Basically the pinch welds are where two pieces of sheet metal come together. Ends are bent 90* and then spot welded together to form a standing seam. Makes it easier to mfg. since you only need the spot welder on the outside of the body shell. I just bent mine over, hammered that flat with a 2-1/2 lb. hand sledge and then sprayed over the are with some primer and undercoating to protect any metal that the paint had flaked off of.

 

Makes sense, I hammered them a long time ago and last night I bent it back and cut it off to a half inch or so( I could see the two or three layers of metal) making the pinch and using my miller 140 with .023 wire and argon co2 spot welded it up but I am a novice welder and just want to make sure that's not a high stress spot

 

As the penetration was hard because I have experience when thicker tubes but not sheet metal

 

 

And the other side that's still hammered