I just picked up a 94 toyota and will be doing a solid axle swap my question is
has anybody done it using a stick welder? I see most people doing it with a mig
and i dont have one i just have a stick welder and i dont want to buy one just for this project. I was thinking i could turn it down and it would be ok i dont want to be blowing holes in the frame. I have welded on some thin stuff without any problems before but i dont know how thick the frame is.

 

their is a hole in the frame it has a plastic plug in the rear wheel well.

 

if you are good with the stick welder and confident in your welds then I say go for it I have used both stick and mig,
the mig was 220v and the stick was 120v the mig was 10 fold better than the stick welder.

 

I will be using a 220 stick its a lincoln cracker box.

 

Stick is fine. Just be sure and get a fast freeze rod for the overhead and vertical welding, probably 3/32" rod and have at it. I've welded a lot of stuff on my '85 with a stick welder:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri....shtml#Welding

 

did my entire SAS using a lincoln flux-core mig........worked great

good luck

 

there is nothing wrong with a stick welder if you know what you are doing. If you do, then use it. I have a MIG at home but 99% of the welding I do at work is stick...

 

Thanks for the advice guys i have been stick welding for a while now. I normally weld with 6011 rods and have had good luck with them on my tractor i havent had any weld failures yet. When i tear something up the metal bends and breaks
before anything happens to the weld.

 

Nothing wrong with SMAW welding. Just use those 6011 rod you have for overhead welding. Might want to pickup some 7018 3/32 or 1/8 also; Its a good rod for just about anything and you can drag it which makes it a little easier when your not doing over head or vertical welds. MIG is just technology. there's nothing wrong with stick. As long as you use proper techniques and settings you wont have too many problems.

 

Of MIG, stick, or Oxy/Ace, I'd probably choose stick everytime if possible. It's my favorite of the three ways I've learned.

I'm just best with the stick. Seems easiest for me for whatever reason. I can do all three pretty well, but of all my best welds I'd say 8 out of 10 were stick, 1 MIG, 1 Oxy/Ace.

Copious slag....I kinda miss it when it isn't there...