Ok so I have been taking an welding class and today I just learned to weld with a E6010 rod and from what I am told it is alot stonger, and that some people use a bead of the E6010 then finish up the job with a E6013. So my question is, all you guys that are doing SAS and chevy swaps and what not, are you using E6010 with E6013 on top, just E6013 or E7018? Basically what are you guys using? I assume sliders or bumpers you could get away with just E6013 but with welding things onto the frame such as SAS's and what not I am curious what would be best ?

 

GMAW is what I always do. No spatter, aim, click, weld. Go ask your teacher what that is.

 

Gas Metal Arch Welding

 

Stick welding is good on farm equipment, trail repair, but to work on your rig...if you got access to it, GMAW is a lot cleaner and easier to do IMO.

 

thanks for the info, for those without the access to GMAW what are you using?

 

I mig weld or else most of time I am using my arc. Most times, I'm always using a 6013. I keep a supply of most all rods, and some rods weld better on some steel, than others. I really use the arc welder as much or more often than mig.

 

When I arc weld, I'll use a selection of rods, depending on the job. 6010 is good for trail work, it'll burn through rust, dirt, paint, grease, whatever. It is also fast freezing so works well on vertical and overhead welds. 6013 works well, too, 7018 is good on alloy steel and is higher strength (70K psi vs. 60K psi), but a lot trickier to weld with. I used several passes of 7018 on my hydraulic assist steering bracket:



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

I carry all the above rods on the trail and also 3/32" and 1/8" diameters for different jobs. A few years back, had to weld up a badly damaged Jeep (is there any other kind, busted spring welded back up w/ 7018



and a spring hanger torn off the very greasy frame was welded back on w/ 6011 as I recall (not pretty but it did the job, held up fine for 10 miles of towing the dead Jeep off the trail):

 

I suppose that depends on what your doing.

I dont know of anyone that arc welds on sheet metal. but for heavy duty frame stuff arc would be fine.

i to perfer mig, and there are those that switch to flux core wire if working out doors where your sheiding gass poofs

but when it comes to clean new fab work i much perfer my neighbors 185 amp tig vs the messy arc.

 

So After talking to my teacher he told me that a MIG weld is not as near as strong as Arch, he said mig was comparable to E7018, so my question is why would you guys want to use MIG, I assume because it is alot easier to use and it looks pretty

 

for one mig is good at getting the job done, or mass production, and with gas its more ideal for a shop/autobody, and getting the job done. Stick is used for field work mainly because of some requirements and codes, for instance a root pass with 6011 followed with 7018 passes, theres no rating on a mig wire, but its strong enough for us since were merely just making bumpers and stuff for recreational use

 

my favorite all around rods are 6013, and 7014. 6011 is decent at all around, but alittle harder to weld with.

 

In the field GMAW can not be used effectivly if there is more than a slight breeze, this is where SMAW shines.

 

Yep, get up around 5MPH breeze and you blow the shielding gas away. I run into this when building sliders, which I often weld outside. Too much wind and I have to stop welding. You could switch to flux core then, but you need to change out a bunch of things in the welder. That's why my trail welder is stick, although I could run MIG or TIG on it.

When I first was learming MIG, the guy giving us the basic instruction asked if we knew what MIG stood for. Everyone gave the "correct" answer (Metal Inert Gas) but he gave us his definition, that was "Maybe Its Good". His meaning was that with MIG, the welds usually look pretty decent, but it is harder to tell if the weld penetration and strength are good. With stick/arc welding, if the weld looks good, it is very likely good and even if it looks not so good, it'll probably be pretty decent.