Spare parts, the slowest race truck to date

[Gary Lewis]

After some time, the cab pushes the frame down and makes the nose point skyward. I’d say by the time mine gets that far, I hope to be ready or close to ready to start with tubing.

Excellent idea on the tapering! Singlehandedly my favorite reason for forums. Second opinions and different points of view really come in handy.

Yes, additional opinions are one of the many benefits of a forum. And then there's continuity, meaning people can scroll back and see previous things that have been said about the problem or question. And searchability, meaning that you can search the forum for key words or phrases. For instance, you could find what Jonathan is doing to his truck's frame if you didn't know.

And, on and on. Ok, you've convinced me.

[Ford F834]

Yes sir, that’s actually on my list of things to do today. But I do have a question concerning that:

Do I weld it solid, or do I leave some open spots? I’ve always heard going all the way around “seal welding” will actually weaken the joint since there’s no give. This doesn’t make much sense to me, but I also don’t like the idea of a nook or cranny that will trap water or any other element, especially on such a “vulnerable” spot. I’m heavily considering straps along the bottom flange of the frame to further bolster it.

Thoughts or opinions?

Cory, I talked to Scott Miller at the 2017 show about how to fishplate mine. He told me to weld it all the way around but to do it in segments so as not to overheat an area and cause warping. He was also the one who told me to make the tapered hyperbola shaped ends to diffuse the stress points. I want to hide mine on the inside of the C, but admittedly it would be much easier and probably stronger to do it on the outside.

[Blucollar4xford]

Cory, I talked to Scott Miller at the 2017 show about how to fishplate mine. He told me to weld it all the way around but to do it in segments so as not to overheat an area and cause warping. He was also the one who told me to make the tapered hyperbola shaped ends to diffuse the stress points. I want to hide mine on the inside of the C, but admittedly it would be much easier and probably stronger to do it on the outside.

Excellent! Thank you for the clarification. I’m thinking I will do my fishplate on the outside of the frame since it’s already not a pretty rig.

Im assuming you let each “pass” on the fishplate cool before you progress? I wonder how long of a pass you make before you stop and wait? It seems to me like maybe I’ve heard something like this before.

[Gary Lewis]

Excellent! Thank you for the clarification. I’m thinking I will do my fishplate on the outside of the frame since it’s already not a pretty rig.

Im assuming you let each “pass” on the fishplate cool before you progress? I wonder how long of a pass you make before you stop and wait? It seems to me like maybe I’ve heard something like this before.

I'm guessing that the idea is to weld a bit on one end of the fishplate, say maybe an inch, and then move to the other end and weld an inch. Keep alternating back and forth, but using different spots to move to each time to spread the heat.

You don't want to get it too hot and warp it and, while it is warped, nail the fishplate down. That would cause it to be in a bind when cool, and then all of the force will be on one of the parts instead of all of them.

I've seen Scott use a wet rag or towel to cool a part (of mine) he was welding. He laid the towel on it before welding so the water could provide cooling from the start, rather than hitting it with water after it was hot and shocking the part.

[Ford F834]

I'm guessing that the idea is to weld a bit on one end of the fishplate, say maybe an inch, and then move to the other end and weld an inch. Keep alternating back and forth, but using different spots to move to each time to spread the heat.

You don't want to get it too hot and warp it and, while it is warped, nail the fishplate down. That would cause it to be in a bind when cool, and then all of the force will be on one of the parts instead of all of them.

I've seen Scott use a wet rag or towel to cool a part (of mine) he was welding. He laid the towel on it before welding so the water could provide cooling from the start, rather than hitting it with water after it was hot and shocking the part.

That’s what Scott told me, and that is how my friend Steve welded mine. He did inch long passes alternating top and bottom, inside and outside until it was all done. Steve did a fantastic job on the butt welds, and after the tips and practice at Scott’s booth last year I am confident I can do the fish plates once I get my welder set up correctly.

[Blucollar4xford]

That’s what Scott told me, and that is how my friend Steve welded mine. He did inch long passes alternating top and bottom, inside and outside until it was all done. Steve did a fantastic job on the butt welds, and after the tips and practice at Scott’s booth last year I am confident I can do the fish plates once I get my welder set up correctly.

Slight update; I dragged this heap down the road to my moms garage to better weld the frame splice. Turns out my original weld job wasn’t that great thanks to an extension cord. Ended up getting good penetration with the 110 welder and FINALLY got it to hold together. I need to finish grinding the welds flat and reinforce the splice for the abuse to come.

Now for the exciting part! Bargain parts! I finally got a set of 64” Chevy 1500 springs. The bolts were good shape, so I “cleaned” the junk off of them and got them ready to mount up, hopefully, this weekend. I also threw on my drop shackles and took a couple pics to show the difference between the two.

These things are looooong! Ought to be squishy! 😄

[Gary Lewis]

Slight update; I dragged this heap down the road to my moms garage to better weld the frame splice. Turns out my original weld job wasn’t that great thanks to an extension cord. Ended up getting good penetration with the 110 welder and FINALLY got it to hold together. I need to finish grinding the welds flat and reinforce the splice for the abuse to come.

Now for the exciting part! Bargain parts! I finally got a set of 64” Chevy 1500 springs. The bolts were good shape, so I “cleaned” the junk off of them and got them ready to mount up, hopefully, this weekend. I also threw on my drop shackles and took a couple pics to show the difference between the two.

These things are looooong! Ought to be squishy! 😄

Wow, if dragging down the road breaks the welds then you do need a bit more penetration. Hope you got it at your mother’s.

And, again wow! Those are loooong springs. Should be quite soft. Is that what you are looking for?

[PetesPonies]

Slight update; I dragged this heap down the road to my moms garage to better weld the frame splice. Turns out my original weld job wasn’t that great thanks to an extension cord. Ended up getting good penetration with the 110 welder and FINALLY got it to hold together. I need to finish grinding the welds flat and reinforce the splice for the abuse to come.

Now for the exciting part! Bargain parts! I finally got a set of 64” Chevy 1500 springs. The bolts were good shape, so I “cleaned” the junk off of them and got them ready to mount up, hopefully, this weekend. I also threw on my drop shackles and took a couple pics to show the difference between the two.

These things are looooong! Ought to be squishy! 😄

There is a specific way to weld that frame together. First, is your cut in the form of a "Z" ? make sure your weld penetrates to the outside. This is very easy to see in regards to this type of welding. Then once the welds are finished and ground, you want to "fishplate" both sides. Make the fishplate long enough to encompass the Z cut. if you knew this, then great, but I haven't seen enough to see how you are doing this.

[Blucollar4xford]

Wow, if dragging down the road breaks the welds then you do need a bit more penetration. Hope you got it at your mother’s.

And, again wow! Those are loooong springs. Should be quite soft. Is that what you are looking for?

Gary - the trip down the road didn’t break anything, but when I put the welder directly into an outlet, instead of an extension cord, the heat gained actually penetrated the frame rail pretty well. However, it showed just how shoddy of a job it did before. Anyway, I welded, ground, welded, and ground some more. Then I came up with some old transmission brackets from a kenworth, and hacked away...

The welder did significantly better than before, but it’s an old worn it unit, so my welds turned it ugly in some spots. Anyway, here’s the braces I came up with

After some grinding with a flap wheel and a quick dousing of black paint to ward off the elements (since I have an out standing garage), here’s what I have so far

I plan on bracing the bottom of the frame rail, too, but I didn’t get that far today. I’m also considering just bolting the brace in, instead of welding. I plan on using the chunk of frame I cut out originally and chopping it into quarter pieces, so I have 4 slabs of “angle”. Then I’ll drill two hole in the bottom and two in the sides (alternating patterns) to, hopefully, tie it all together. That way if my crappy welds from my crappy welder and worse worksmanship happen to fail, I won’t leave half of the truck behind lol.

Stay tuned, folks. This is a learning experience. Thank the lord I’m keeping this thing!! 😂

[Gary Lewis]

Gary - the trip down the road didn’t break anything, but when I put the welder directly into an outlet, instead of an extension cord, the heat gained actually penetrated the frame rail pretty well. However, it showed just how shoddy of a job it did before. Anyway, I welded, ground, welded, and ground some more. Then I came up with some old transmission brackets from a kenworth, and hacked away...

The welder did significantly better than before, but it’s an old worn it unit, so my welds turned it ugly in some spots. Anyway, here’s the braces I came up with

After some grinding with a flap wheel and a quick dousing of black paint to ward off the elements (since I have an out standing garage), here’s what I have so far

I plan on bracing the bottom of the frame rail, too, but I didn’t get that far today. I’m also considering just bolting the brace in, instead of welding. I plan on using the chunk of frame I cut out originally and chopping it into quarter pieces, so I have 4 slabs of “angle”. Then I’ll drill two hole in the bottom and two in the sides (alternating patterns) to, hopefully, tie it all together. That way if my crappy welds from my crappy welder and worse worksmanship happen to fail, I won’t leave half of the truck behind lol.

Stay tuned, folks. This is a learning experience. Thank the lord I’m keeping this thing!! 😂

My misunderstanding. I thought you'd broken the welds. But, in any event, you are now getting better welds. And, it looks like the fishplates are well and truly on.

And the bolted-on pieces won't hurt anything either.