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Oh crud, cracked towers...

BadBlue68

BadBlue68

Member
Well the time has come to post my first thread to ask for help with my build. I recently decided to R&R my front suspension and brakes due to unknown history and condition from the PO. Glad I did because I found a few things that made me nervous! The lack of cotter pins through castle nuts was concerning, as were the missing grease zerks from the ball joints, and the seized up spring perches (mounted on new arms I might add).
:wtf

I figured there was no better time to repaint the outside of the doghouse then with the suspension removed, so I grabbed the corded drill and some wire wheels and went to town! This is when I found the damage caused by decades old spring perches losing their ability to pivot, as the title implies I have cracked shock towers. They don't appear to be terrible and the cracks were localized to one side of the tower so I am confident it is repairable. I drilled out the ends of all the cracks to relieve the stress and stop the crack in its tracks, preventing further spread.

So here is where the question comes in as I know I am not the first person to face this issue. What tips do you guys have? Any advise? I am a novice with a welder so I see two options: A) practice practice practice and develop my skills before I do the repair, or B) have a competent welder perform the repair for me. I really don't like option B and I would really prefer to do it on my own. I want this car to show my hard work/skill, not my willingness to write checks. While I am in there, is it worth the time and effort to add reinforcements? I am also thinking about adding a plate to box off the dirt catcher on top of the frame rail.

Sorry for the long winded post and the vague question, I guess this post also served the purpose of letting me finally talk about my project to people that share my passion for a change. I will try to get some pictures of the cracked towers up soon. Feel free to give any feedback or advice, I'm all ears guys :Mark
 
Short
Practice , practice and practice your welding skills before welding your shocktower.
Reinforcement plates are available and you should do this job.
 
Here's the thing. My project was stalled by me when I went down a path that required extensive welding. I tend to do EVERYTHING myself simply because I like to know I did it and it was done right. I'm also smart enough to know my limitations and the obvious one was my welding skill. Practice is great and can teach someone a lot but for something as critical as my welding needs I want to KNOW it is done right so I am going to finally take some time and get some instruction this winter. To me, learning to weld while doing suspension mods and roll cages is not a recipe for success.

In your case, yes by all means learn to weld so you can do much of the stuff on your car. I'm sure there will be all kinds of need before you are done. In the interim, no shame in having a competent welder come over and fix the towers. It is one repair you know needs to be done right the first time. This would keep your project moving along as well.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Come on guys, welding is NOT rocket surgery! Pick up the welder, practice some and weld those cracks up. Move on to the next fix.

BTW, kudos for the proper use of :Mark
 
The shock towers are fairly thick, so it may help you weld the cracks together if you could grind a small V into the crack. When you go to weld, you'll be better able to penetrate the metal, fill the V, and make the whole welding much stronger, while reducing the amount of grinding. Putting the V on both sides of the shock tower would be even better. You don't need to create a gap through the metal, just a small channel.
 
Dare we ask where you are located?

Nevertheless, Yes, do it yourself. To add to Midlife's suggestions, if you're concerned about blow through, get a piece of copper pipe and flatten it, turning it into a copper backing plate to help this issue. Harbor freight has these really cool big magnets you can use to help hold the copper to the back side of your tower while you weld.

You might consider welding up the shock tower reinforcement plates to the towers while you're at it. Even now when I prepare to weld, I always do a couple practice welds on some scrap metal before I turn to the project.


Of course when there's welding,,,,,,,then there's........

Grinder-Girl-GIF.gif
 
"cmayna" said:
Of course when there's welding,,,,,,,then there's........

Grinder-Girl-GIF.gif
Click to expand...
See that is my point. There should not always be grinding when welding. Sure if you are doing body panel repair, etc. But even then it is very minimal if done right. If you are adding reinforcement plates to a shock tower, no, there shouldn't be any grinding done. Grinding a weld weakens it. Plain and simple. You are removing material. Look at Jeremy's welds, for example. Things of beauty. No grinding there. That is what an accomplished and skilled welder can do. If you are installing tubing to a car that you intend to track grinding of welds is not allowed. At all.
 
You dared to ask, so I will answer: I live in Columbus, Ohio.

"silverblueBP" said:
Come on guys, welding is NOT rocket surgery! Pick up the welder, practice some and weld those cracks up. Move on to the next fix.

BTW, kudos for the proper use of :Mark
Click to expand...

This is the answer I wanted to hear. However, I also want this to be repaired in such a way that it will be safe and I will not be laughed at and called a hack, moron, or other colorful name, so I will take into consideration everything said here so far. If I decide to grab the torch and start melting steel I will definitely use the awesome tips about grinding a notch and using a copper backer, which of course will only happen after a lot of practice. I may try to dress the welds a little but I won't go griding away at them in order to preserve as much strength as possible. Unless of course I chicken out and get help :hide but I really don't see myself backing down from this challenge.

I am well aware of the :rulz so as promised earlier, a picture of the crack.
1422-171012110441.jpeg
 
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"Horseplay" said:
Here's the thing. My project was stalled by me when I went down a path that required extensive welding. I tend to do EVERYTHING myself simply because I like to know I did it and it was done right. I'm also smart enough to know my limitations and the obvious one was my welding skill. Practice is great and can teach someone a lot but for something as critical as my welding needs I want to KNOW it is done right so I am going to finally take some time and get some instruction this winter. To me, learning to weld while doing suspension mods and roll cages is not a recipe for success.

In your case, yes by all means learn to weld so you can do much of the stuff on your car. I'm sure there will be all kinds of need before you are done. In the interim, no shame in having a competent welder come over and fix the towers. It is one repair you know needs to be done right the first time. This would keep your project moving along as well.

Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

This sure sounds like the voice of reason, and it will not go unheard. I will put some thought into both sides of the argument before I move forward. I understand how crucial good welding skills are for things like control arms and roll cages, but is something like this necessarily as safety issue if the welds aren't 100% perfect? I will also probably add reinforcement plates to these areas.
 
Hmmm, "reason" and "T E R R Y" are two words not normally used in the same paragraph. I've welded a LOT on my 66 including the cage and after 6 years of serious track abuse, nothing has come apart yet. [nb]Engines are not included[/nb]
 
Terry has some good points. The welds ideally should look like J's but just because they don't doesn't automatically mean they are not strong.
Roll cages that have to be certified mist meet strict evaluation criteria by those sanctioning body's that have the rules.
They become liable for the structure.
I have seen and driven Stangs with severely rusted shock towers and while its not a good idea, they never caused a failure or accident. If your welds fail you could loose your alinement but probably not the ability to safely stop the car.
In a case like welding the crack, you wouldn't want the welds to be visible either. Grinding is the only way to blend the weld into the tower to make it look solid again. Yes you remove material but only material built up above the surface. If you have good penetration and no porosity you should be okay.
Thats my opinion anyway.
Im a hack welder but a good grinder ( ask Bill) and i drive the crap out of my car every year. No broken welds yet.
 
These recent comments have put me at ease. It seems like the general consensus is to just knock it out myself :char . I do realize I will need a decent welder for this task though, the cheapo flux welder I borrowed from my dad won't cut it. Time to start saving up my pennies! I hope someday I can make the same statement about everything holding up well including track abuse, I would love to get this car on a road course once it is ready. Thanks guys
 
For a fraction of the pennies a new welder will cost you could have those cracks repaired and be onto one of what I am sure are dozens of other things you need/want to do with your ride. Just saying.

Listen, whatever way you end up going will be the right decision for you. It's your car and your project. I'm not trying to dissuade you one way or the other just sharing my experience. That and trying to give Mark an easier target. If you don't tee things up for him his limited wit would never allow him to crack a joke.
 
"Horseplay" said:
That and trying to give Mark an easier target. If you don't tee things up for him his limited wit would never allow him to crack a joke.
Click to expand...

You owe me a monitor and a keyboard.
 
If you decide to buy a welder and learn, don't cheap out. Get the best welder (brand, MIG, TIG) that you can afford. Nothing wrong with buying a good used welder either!
 
Just remember if ALL your welds failed you will be back where you started from.
And where you started from was the day before you found the cracks and you were happily driving along without a care in the world.
 
"Horseplay" said:
Listen, whatever way you end up going will be the right decision for you. It's your car and your project. I'm not trying to dissuade you one way or the other just sharing my experience.
Click to expand...

And I appreciate your experience quite a lot, share away! I know enough about mustangs to get myself in deep but I have limited experience, that's why I joined the fix!

You make a valid point about the cost of repair vs. cost of welder, however it has long been my plan to purchase a quality MIG. I know it will be worth it in the long run. Now if I could only find a decent one to buy second hand....
 
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