Oh crud, cracked towers...

[Opentracker]

Try one of these Lincoln 135's - they are cheap and they work great. They are on ebay used.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lincoln-Mig-135 ... 20cc6c97a8

 

[Fst Blk]

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.

He burnt up my favorite grinder :nut bj

Bill

 

[tarafied1]

He burnt up my favorite grinder :nut bj

Bill

that reminds me, if you buy a nice welder, be sure to get a good grinder too....

 

[Anonymous]

He burnt up my favorite grinder :nut bj

Bill

That'll teach you to buy chinese crap!

 

[stangg]

If your looking to get a welder to keep for the longer term, get one with a variable voltage control. It's much easier to dial in the voltage than with the standard 135's 4 fixed voltage settings...

As mentioned above also, absolutely be sure to V groove when your welding thicker stock... The point of the V groove is it gives you a much wider surface area and much better penetration across a wider area with a side benefit of not standing too proud of the surface, so less grinding for cleanup.

I don't have shock towers so I don't know.... but aren't the towers too thick for a 135-140 amp welder? It seems for something like this you'd want a 175-180 amp welder.

 

[SELLERSRODSHOP]

If your looking to get a welder to keep for the longer term, get one with a variable voltage control. It's much easier to dial in the voltage than with the standard 135's 4 fixed voltage settings...

As mentioned above also, absolutely be sure to V groove when your welding thicker stock... The point of the V groove is it gives you a much wider surface area and much better penetration across a wider area with a side benefit of not standing too proud of the surface, so less grinding for cleanup.

I don't have shock towers so I don't know.... but aren't the towers too thick for a 135-140 amp welder? It seems for something like this you'd want a 175-180 amp welder.

the towers themselves arent that thick, maybe around 12-14 ga. all the attachments are heavier & give the illusion of a sturdy part, but not the case. a 135 should be plenty to fill cracks, but i wouldn't turn down anything in the 175-195 amp range as it gives you more versatility as far as the things you can weld safely.

 

[BadBlue68]

Try one of these Lincoln 135's - they are cheap and they work great. They are on eBay used.

http://www.eBay.com/itm/Lincoln-Mig-135 ... 20cc6c97a8

Thanks a ton for the link John! I will take a look at it. I have seen lots of migs on eBay in the higher amp range for around $300 but I know they are el-cheapo junk and momma didn't raise a fool, I want something name brand. A used Lincoln would do nicely. A coworker has a part time job at a local Home Depot and thinks he saw a Lincoln 180 on open item clearance for around $550, if its true I will jump on that deal. Looks like I need to surf the forum for a welder thread next.

 

[cmayna]

I use a Lincoln pro 175 or 180 (forgot the exact number) which is a 220v setup. Very nice.

 

[RyanG85]

I have the Lincoln 180c. Excellent welder! You'll need 220v for the 180. Only downside, you have to be careful on some of the thinner sheet metals. 110v welders are easier for the thin stuff but still have enough to do things like the shock towers. I went with the 180 because we get into some heaver stuff on the farm otherwise the 130 would've been fine.

 

[BadBlue68]

Just a quick update, I got the driver's side welded up. They aren't the most purdy welds around but they are strong and I was able to get good penetration with my Eastwood 135. Got primer and paint on and now it's time to start reassembly on that side and move to the
passenger side.

 

[cmayna]

Congrats Mr. Welder. Just remember if some of the welds are a little nasty looking, all you need to smooth them out is a little:

 

[Jonk67]

After you've repaired the cracks if you want to reinforce it John has a complete kit to weld in:
http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com/towerkit/

Jon

 

[BadBlue68]

A reinforcement kit like that would be great but it is a little out of the budget for now. If/when I decide to start racing it (road course) I will most likely spring for John's kit. I don't think my welds are too bad looking though, what do you guys think? I did small welds at a time to keep the paint on the other side from bursting into flames. It did, however, glow cherry red and smoke like crazy.

 

[cmayna]

Looks good to me :thu

 

[phlegm]

Glad to see I wasn't the only one who had this issue. Sorry to be late to the party, I just joined a week ago.. back in 2008 I noticed this 1.5" long crack protruding forward from the shock tower reinforcement plate forward on the passenger side shock tower.

There was also a huge gap between the reinforcement plates and the shock tower metal, before pressing it together, I could slide a 5/16" allen wrench down the whole vertical crack between the shock tower and the reinforcement plate. This picture also shows the only indication that I had a crack. in the top left corner you can see a small horizontal crack.

With the engine out my neighbor brought over his port-a-power and we pressed the plates together

After a little bit of cleaning the crack on the wheel side of the shock tower showed a lot more damage than I anticipated

I don't own a welder or have very good welding skills, this is my neighbor Todd and his 180amp 220v MIG putting things back together for me.

On both sides the reinforcement plate was eventually fully welded to the shock tower.

And on the passenger side you can see the horizontal crack repair.

And on the wheel side of the shock tower, there is a spiderweb of small welds..

After the neighbor finished with the welding, I broke out the flap wheel grinder and dressed the welds to smooth them out a little bit, just enough to make them less rough, I did not grind into any surrounding metal, and I did not grind down the welding that was done to the horizontal crack. I did not have a good picture of the wheel side, but there again, I only removed enough material to make it 'smoother' not 'smooth'.

A little rattle can primer/sealer

Followed by some rattle can semi-flat-black, also visible in this picture are a new set of UCA mount holes. I used information from Daze Cars website regarding increased Caster. I made my own plates for drilling the holes. I also bought the kit from him to build my own Roller Spring Perches (ala OpenTracker style)

And this repair was complete.