Family haulin'

GLTHFJ60 · 03-12-09, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boots4

Thanks, I do plan on making a new cart, something more vertical with a place to wrap the cabling for the gun and grounding clamp. Plus those skinny wheels don't do so well on soggy grass so probably some wheels with more "floatation". I've been eyeing this big-wheeled radio flyer cart at Harbor frieght that I could modify.

There you go. Buy a radio flyer and cut it up to mount the batteries. That would be a badass setup as well.

I know this has been covered earlier, but it looks like you have spots for two more batteries. Ever use more than 2 batteries?

boots4 · 03-12-09, 07:11 PM

I didn't realize how much juice my setup puts out until I played with that miller 175 at Zach's. When welding with that machine I can "lay" the bead in, but with mine I "burn" it in. If I need to close in a small gap I have to stitch it or I will burn holes though it. I'm talking 1/4 stuff with my dial set to 1 (no wonder I hate playing on sheet metal!). This is all with .35 wire and I'm just on my last roll of .35 so I'm going to go with .30 to reduce the power a little.

There are two ways to reduce the power with the ready welder and one is by voltage so I could run 18v instead of 24v but that would mean another charger for my setup. The other way is to reduce the size of my wire. I had read that .35 was a good overall size wire but I'm thinking that for my setup .30 will work a little better for what I want to use it for. I'll get good penetration with a little less heat. Plus after play with MIG I'm tempted to get a bottle and some solid wire because it's a little easier than fluxed core IMO.

So the long answer is no I haven't tried more batteries because it already has plenty of juice.

GLTHFJ60 · 03-12-09, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boots4

I didn't realize how much juice my setup puts out until I played with that miller 175 at Zach's. When welding with that machine I can "lay" the bead in, but with mine I "burn" it in. If I need to close in a small gap I have to stitch it or I will burn holes though it. I'm talking 1/4 stuff with my dial set to 1 (no wonder I hate playing on sheet metal!). This is all with .35 wire and I'm just on my last roll of .35 so I'm going to go with .30 to reduce the power a little.

There are two ways to reduce the power with the ready welder and one is by voltage so I could run 18v instead of 24v but that would mean another charger for my setup. The other way is to reduce the size of my wire. I had read that .35 was a good overall size wire but I'm thinking that for my setup .30 will work a little better for what I want to use it for. I'll get good penetration with a little less heat. Plus after play with MIG I'm tempted to get a bottle and some solid wire because it's a little easier than fluxed core IMO.

So the long answer is no I haven't tried more batteries because it already has plenty of juice.

Gotcha. I'm planning on getting into welding myself as soon as I can afford it and this system seems like a pretty inexpensive way to get some weld time. This looks like it will be the route I'll be traveling. Thanks for the tips!

EDIT: So you ordered the one with the NATO power plugs, wired the batteries in series then wired your charger directly to the terminals, correct? Sorry for the quick hijak, but welding is exciting to me.

boots4 · 03-13-09, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLTHFJ60

EDIT: So you ordered the one with the NATO power plugs, wired the batteries in series then wired your charger directly to the terminals, correct? Sorry for the quick hijak, but welding is exciting to me.

In all honesty I'm not sure it's that much cheaper by the time you buy batteries and a charger. The main advantages I see are it's portability (that was a big one for me and I can bring it on the trail) and not having to run a 220V line somewhere and it's power. It is cheaper electricity wise though.

Yes I bought the one with the "cold switch" (10000ADP-CS) that turns off the tip when the trigger is let go. I figured for a new welder like myself more safety was better. Configuration is as you stated. I wired the batteries in series and the charger has two sets of leads that are wired to the +/- of each battery. I choose a marine charger because they are made to charge battery banks where they are wired to each other (powering electric trolling motors, etc.).

GLTHFJ60 · 03-15-09, 07:29 PM

Excellent. Thank you!

jeffsclan · 03-15-09, 08:24 PM

There is a good article on pirate about the ready welder. I think its worth reading. I was surprised by how much power can be had with battery type welding.

GLTHFJ60 · 03-15-09, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffsclan

There is a good article on pirate about the ready welder. I think its worth reading. I was surprised by how much power can be had with battery type welding.

Good call. Thanks for the tip.

Pirate Ready Welder Review

Dirtgypsy · 03-16-09, 03:34 PM

how are the sliders coming?

Clint

boots4 · 03-16-09, 08:45 PM

I got the passenger side finished minus paint today and started on the scab plates for the driver side and ran out of wire. I should have the driver side wrapped up tomorrow after I get some more wire. I think I'll weigh that one before I burn it on just because I'm curious.

I also ordered a low-profile steering joint to clear the shock body. If that comes in by this weekend I'll bring that to play with at the bearing packing party.

boots4 · 03-19-09, 11:05 AM

I cut out some scab plates for the frame. I also cut the bottoms off and used those pieces as gussets on top.

Did a couple of mock ups to find where to clean off the frame and where I wanted to put the plates on the frame.

I ran to a welding supply store and picked up a 10lb spool of .30 flux core wire and then wound up a couple of my empty 1lb spools. One of the tips was to try running .30 flux core in a .35 tip so I gave that a try and find I have better control and it's easier to fill small gaps. I'm getting great penetration so I think I'll be sticking to .30 wire, for flux core anyways.

I lined the sliders back up and started burning them in.

I chose a finger salute for spacing between the door and outrigger.

And then a pinky width between the rocker and slider.

Here's how they turned out.

Thought I'd try out the high lift test to see how the slider mounts flex.

The slider/rocker clearance was good under weight but the door/outrigger might end up rubbing with full weight on it. I'll have to see how they do in the field to see if I will need more gusseting but for now I think I'll leave them.

I cleaned up the welds and slapped some paint on the frame. It'll definitely make washing the top of the rig much easier to reach.

I had some daylight left so I started cutting parts for the 1/4 protection. I'll wrap these into the rear bumper and get some tube bent up.

brokenparts · 03-19-09, 11:14 AM

well done!

jdholder · 03-19-09, 11:27 AM

Wow - very cool - wanna sell it?

Dirtgypsy · 03-19-09, 02:47 PM

I agree. well done mike!! I really like the lines. very clean. your welds are looking very good as well.

clint

boots4 · 03-19-09, 03:22 PM

Thanks guys.

GLTHFJ60 · 03-19-09, 04:40 PM

Looks awesome!

Falco80 · 03-19-09, 05:36 PM

Great work Mike, I look forward to your weekly updates!

mrqtipp · 03-19-09, 07:44 PM

great job!

Tapage · 03-20-09, 09:53 AM

Mike .. you can start your own bussiness ..

LC_Hamma · 03-20-09, 09:55 AM

Fawesome thread man! Very clean fabwork & tasteful mods. I didn't see a tranny/ tcase skid in the last few pages. Is there one or are you planning that soon? At least you don't get "how much does that thing weigh" on every page

boots4 · 03-20-09, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LC_Hamma

Fawesome thread man! Very clean fabwork & tasteful mods. I didn't see a tranny/ tcase skid in the last few pages. Is there one or are you planning that soon? At least you don't get "how much does that thing weigh" on every page

The belly pan is on the list. Definitely need to get that done before I head to Rubiton in June! I like having access to parts so I'm probably not aiming for a solid piece from one side to the other. She'll definitely gain a few more pounds once I get the rest of the protection on.

esh · 03-23-09, 03:05 PM

I can't find the pics, but Luke put collars on the square tube when he installed my sliders. I think they help keep them from moving. I haven't noticed any movement with the full weight of the loaded truck on them.

boots4 · 03-24-09, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esh

I can't find the pics, but Luke put collars on the square tube when he installed my sliders. I think they help keep them from moving. I haven't noticed any movement with the full weight of the loaded truck on them.

How big/long are the collars?

boots4 · 03-26-09, 11:05 AM

Don't have any work updates since I've been helping out with SOA on Dirtgypsy's rig but I do have a video of last saturday Cascade Crusiers Bearing Packing party. We didn't get all of the crazy weather like last year but it was wet and super slick. The video is stills of Dora and video of Creepersleeper on 37s and the MetalTech FJ cruiser crushing some cars. I was allowed to go first and it was my first time mounting cars.

Video:

CascadeCruisers BPP 03-09

esh · 03-28-09, 10:54 PM

I can't find a pic anywhere of a collar. If you have looked around Medusa's rig, it is similar to how he anchors his cage. About a 3/8" thick collar, ID matches OD of mount tube.

I might be up there tomorrow, so if I'm around my 62 I'll take a shot.

EWheeler · 03-28-09, 11:21 PM

[quote=boots4;4259002]
One of the tips was to try running .30 flux core in a .35 tip [quote]

I would have never thought of that. Tried it out today with my RW & had much better success with the .35 tip compared to the .30. Thanks for sharing.

esh · 03-29-09, 07:16 PM

here it is (drove it today, muahaha)

boots4 · 03-31-09, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esh

here it is (drove it today, muahaha)

Congrats on driving it and thanks for the pic. I have that size square tubing to do what you've posted. If my supports aren't enough after a few trial slides I'll sleeve them like that.

boots4 · 04-07-09, 10:50 AM

Here are just a few of the stills I put in that video. I liked them so i thought I'd add them.

This is when the rear glass on that wagon popped.

Coming back the other way. This damage was just with one pass.

To add some tech to this post I'll show what I did for my steering. The cruiser joint was rubbing on the front shock during driver droop (results from repositioning shocks). To get more clearance I tried grinding off a little material on the joint but that wasn't enough so I started looking for smaller steering joints. I measured the steering shaft at 3/4" and counted the splines as 36 spline from a spare steering joint brokenparts didn't need anymore and he gave me. I measured the shaft and not the spline section and that was my mistake. The steering shaft spline section is smaller than the non-spline section so the actual specs for the fine spline section is:

11/16" x 36 spline

I found this out after my joint was ordered (3/4" x 36 spline) and it was a hair too big. I was going to turn the steering shaft around and put the fine spline ends together with my ordered joint. I was going to move the 21 spline slip section to the joint just coming out of the firewall and and it would have all plugged together. Well, since I didn't want to wait to return the new steering joint and look for another one I just started modifying. I cut up the original steering joint I tried to clearance and mated it to the new steering joint I bought. I cut off some length from the new joint, lined the ends up and tacked it together. I used a flaming river low profile 3/4" x 36spline (on both ends) steering joint.

I test fit the modified joint and it worked so then I took out the u-joint and welded them up. I double passed on the fine spline section and triple passed on the slip spline section. After it all cooled I put it together and tested by turning the wheels on concrete. Nothing looked weak and I've taken a few road trips on it and a wheeling trip on it so I'm confident in it's strength. I now have plenty of clearance between the shock and the steering joint.

The unfortunate finding is that my front 5150s are now leaking. I'm getting the growingly common oil seal leak that plagues these shocks. Looks like I'll be looking for new front shocks soon and I will be staying away from the 5150s; however, my rear 5125s are holding up fine.

brokenparts · 04-07-09, 11:09 AM

nice... glad to hear the steering came out.

boots4 · 04-16-09, 02:01 PM

We took off to a beach house for a couple of days and then had family in town for a week so cruiser work had slowed down. I took them wheeling in the snow and had a fun time. Family is gone and we're back to the normal routine so I had some time to scratch on some metal.

With the sliders done I moved towards the back. I had already cut the rear quarter sliders and just needed to mount them. I originally slapped this bumper together to get a solid hitch and left it unfinished. This is phase two of my rear bumper with at least one more phase planned.

Since my mud flaps got pulled off I cleaned up the frame and welded on some scab plates where the mud flap mounts used to be. I'll mount the mud flaps further back but didn't get to them this week.

Then I grabbed the rear sliders and positioned them how I wanted. I put a slight slope in them.

They felt like they stuck out really far but the tire is still further out then them, plus I still want to put tube on them so I decided to continue.

I cut some support legs. I wanted to be able to remove the bumper so I fashioned some mounting plates to tie the slider to the frame.

Cut some angle into the slider side support.

I wanted the support to follow the body angles. It's ready to tack up.

For the frame side support I wanted to try out ESH's suggestion with the sleeve so I got one ready. The frame side has a slight angle to it but not as much as the slider side.

Here it is all tacked together. I tacked on the slider side first, then the mounting plates (I kept them bolted together so the holes would stay lined up), and then fit the frame side support.

Once everything fit well I removed the bumper and started welding away. With the sliders on I wanted to finish off the ends of the bumper so I cut a wedge out of the bottom. The bumper is upside down and here's the cut doing a banana peel.

Got out the clamps and brought down the peel. I'd clamp, tack, move the clamps, tack some more, until the flap was secure.

I cut pieces out of a big pipe I have and used those to make rounded corners, smoothed it all out with a sanding disk and threw some paint on it. Had dinner, mowed the lawn and then got the

to help me put the bumper on the truck. By this time it was dark so I have no pics of it on the truck yet but I'll get some soon. I needed it on the truck for this saturday's clean-up at some local trails and I'm bringing my trailer so I needed my bumper to tow. Anyways, I placed the bumper on my splitter to paint it and it turned out being well balanced. It's balancing on the splitter maul which it only 1" wide.

The holes lined up and I got all the bolts tightened up. The next phase will be some tube for more quarter panel protection. I'll just need to coordinate with Brokenparts for bending more tube.

Protection projects still needed:

Real front bumper/front fender protection
Belly pan
(different kind of protection) Axle Anti-wrap bar