I have an auto lift at the shop where I hang out. Unfortunately it is a wide model lift and it can't lift the FJ40 because the forward arms aren't long enough to reach the frame from both sides. I took a 36" long steel I-beam and welded a 1.5" diameter "pin" to each end. I can extend the forward arms, remove the pads that are normally there and insert the pins in each side and I have a bar that spans the gap between the forward arms (see photos). I put a 1/2" thick heavy rubber pad on top of the I-beam and lift the truck. It seems to work fine. However...
I have heard that welding steel can make it brittle. Is it possible that either the 1.5" steel pins or the welds could break? If that happened the I-beam could topple over on it's side and the truck would fall through the forward arms (very bad). Should I temper (is that the right word?) the pins/weld and if so how?
I am not a great welder, I don't practice enough to be very good at it. I am average at best. I do have a nice Miller MIG welder at my disposal and I understand I need to get good penetration, etc etc. I think I did ok. I welded the crap out of the joint between the pin and the beam and laid down two beads and then ground them down so the welds didn't interfere (much) with the interface between the beam and the arms of the lift. They do interfere a little there is a 1/8" gap or so between the face of the beam and the face of the lift arm due to the chamfer of the weld itself, but I didn't want to grind the entire weld away. It seems to sit quite solid and everything seemed good, but I want to be sure it is well engineered before I start horking on rusty bolts, etc....
Any advice, things I should check, alternate methods to solve the problem...?
-Tom
I have heard that welding steel can make it brittle. Is it possible that either the 1.5" steel pins or the welds could break? If that happened the I-beam could topple over on it's side and the truck would fall through the forward arms (very bad). Should I temper (is that the right word?) the pins/weld and if so how?
I am not a great welder, I don't practice enough to be very good at it. I am average at best. I do have a nice Miller MIG welder at my disposal and I understand I need to get good penetration, etc etc. I think I did ok. I welded the crap out of the joint between the pin and the beam and laid down two beads and then ground them down so the welds didn't interfere (much) with the interface between the beam and the arms of the lift. They do interfere a little there is a 1/8" gap or so between the face of the beam and the face of the lift arm due to the chamfer of the weld itself, but I didn't want to grind the entire weld away. It seems to sit quite solid and everything seemed good, but I want to be sure it is well engineered before I start horking on rusty bolts, etc....
Any advice, things I should check, alternate methods to solve the problem...?
-Tom