Cracked weld need advice

[odinskind]

So I was doing routine maintenance on my 200 and decided to inspect my bumper. I unfortunately found that the factory weld between the frame and the stock bumper mount is cracked. The crack is on both sides and facing outwards. The weld is holding around the rest of the frame. I don't know how long it has been like this.

I have to make a decision on what to do. Many of you may know that I'm currently serving in a very underdeveloped west African country. In the states i'm sure this would be a relatively easy fix for any skilled fabrication shop, but here "skill" is measured differently. Today, went to the best welder the embassy mechanic knows. He does all the work for our embassy's land cruisers, and my mechanic is very confident in the dude's skills. His shop is uh a shack I'm not exactly sure what kind of welding machine he has. I asked if its a mig ( didn't see it) but I'm thinking its stick. Ideally I'd like it to be made stronger, like cut the factory mount off the frame and have a 1/4" steel gusseted mount fabricated. That's a bit more than I'm comfortable with letting this guy handle. I just need it to last 1 more year until I get to Quito, and have access to a skilled shop. Anyway, the options I have are:

1) seal the crack

2) seal the crack and weld 4mm plate to the factory bumper plate

3) cut the factory weld/ bumper plate mount and have him fabricate a new one.

* wild card... I have the opportunity to buy a miller mig, tig, stick generator welder at auction this weekend. I haven't welded since high school. I could practice for a month on scrap and try my hand at it.

Ultimately, I want it strong enough not to break off while I'm here, and definitely don't want the repair to cause more damage/work for a future skilled shop to fix.

I'll post pics in a few hours when I get out of the office.

 

[TonyP]

If it's where I think. Re-weld and gussett. I had my front bumper mounts gussetted just for added security/strength (also clearance of not having a wrap around plate to mount to the bottom tow hook captive nuts). That said, I winched 7500lb rigs off angle in Moab and my non-gusseted mounts held up.

Like so, may be adding another gusset on the top just to ease my mind further.

 

[odinskind]

If it's where I think. Re-weld and gussett. I had my front bumper mounts gussetted just for added security/strength (also clearance of not having a wrap around plate to mount to the bottom tow hook captive nuts). That said, I winched 7500lb rigs off angle in Moab and my non-gusseted mounts held up.

Like so, may be adding another gusset on the top just to ease my mind further.

Yup that's the exact spot. I like that gusset idea...

 

[odinskind]

Here are the pics

 

[bloc]

Not good.

I think at the very least people that really plan on using winch bumpers should look into completing the welds around the whole back of the plate. Seems they only did top and sides from the factory.

If it were mine I'd be cutting the remaining welds and fabricating much thicker plates to replace those bumper mount flanges. They are clearly too thin and bending, which is allowing the force to be applied to one weld, or one part of a given weld, at a time, instead of distributing it across all of them.

 

[linuxgod]

IIRC there was a thread somewhere in which an Aussie group had a similar issue. There was some debate here I think as to whether they had simply mounted their bumper to the old bumper mount points, or had threaded a rod through the frame higher up like the ARB/TJM/etc instructions say to do. I don't recall which bumper you have @odinskind but I would not be surprised if a bumper mounted solely to the old Toyota bumper mount which is designed to support a 25# aluminum bumper underneath the plastic cover and not a 150# steel monstrosity cracked that mount.

Hey @reevesci, since my bumper is on order and I haven't seen how it assembles yet, guess I should ask if you use the same sort of upper mount as ARB/TJM/etc as well, or just rely on the lower mounting points.

 

[linuxgod]

Found the threads:
anyone own a LC200 with a Toyota Steel or Alloy bullbar?
and
Australian 200 with chassis problems...


FYI Toyota issued a recall for (non-US) vehicles fitted with the Toyota OEM bull bar - 200 SERIES CRUISER RECALL

"On Land Cruiser 200 model vehicles where fitted with Toyota genuine bull bars, especially if they operate
for long periods in harsh usage conditions such as corrugated roads, the bull bar mounting bracket design
allows excessive load to be applied to the front frame portion that supports the bull bar. This can result in
cracking of the frame welds.
• If the vehicle with the frame cracked is continued to be driven in these conditions, in the worse case, the
crack increases, which potentially may result in the bull bar detaching from the vehicle.
Note:
This condition is purely results from inadequate bull bar mounting bracket design. Therefore only vehicles fitted
with genuine bull bars are involved (Non-genuine bull bars have independently engineered mounting brackets). "

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

^^^ this is why, I keep bringing up mounting designs on these newer frames that have crush features.

The whole, “my bumper is so strong” doesn’t matter when it just moves the stress to something else. Like the much more expensive frame.

Same to be said for sliders, control arms, axles, driveline, everything.

I’m sorry to say this at a time when odinskind needs help, but maybe this will help others think about the deeper detail when buying products.

@odinskind, if you want to do it as good as you can with what you got. That bumper needs to come off. Then do the best you can to get the best penetration with whatever welder you can get. If that’s a stick, it’s gonna suck, but at least your bumper won’t fall off and damage your truck as you run over it.

When you install the bumper again, pull your winch out. I know you’ll want it, but you need to drop weight from a weakened front end.

Do what you can, and when you get back, you can have a legit shop cut all that stuff off and do it right.

If you can find a MIG and can practice on some spare stuff till you feel good enough, then great. But in the mean time, that bumper is a ticking time bomb.

I know your not in a combat area, so it’s not as life and death, but I just worry about if you had to get moving that truck at some speed, and then all hell breaks loose... literally.

I had a newer Hilux around me in Afghan that has some janky metal “bumper” welded to the front of it. Some situation, they inspected the trucks every week. They found it, thought it could last another week, nope. Bumper fell off at 30 mph. Image hitting a bumper at 30 mph. Just say goodbye to the front suspension.

That’s my .02, I might be a little paranoid of what could happen, but I feel it’s better to be safe than sorry. Especially for where your at right now.

 

[odinskind]

Some solid advice guys. Thanks for the info. Bad place to be dealing with this but it is what it is. I’m just in further damage prevention mode now. Very glad I found that crack though, before something catastrophic happened. I’ll pull the winch. Have the local guy do the best he can. then have it all done right when I move on from here.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Some solid advice guys. Thanks for the info. Bad place to be dealing with this but it is what it is. I’m just in further damage prevention mode now. Very glad I found that crack though, before something catastrophic happened. I’ll pull the winch. Have the local guy do the best he can. then have it all done right when I move on from here.

And brother, if you need supplies, some metal, fasteners, whatever. Just let me know, I’ll send some stuff.

 

[RET2]

7018 DC negative stick will get a stronger weld than wire?