Taking off some metal from pinch weld. Any thoughts?

[Skillet]

I got my sliders on and they just knock and vibrate too much against the pinch weld under DS & PS door.
Right up by the front fender well, probably just the front 8-9" of the pinch weld.

When I go around turns and hit bumps, the frame flexes just enough to cause vibration and knocking as they sit only about 1/32" from the pinch weld when truck is sitting still.

Driving me friggin' nuts.

What do you guys think about dropping the sliders off and grinding about 1/4" of the pinch weld off?

Will this cause problems?

Seems easier than trying to mess with my beautiful sliders.

Any ideas would help.

 

[Beowulf]

My pinch welds were ground off in the area above the outriggers. I haven't had any problems. Mine needed it because they were custom sliders. I thought the fit was better on the production units from Slee and Hanna.

-B-

 

[Hanna Quality]

I would not grind the pinch weld, you do not have to. Best thing is to take the slider off and use a hammer and a piece of wood in between as a punch to bend the pinch weld over. If you use a piece of wood as punch the paint will not come off.

Ken

 

[LandyLover]

I would not grind the pinch weld. Can the sliders not be loosened and re-positioned accordingly? Grinding off paint anywhere on your truck, especially where water drains from, is asking for corrosion problems. Perhaps the best scenario is from fj40 when he says to bend the lip. I would probably grab my sheet metal vice grips, which have a 2" wide jaw, and bend it in a controlled fashion if I was forced to deal with the weld.


Cheers

 

[MTNRAT]

What kind of sliders?
Sean

 

[trojan_knight]

what about taking sections of rubber fuel line and cutting it lengthwise down one side and putting it on the pinch weld where it rubs the slidder

 

[MTNRAT]

I think you just need to lower thm a bit. About 3/16 - 1/4" below the pinch weld is about right. Just loosen the bolts if it is slee or hanna, and adjust.
cheers,
Sean

 

[Beowulf]

My pinch welds were ground off ...

I need to check this. I know we relieved the area to make more clearance and I am questioning whether it was trimmed or bent. I can check this weekend to be sure.
-B-

 

[PHAEDRUS]

dont grind off the pinch welds,
they are where the outer and inner unibody side panel peices are joined with a series of spot welds, if you weaken or grind through the spot welds you can introduce water into the equation at the very least, and worse off during flex on the vehicle the weakened seam could split and crack.
If you bend it over make sure that you spray the back side of the pinch weld with some type of sealant so you dont have raw metal under there that is rubbing against more raw metal. use some 2" jaw vice grips and put a layer of tape on them or use a hard wood block and a hammer.
Dave

 

[concretejungle]

I would not grind the pinch weld, you do not have to. Best thing is to take the slider off and use a hammer and a piece of wood in between as a punch to bend the pinch weld over. If you use a piece of wood as punch the paint will not come off.

Ken

Ken, have you seriously done this?

I tried that, then after it didn't bend at all, used just the hammer, still barely bending i went for a really big hammer. Then, i said screw it and got the grinder out. I could not bend that pinch weld enough to make a difference.

So, i ground mine, then put a little paint on them to keep from rusting.

 

[cruiserdan]

Land real hard on the slider and it will clearance it's self.....

 

[ed97fzj80]

what about taking sections of rubber fuel line and cutting it lengthwise down one side and putting it on the pinch weld where it rubs the slidder

That's along the lines I was thinking -- wedge a grommet or something rubber in there to make a damper. I like the fuel line idea.

 

[concretejungle]

what about taking sections of rubber fuel line and cutting it lengthwise down one side and putting it on the pinch weld where it rubs the slidder

I tried and it eventually deteriorated/cut/fell off. Like dan said, they do deflect if you come down hard on them, so that in itself will move that pinch weld up and out of the way :hillbilly

 

[IBCRUSN]

Your body is what's flexing (mounts). I'd go with Dan's idea if your cheap or a 1" body lift otherwise.

 

[Mike S]

I just used a pair of pliers to bend the pinch welds inward where the slider supports were. No grinding, takes 3 miutes, and you can always bend them back if needed.

M

 

[heckler]

do a small body lift.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Ken, have you seriously done this?

I tried that, then after it didn't bend at all, used just the hammer, still barely bending i went for a really big hammer. Then, i said screw it and got the grinder out. I could not bend that pinch weld enough to make a difference.

So, i ground mine, then put a little paint on them to keep from rusting.

We need to redefine your definition of a big hammer

Note: There are no fraiming/carpentry hammers that fall into the BFH category.

I wish I'd had mine to show you on our trip, not sure where it is at the moment and it's kinda freakin me out. Definately the most useful tool in the tool box

Ary

 

[Cruiserhead05]

With my sliders,

They may have been mounted just a hair too high which didnt allow for a ton of flex. The first time i came done really hard on the sliders, it did as dan mentioned and bent the pinch weld very slightly.

Not exactly how i wanted to solve the problem but it worked and i didn't need to grind anything

 

[e9999]

after the sliders were installed, I just bent the lip with a screwdriver using the slider for leverage. I did chip a bit the goopy paint on there, but nothing that 1 min with a tiny paint brush couldn't fix.

 

[concretejungle]

We need to redefine your definition of a big hammer

Note: There are no fraiming/carpentry hammers that fall into the BFH category.

I wish I'd had mine to show you on our trip, not sure where it is at the moment and it's kinda freakin me out. Definately the most useful tool in the tool box

Ary

yea, yea, you got me on that one.

But seriously, my roommate builds rock walls and patios, he has a collection of rubber and BIG mini-sledges. I used a mini-sledge on it and could bend it a bit, but not enough.