welding on truck ?

[heresdamanladies]

ok i have a dumb question i plan on weldng my tailgate shit and shaving my tailgate handle this week. ok the dumb question is will my truck blow up because there is gas in the tank still cause i knwo u gotta ground it to the truck? and where would be a good place to ground the wlder? i dont know which welder my dad is gonna let me use ill prob use his stick welder any thing anyone can add to help me out?? i knwo you just basicilly tack weld cause every thign will warp thanks for your guys help Jason

[sausagefingers76]

Uhh...I'm no expert but if you have to ask a question like that you probably should practice on somthing before attacking your truck. And oh yeah...i don't know. haha

[silkysmooth]

yes just find a ground anywhere metal,disconnect the battery,i dunno whether its a myth or fact but I heard they could burn up the trucks computer.

[pyros46290]

props to you if you dont burn a hole through the sheet metal with a stick welder. the tank will be fine cuz you are not welding to it. place the ground as close as possible to where you will be welding

[s10n20s]

Quote: Originally Posted by pyros46290

props to you if you dont burn a hole through the sheet metal with a stick welder. the tank will be fine cuz you are not welding to it. place the ground as close as possible to where you will be welding

what he said

[dropped94]

Quote: Originally Posted by silkysmooth

yes just find a ground anywhere metal,disconnect the battery,i dunno whether its a myth or fact but I heard they could burn up the trucks computer.

I have heard the same thing :confused:

[fknlow_01]

have you ever welded sheet metal before?

[NCHEVYHEVN]

Best to use a mig welder

[fknlow_01]

and to know how to weld sheet metal

[Scrapin S15]

and disconnect the battery ground otherwise it can short out your computer then your screwed.
oh and don't even try to weld on your body witha stick welder, your just asking for blow threw's and warping.

use a mig and tack it, wait a sec put another tack about 3" down. keep doing that till it's all done then grind her smooth ( don't push hard and keep it moving so it doesn't get to hot and warp)
then lay a coat of body filler sand repeat if needed then coat with primer/paint.

[heresdamanladies]

cool thanks alot everyone ya i was gonna go for the mig cause i heard that was better and YES i am deff gonna practice for a long while before i tackle my truck lol thanks alot for everyones help GREATLY appreciate you guys are awesome on here thx again Jason

[Futuresweets10]

Quote: Originally Posted by silkysmooth

yes just find a ground anywhere metal,disconnect the battery,i dunno whether its a myth or fact but I heard they could burn up the trucks computer.

I burned up my alarm with a welder once

[Futuresweets10]

I welded my tail gate shut then I cut it off and bought a skin. The body line doesnt line up perfect and the tail gate's curve makes the part under the body line a bitch to get it to line up. then you have the gap between the gate and roll pan that needs filled and its a compound curve. In the long run you will save alot of time, money, and frustration just buying a skin

[dumpeds10]

it is very ture that you can burn up your ecm by not disconnecting the battery i have also herd if you are doing welding very close or right on the engine block you will welld the rings to the cylinder walls

[Wrkn prgs]

Quote: Originally Posted by NCHEVYHEVN3

Best to use a mig welder

mig welders own

[BigBassInside]

The unhooking of the battery is no myth, the electrical current from the welder can short out the current going to the computer. I've forgot to unhook the battery before welding on my truck, and didn't hurt anything, but it's always better safe than buying a new computer system for your truck. You should also leave the battery unhooked about 10-15 minutes before welding so that the airbag reserve backup battery goes dead as well. Same case with the welding currents and airbags, they can cause them to deploy.

you are going to want to use a mig welder. set the wire feed on a low setting and the current on probably the second setting. DO NOT run beads because you will warp the metal, just tack it. this will be time consuming but you will get the best results. to make things easier get some welders putty. this actually absorbs the heat allowing you to weld over a greater distance. Do Not just tack around the area in a straight line, do some on the bottom ten the top and keep going back and forth. you want the area to cool before you start welding there again because, again, excessive heat will warp or even melt the metal (this is called burn through). when you ground, make sure you ground to a bare metal spot closest to your weld area. Do disconnect your battery. if you weld on a metal table leave a no magnetic metal object on it. after you weld on that table you will now have a magnetized piece of metal. if you use a stick (arc) welder there is a very good chance you will have a bad case of burn through. Enjoy! and use yer head