I was just wondering what all of you consider a hack job on an air bag set up (especially those who do bagging for a living). I can weld good enough to hold pretty much anything, but my beads are extremely ugly and in some cases I wouldnt even call them beads (but they hold great). I built my own gas tank and its ugly but wont be seen. On the gas tank I didnt have perfect luck getting a water/gas tight bead so I used gas tank sealer and it works good. Would this be considered a hack job (I hope not) or is a hack job more of anything that is to weak and unsafe?
Hack Job??
Futuresweets10
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I was just wondering what all of you consider a hack job on an air bag set up (especially those who do bagging for a living). I can weld good enough to hold pretty much anything, but my beads are extremely ugly and in some cases I wouldnt even call them beads (but they hold great). I built my own gas tank and its ugly but wont be seen. On the gas tank I didnt have perfect luck getting a water/gas tight bead so I used gas tank sealer and it works good. Would this be considered a hack job (I hope not) or is a hack job more of anything that is to weak and unsafe?
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Well, the welds on my notch will look ok after they are ground down, my welds just usually have to much on the top of them but they have good penetration. The gas tank is the worst part, but I am confident that I will hold up and its going to be in the bed which is going to be welded shut over the top so it doesnt matter what it looks like. The reason it is so damn ugly is I had to weld it a few times to try to get it leak proof so there are about 3 beads on top of one another ( I will post pics soon).
I just wanted some general opinons on what a hack job is.....
I just wanted some general opinons on what a hack job is.....
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having to grind welds down for the notch is a little hack for me...
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:stupid:
If you have to ask it prolly is. If there is any thing that you can see at a glace thats F'ed, its hacked...bascily every truck will have some flaws for the most part but as long as there aren't a hand full it wont be a hack job. Ugly welds happen, weather its due to the welder making a mistake or the machine acting up..do your best to make it the best fix it or redo or hide it..hehe
All my welds on my BD are going to have to be ground even tho they wont be seen ... i will know that there ugly and it bugs me knowing that.
Grinding welds isn't hacking ethier...they are called finshing disks for a reason man...makes it look like a finshed product. IMO having something look as if it had never been welded and that looks best.
If you have to ask it prolly is. If there is any thing that you can see at a glace thats F'ed, its hacked...bascily every truck will have some flaws for the most part but as long as there aren't a hand full it wont be a hack job. Ugly welds happen, weather its due to the welder making a mistake or the machine acting up..do your best to make it the best fix it or redo or hide it..hehe
All my welds on my BD are going to have to be ground even tho they wont be seen ... i will know that there ugly and it bugs me knowing that.
Grinding welds isn't hacking ethier...they are called finshing disks for a reason man...makes it look like a finshed product. IMO having something look as if it had never been welded and that looks best.
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I agree with clean n low on the grinding welds thing. My main reason for asking was aboutt he gas tank. I was just wondering if something that will never be seen that is ugly would make the job hack job in peoples opinions. I dont think It is anywhere near a hack job so Im not worried about that
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i don't know, usually " too much weld on top" and good penetration DON'T go hand in hand. I would practice a little more before I welded on some frames. Grinding down a bead is not that big of a deal IF you have proper penetration, and excellent joint fit up. Otherwise you are taking you chances.
If you want to be certain, I would get 2 pieces of steel, the thinkness of your notch and weld them together. Now grind down the weld like you were doing it on the frame. Once you are done just hit it with a hammer a few times. I can almost guarantee ( from what you are describing about your welds) it will start cracking with a few taps. If you must grind the welds on the step notch, makes sure your top capsfit JUST in between the 2 side plates. That way you will have a "shelf" to fill up with weld. Then you can just go back and barely hit the top edge and side edge wuith a grinder and you are done, smooth, safe, strong, and you took away VERY little metal.
Since I am kinda anal, I think ANYTHING with bad looking beads, is hack. I dont understand how people can say " my bead looks like crap, but it's strong." Show me the bead and I can point out ALL the week spots an " ugly but strong" bead has!
Not to pick on you or anything, I just would rather speak the truth than have you hurt yourself, or others!
Good luck
t
If you want to be certain, I would get 2 pieces of steel, the thinkness of your notch and weld them together. Now grind down the weld like you were doing it on the frame. Once you are done just hit it with a hammer a few times. I can almost guarantee ( from what you are describing about your welds) it will start cracking with a few taps. If you must grind the welds on the step notch, makes sure your top capsfit JUST in between the 2 side plates. That way you will have a "shelf" to fill up with weld. Then you can just go back and barely hit the top edge and side edge wuith a grinder and you are done, smooth, safe, strong, and you took away VERY little metal.
Since I am kinda anal, I think ANYTHING with bad looking beads, is hack. I dont understand how people can say " my bead looks like crap, but it's strong." Show me the bead and I can point out ALL the week spots an " ugly but strong" bead has!
Not to pick on you or anything, I just would rather speak the truth than have you hurt yourself, or others!
Good luck
t
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at least you can say your doing alot if not all of the work yourself and didn't drop it off at a shop with a credit card and say "here ya go". that to me is an accomplishment. a hack job to me is what just happend to my friends truck. instead of bringing it to me and my dad, he took it to this guy i told him would mess up his truck. well one notch is 10" long, one is 13", his back frame is bent and bowed upwards, and he has 7" of block. that my friend, is a hack job. just because your welds dont look the best doesnt mean shit. if they have good penetration, and will hold, then that is all you need. if you are doing everything with just the tools you have, sometimes your work won't come out as good as a shops would. so IMO, **** all these people that are saying "booger welds make it a hack job". if they hold, then all is good. later.
EDIT: just to let you all know, i would much rather have pretty welds, and dragginbalz, i see what you are saying about the welds not looking good. normally if you have good penetration, then the weld will look pretty good so with that being said, if you can't weld that good, take it to someone because you cant use seam sealer to strengthen up a notch.
EDIT: just to let you all know, i would much rather have pretty welds, and dragginbalz, i see what you are saying about the welds not looking good. normally if you have good penetration, then the weld will look pretty good so with that being said, if you can't weld that good, take it to someone because you cant use seam sealer to strengthen up a notch.
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I dont constitute a hack job just by ugly welds. A hack job to me is using inferior components or ill-designed suspension systems. When stuff is falling off because its junk, or the handling or the ride quality goes to hell, when lines and bags start blowing from rubbing or using non D.O.T. lines and fittings or a suitable hardline. There is no doubt that you can build inexpensive systems and have a nice legitimate suspension but when the word CHEAP is used to defend some cobbled up crap...... its a hack job.
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strong welds and good looking welds are one in the same....a nice even bead means nice even penetration.....later, Jon
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couldn't have said it better myself... :thumbup:Tony@AirRideTech said:
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Well, my cousin is a welder and he taught me the basics. The reason my welds are sometimes to big on the top is because of moveing to slow in some areas. As far as the testing goes I already did that and it was on some 1/4in plate steel. I ground it down and hammered at it as much as I could. The metal bent like crazy but no cracks and no breaking. In my opinon makeing a pefect looking bead requires alot of steadyness, but makeing a strong bead isnt that hard. Another problem I have is limited visibility, I think I need a liter lense in my helmet, but I will get that fixed before I do the actual notch (Anyone know what #lense is recommended for MIG?)dragginbalz said:
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I will try to get some pics tonight of the gas tank, and the new gas tank crossmember I built last night. Also, could someone help me out with the welding. Should I be pushing or pulling, should I just go in a straight line or should I do a C (or almost zig zag shape)? Thanks
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pull when welding... and i hope your not welding your notch with a wire feed welder....
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