Hans Moleman
New member
I thinking of doing it myself by buying this $115 Harbor Freight welder. It's cheaper than paying someone to weld it for me and I will have a welder for other uses.
Anyone do their own Body/Cab Mount Chop?
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83Mule
New member
Far from Me to say you don't NEED a new welder...........but there is no need to weld the body mount after chopping. The mount is high strength steel and the portion you cut is for wheel intrusion into the cab and is not needed for the mount's strength. Just hit the cut with a shot of Rustoleum and you are Golden! (tell your Wife you needed a welder anyway!):loco:
honda250xtitan
New member
x2, ive done a lot of welding and didn't bother welding it up. sawzall and a good blade had both sides cut in 15 min.
save up a bit longer and get a quality welder that'll last you forever.
save up a bit longer and get a quality welder that'll last you forever.
Seattle206
Senior Member
I did my own BMC with a buddy. It's pretty easy, just take your time. I've never welded anything in my life but I did my BMC thanks to the guidance of YouTube.
The HF welder you have will do a few jobs but probably won't last long after.
The HF welder you have will do a few jobs but probably won't last long after.
honda250xtitan
New member
if you're gonna cover it, do it right at least lol. Don't start your body mount bushing on fire while welding:dancin:
atchcraft
New member
I thinking of doing it myself by buying this $115 Harbor Freight welder. It's cheaper than paying someone to weld it for me and I will have a welder for other uses.
I think that this is a great idea. I use this approach for almost anything. You learn a skill, satisfaction of DIY and you get to keep a tool. Go for it!
Magnetic4R
New member
Where in the Bay are you? We should have a BMC day. haha
Jetboy
New member
I hate to throw cold water on this, but you'd be better off just leaving it open then welding it with that welder. Welding isn't something you should learn your first time in a difficult position underneath a car on a $40k vehicle. It'll end up with a crappy booger weld and look worse than just having an open hole. And it probably won't be much stronger either. It's really hard to weld properly with a really cheap welder.
Also - at a minimum you'll need a welding helmet to go with it. The hand held shield thing they throw in the box isn't going to work. Also plan on a lot of grinding to smooth out the weld that will come out of that machine. I'd probably pick up some bondo too to fill in the pits if you want to make those welds look half way decent after you grind them down before you paint it. Putty and paint can hide a lot.
At least do some practice on some other material before you try it on your 4Runner.
I really hope it works. I'm all for DIY. I did my own BMC. But my parents own a structural steel fabrication shop so I've been welding all of my life and I have proper tools in my garage. You don't need a lot of fancy tools. This isn't a hard job. But it would really help if you had someone help you with a better machine and some experience.
Good luck.
Also - at a minimum you'll need a welding helmet to go with it. The hand held shield thing they throw in the box isn't going to work. Also plan on a lot of grinding to smooth out the weld that will come out of that machine. I'd probably pick up some bondo too to fill in the pits if you want to make those welds look half way decent after you grind them down before you paint it. Putty and paint can hide a lot.
At least do some practice on some other material before you try it on your 4Runner.
I really hope it works. I'm all for DIY. I did my own BMC. But my parents own a structural steel fabrication shop so I've been welding all of my life and I have proper tools in my garage. You don't need a lot of fancy tools. This isn't a hard job. But it would really help if you had someone help you with a better machine and some experience.
Good luck.
I'm praying I don't need the BMC but we see.
I didn't think was a good idea LOL just had to throw it out there.
Like any other mod dealer needs to prove it was the cause of the failure to void warranty.
So maybe if your bushing decided to fall apart because you burnt the shit out of it they could void that.
WhiteBoomer04
New member
I bought this same welder back in 2006 for the purpose of sealing up the gap after cutting the body mount. It's a finicky little welder but has served me well on projects I would have not done myself otherwise. I love welding. Not good at it. Never do anything that's truly sketchy!
Hans Moleman
New member
I'm in SF. If you can arrange for something at a reasonable price I'm for it!
Hans Moleman
New member
I did my own BMC with a buddy. It's pretty easy, just take your time. I've never welded anything in my life but I did my BMC thanks to the guidance of YouTube.
The HF welder you have will do a few jobs but probably won't last long after.
That's awesome. I have no experience welding either so if I bought the welder, I was planning to practice welding scrap metal before welding on my truck. :hello:
The only problem I see with the cheapy HF welder is the 20% duty cycle, weld 2 mins / rest 8 mins. It's going to be a slow process.
