Kraze's Custom Roof Rack Build by drabbits

[drabbits]

Day 3,
Was rather rough, Tools: 1 Drabbits 0, well thats how it felt. lol
Before you guys mention it, the bottom rail is just tacked, not completely welded yet.. nor are the vertical supports.

Front 5 degree bend... its kinda hard to see, but its there

Till tomorrow

 

[drabbits]

Day 4,
Well what can I say, its a Saturday:cheers:

 

[Rocky5000100]

Cool to see it taking shape!

 

[drabbits]

Day 5,
Tried to post this last night but past out before I could.
Got most of it mocked up and tacked in. Still setting up shop so things went a little slower than I wanted.

 

[drabbits]

Day 6,
Got the floor welded in, mocked up the expanded metal and tacked in the vertical supports.

Laying out the expanded metal, if you'll be using it, gives you a chance to
check for straightness and take measurements.

Still trying to find my groove and comfort zone, you welder's know what I mean, here's a few beads to critique.

Had a chance to test fit the LEDs, looking pretty sweet. . . you guys gotta wait for that one.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

they're not bad. the sucky thing about working with small diameter round tube is that 80% of the weld is an out-of-position weld. i've tried all kinds of ways to get a smooth bead around the whole joint, pushing and pulling, hotter, colder, its just tricky. i'm trying a rack with my TIG welder to see how much more time consuming it is, so far its a LOT!

 

[drabbits]

they're not bad. the sucky thing about working with small diameter round tube is that 80% of the weld is an out-of-position weld. i've tried all kinds of ways to get a smooth bead around the whole joint, pushing and pulling, hotter, colder, its just tricky. i'm trying a rack with my TIG welder to see how much more time consuming it is, so far its a LOT!

Thanks man, so far pulling hot with slower feeds is working out to be the best settings. Yup, constantly out of position too. Wow, TIG welding a rack!? That is some serious welding, I've tested OxyAcetylene and the welds come out freakin awesome, but its also time consuming.

 

[drabbits]

Day 7,
guys when you start your vertical welds, put some tape over the notched ends, you could easily hurt yourself at this point.

Almost done.....
:happy:

 

[Kraze]

It's looking real nice! And that's some solid advice about the tape. I could definitely see myself getting cut on those notched ends if I was building a rack like this haha.

 

[drabbits]

Day 8, ?
Sorry guys been real busy.
Here a glimpse of the 6" LED mounts, drilled and tapped with stainless hardware.
And there's the sunroof insert bolted up.

 

[ranbar02]

Looks good. Ready to see it on your 4runner.

 

[SV_Dude]

Still trying to find my groove and comfort zone, you welder's know what I mean, here's a few beads to critique.

That's not a bad weld and will be plenty strong. But since you asked ill give some feedback. The weld looks to be a little cold or too great of wire/tip to material distance at the start and quickly gets hot towards the end.

To help eliminate a cold weld at the start you can preheat the metal by starting the weld about 1/4 inch before the start of the weld and use a pull technique straight back to where you wanted the bead to start. This will preheat the metal so you don't get a cold weld on the start of the bead.

they're not bad. the sucky thing about working with small diameter round tube is that 80% of the weld is an out-of-position weld. i've tried all kinds of ways to get a smooth bead around the whole joint, pushing and pulling, hotter, colder, its just tricky. i'm trying a rack with my TIG welder to see how much more time consuming it is, so far its a LOT!

I am by far no professional welder but my technique that works for me when welding little parts is to turn the power and wire speed down just a bit. Ill preheat the metal like stated above and do a loop weld but move 1/4 inch forward and then 1/8 inch back so I over lap my previous weld. That works for me and it almost acts as a double pass on a hot weld.

 

[SV_Dude]

The rack is looking good though!

You may want to get some better shoes when welding. If a hot drop f weld comes off the metal it will go straight through those shoes... Ask me how I know. It's one of thoe things you only do once.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

The rack is looking good though!

You may want to get some better shoes when welding. If a hot drop f weld comes off the metal it will go straight through those shoes... Ask me how I know. It's one of thoe things you only do once.

LOL!!! 98% of the time I weld in flip-flops. Its the dumbest thing ever and I do the molten metal ball under the foot dance all the time. My flip-flops look like the surface of the moon. I guess its sort of become a superstitious, traditional, my own style kinda thing. Either way, its dumb, don't try it at home!!

 

[SV_Dude]

LOL!!! 98% of the time I weld in flip-flops. Its the dumbest thing ever and I do the molten metal ball under the foot dance all the time. My flip-flops look like the surface of the moon. I guess its sort of become a superstitious, traditional, my own style kinda thing. Either way, its dumb, don't try it at home!!

The funny thing is that I have plenty of shorts and t shirts that have metal shavings and holes in them from grinding and cutting metal. But I'm pretty good about wearing boots and leather gloves while working with metal.

 

[Kraze]

Looks good. Ready to see it on your 4runner.

Same here :iagree:

The rack is looking good though!

You may want to get some better shoes when welding. If a hot drop f weld comes off the metal it will go straight through those shoes... Ask me how I know. It's one of thoe things you only do once.

That's solid advice. I always wore steel toes when I welded, from hearing one too many stories like that haha.

 

[smkd13]

Looking good bud. Tube I a ***** to weld on and get use to but you seem to be getting a hand of it. I am no professional (but will be starting welding school soon ) but your off to a good start. Just practice practice practice!!! For you application your perfectly fine with the welds your doing.

Btw a tip for next time your joining two pieces. Find a piece of tube that will slide inside the one your joining. Drill a hole on each side of te joint and then bevel the ends. Fill in the holes and them fill in the bevel. Grind down to a smooth surface and the result is a clean joint.

Idk how Josh ( [MENTION=77764]Whitson Metalworks[/MENTION] ) does his but this is just a clean way to do it

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

I've done it that way before, it works great, no doubt. Lately I've been using a 7/8" unibit to size the inside of the tube about two inches in, then barely turn down my 7/8" slug and drive it in until it seizes after the two inches of drilled tube. Then drive the other tube on with a rubber mallet. The result is a strrrraight joint, I dont butt weld them since most coatings fill the space and welding always tweaks the fit, even when two trucks couldn't pull the tubes apart running around it with the tig will pull it out of line.

 

[drabbits]

To help eliminate a cold weld at the start you can preheat the metal by starting the weld about 1/4 inch before the start of the weld and use a pull technique straight back to where you wanted the bead to start. This will preheat the metal so you don't get a cold weld on the start of the bead.

I am by far no professional welder but my technique that works for me when welding little parts is to turn the power and wire speed down just a bit. Ill preheat the metal like stated above and do a loop weld but move 1/4 inch forward and then 1/8 inch back so I over lap my previous weld. That works for me and it almost acts as a double pass on a hot weld.

Btw a tip for next time your joining two pieces. Find a piece of tube that will slide inside the one your joining. Drill a hole on each side of te joint and then bevel the ends. Fill in the holes and them fill in the bevel. Grind down to a smooth surface and the result is a clean joint.

Idk how Josh ( [MENTION=77764]Whitson Metalworks[/MENTION] ) does his but this is just a clean way to do it

I've done it that way before, it works great, no doubt. Lately I've been using a 7/8" unibit to size the inside of the tube about two inches in, then barely turn down my 7/8" slug and drive it in until it seizes after the two inches of drilled tube. Then drive the other tube on with a rubber mallet. The result is a strrrraight joint, I dont butt weld them since most coatings fill the space and welding always tweaks the fit, even when two trucks couldn't pull the tubes apart running around it with the tig will pull it out of line.

Thanks guys for all the advise, I'll be sure to give each method a go.
[MENTION=24995]SV_Dude[/MENTION], If I start 1/4" forward to heat the metal then push back 1/8" to start the weld and begin pulling, won't I have some build up when I come back down to the 1/4" heating area?

hey [MENTION=88576]smkd13[/MENTION], sounds like the cleaner look is preferred? Any advise on preventing the warpage when using this method? Thanks for the drawing, I'm digging that, whats a thread without pictures....

Seriously man, [MENTION=77764]Whitson Metalworks[/MENTION] TIG welding !!!?? :faint: Dudes, I will not be TIG welding roof racks so DO NOT ASK.
Right on man, I guess when I decide to upgrade to a stainless steel roof rack, I know where to send the dough.

 

[SV_Dude]

Thanks guys for all the advise, I'll be sure to give each method a go.
[MENTION=24995]SV_Dude[/MENTION], If I start 1/4" forward to heat the metal then push back 1/8" to start the weld and begin pulling, won't I have some build up when I come back down to the 1/4" heating area?

When I use this method ill use a push method when moving forward 1/4 inch and pull back 1/8 inch. Yes, there will be build up but the idea of only going forward 1/4 and back 1/8 inch is that the weld will still be hot and the extra weld will sink right down and spread the heat to add extra penetration. It works for me but as wmw said before... Practice, practice, practice. Everyone has their own technique and you need to find the one that works for you. The important thing to learn is to be able to identify the flaws in a weld and understand what you did to make those flaws and correct them.