Welding sliders on - any tips?

[thezentree]

I'm FINALLY gonna get around to sticking my assembled and painted sliders on tomorrow (4xInnovations) but it's gonna be tight quarters welding those frame plates on, especially at the top of the frame.

Anyone done this before and have any tricks that might make it a little easier?

 

[kolelt]

Weld the plates first. Then weld the sliders if that’s the kind of kit you got. Otherwise most sliders they hug the bottom of the frame and not the top. Welding is hard to explain. You’ll just have to do it. There’s plenty of room with mig.

 

[GhostRing]

Not to sound self-righteous, but if you need to ask about weld technique, you may want to source out the install.
You can probably get away with a vertical-down pattern, but vert-up will give best results.
The plates on their site seem pretty straightforward square plates - which you may want to weld in a diamond orientation if room allows.

 

[rightyouareken]

Check out Timmy's slider install video if you haven't already.

YouTube

 

[Hepar]

Make sure to leave room for a little flex otherwise they'll hit the pinch weld.

 

[Angrywelder]

Cut the plates so that they are angled at the top. Your largest concern is the amount of weld from plate to frame and by cutting the top of the plates to angles you can increase the amount of weld surface and it makes accessing the plate much easier.

 

[thezentree]

Weld the plates first. Then weld the sliders if that’s the kind of kit you got. Otherwise most sliders they hug the bottom of the frame and not the top. Welding is hard to explain. You’ll just have to do it. There’s plenty of room with mig.

Yeaaah, the 4xi instructions said to weld all that shit together after it's fit up and then weld the plates to the frame. I probably should have done it your way haha.

Not to sound self-righteous, but if you need to ask about weld technique, you may want to source out the install.
You can probably get away with a vertical-down pattern, but vert-up will give best results.
The plates on their site seem pretty straightforward square plates - which you may want to weld in a diamond orientation if room allows.

Oh I can weld, just haven't done a project with such limited access before. There's like an inch, maybe an inch and a half, between the underside of the body and the top of the frame. Hard to get a MIG nozzle in there and run a good 4" long bead. I think the frame plates would have been too long to orient like a diamond, but Angrywelder has a good idea here:

Cut the plates so that they are angled at the top. Your largest concern is the amount of weld from plate to frame and by cutting the top of the plates to angles you can increase the amount of weld surface and it makes accessing the plate much easier.

This is a good idea. I will do this.

 

[Wedgy]

This is how the Stubbs sliders plates are angled at the top to aid access.
With the Stubbs you can grind down the pinch weld to clearance the 4 tubes that connect to the frame and bring them up almost a half inch higher to the body. If it's not too windy tomorrow I may get a chance to work on them tomorrow.