Welding Center Frame Stiffeners

ShoeterMcgav said:

What stiffeners did you go with? How was the fitment? Your buddy already had sliders?
Did he have to cut his sliders mounting legs that go to the unibody and take 1/8" out of em and re weld them back to the sliders? Id definitely weld the slider to the stiffeners, the other option is what? Bolt on? Nah.

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Black1990jeep said:

First XJ is done with welding, it came out fairly well. friends son learned to weld and did the job with my help, this was his dads xj. We will do mine hopefully soon, got some other things going on first for my xj.

As this was his first weld project, we had to clean up some spots with grinder, but he didnt blow any big holes thru the body, nor start a big fire, and the welds although some spots are not pretty, the welds are secure,

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89Mock said:

Any idea what settings and welder you used? I assume mig and not flux core. Kid taking local welding classes to become a welder or just a 16 year old looking for something to do?

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Black1990jeep said:

These...

https://www.hooliganoffroad.com/collections/xj/products/xj-mid-stiffeners

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waxer said:

As Brian stated, stop over-thinking it.

I welded up my rocker sliders after cutting out a great deal of sheet metal to make room for it. I believe I used 2x3" or 2x4" .120 wall rec tubing and I welded those suckers in back in 2005. After a decade and a half of wheeling, with plenty of slams down on the sliders, there is no issue with welding them in. They are more secure being welded in anyways than several bolts could do.

I did tie them in to my reinforced frame rails with 1.5" HREW .120 wall tubing, as well as a full roll cage made of the same material also being tied in to the frame rails... all has been great for over a decade.

You definitely want to clean the welding area down to bare metal. None of that "I can weld through zinc crap". You want your welds to be clean and free from contaminants. It's not about welding up a nuclear anything. Contaminants can cause welds to fail, so you don't want anything in them.

Do it once and do it the right way!!!

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