Welding tailgate hinge
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Welding tailgate hinge
the drivers side bottom tailgate hinge that the actual tailgate slides into rusted out. The hinge itself is replaceable, but that is so rusted in that I can’t remove it (had a carbide “drill out” bit break iff in it too).
Plan is to just grind down the remaining portion of the rusted knub and weld a new piece on
Picked up a 90 amp flux welder to do the job. Have other uses for the welder to, so figured might as well get one.
Last time I welded was in shop class in the early 70’s.....
my question is - where should I attach the ground for the welder? I can’t attach it to the piece I’m welding because it’s too small. Can I just attach it to the truck frame or tow hitch?
Plan is to just grind down the remaining portion of the rusted knub and weld a new piece on
Picked up a 90 amp flux welder to do the job. Have other uses for the welder to, so figured might as well get one.
Last time I welded was in shop class in the early 70’s.....
my question is - where should I attach the ground for the welder? I can’t attach it to the piece I’m welding because it’s too small. Can I just attach it to the truck frame or tow hitch?
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2015
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1st things first, if you are welding on the truck make sure to disconnect the batteries first. If not, you could burn up the computers.
Honestly, you could probably grab the striker for the tailgate latch and that should be a good ground for what youre working on.
Can you post up some pictures and show what youre working with?
Honestly, you could probably grab the striker for the tailgate latch and that should be a good ground for what youre working on.
Can you post up some pictures and show what youre working with?
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Logistics Pro
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THis is the knub that i’m going to grind down and weld another piece on. Can see the broken silver bit in the top screw. I’ve been using that brown board to let the tailgate sit on it so that i can close it
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2015
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Youre going to want to expose bare metal right there where you want to weld and then clean the flux off and hit it with some spray paint afterward. I think the hardest part is going to be getting the hinge located in the correct spot.
Also, dont forget safety. Keep an extinguisher or something handy to put out fire if it shows up. I almost burned an old blazer to the ground one day. I was welding on the door frame and blew through it, caught some interior pieces on fire and I had no way to put it out.
Also, dont forget safety. Keep an extinguisher or something handy to put out fire if it shows up. I almost burned an old blazer to the ground one day. I was welding on the door frame and blew through it, caught some interior pieces on fire and I had no way to put it out.
Lead Driver
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 6,259
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From: IL
With the 90 amp flux core, your going to spatter all over the place, I would remove the tail light assembly on that side and pull the wire harness out of the way, just in case you get too hot or burn through. cover as much area around the welding area with wet towels so the spatter doesn't stick to other parts of the truck body.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Southern Colorado
The general rule is to ground as close to the welding area as possible. You don't want the current going through anything (bearings, wiring, etc.) on the way to making the weld connection.
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Got it done....ain’t pretty, but it works and I didn’t blow anything up or burn anything down. Could only put the welds in one side because there wasn’t any space to get behind or underneath it. Biggest problem I had was I couldn’t really see through the welding helmut. I had to kind of place the wire were i wanted it with the helmut up, then put it down and pull yhe trigger for a few seconds.
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Not the replacement plate with the knub on it because I think it would have stuck out too far and I wouldn’t be able to get the tail gate on. It’s also not exactly flat - it bumps out where the knub is. I had purchased a replacement piece before I discovered that the old one was too rusty to get off, so I grinded the knub off the new piece and welded that on.
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I tried to remove the bolts with one of those carbide “drill out” bits (or whatever they’re called) but the bit broke and is now stuck inside the bolt. You can see the stuck silver carbide tip in the first picture in the top bolt.
If the bolts weren’t rusted solid it would have been a simple fix.
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