@scouthead
So you just ended welding the cracks and scraped the weld on ORD thing completely? Has it held up?
In another thread I read people having to shave the steering box etc to get everything flush... seems a lot of work for a "weld-on" product.
yeah, in my case it looked like a stronger /better option to repair the cracks with my best efforts... grind a V into the cracks... hit it with enough amperage to show a bit of pentation on the backside, and making sure the puddle filled the groove and lapped over just a bit - not removing all the weld bead, but making sure box contact places were flat, and doing some clean up with the flap disc to reduce anything that looked like stress risers... also weld the inside of the cracks where they could be reached. I believe I bolted in the diagonal brace and torqued it a bit without the box in place- left it there as long as I could work around it. thought maybe that would help keep post weld shrinking and stresses limited? maybe who knows.
end product was just the repaired cracks, and the diagonal brace on the inside. also, the diagonal brace bolted in tight to the frame, and did not fit up tight to the crossmember - this actually worked out ok as I used a washer between the brace and crossmember- everything tightened down well without putting a bunch of stress on things, and i kind felt like that might allow the brace and crossmember connection point to flex a little bit when things start twisting up? also don't know, but sounded good in theory.
as far as I'm concerned, once the cracks appear, the original frame material is fatigued to a point where the cracks will keep coming back if not reinforced somehow? but at the same time you don't want to stiffen that tiny area so much that everything around it is cracking?????
It has help up great to light use on 35 inch tires for 5-7 years now... and then last thanksgiving in the death valley area, I abused the heck out of that poor truck. Did things for hours on end that left me saddle sore and aren't exactly what I consider my preferred "bang for the buck" wheeling... unfortuenately until we go over the boulders and down the trail, and over the other boulders, and the other boulders, and the other boulders, and the others, and the others, and the others.... there was no way of knowing what was at the end. My k5 did everything the 4 door log arm Rubicon did, and did it with more flare and style... couple of tricked out v8 cherokees were less worried about damage, and as they passed me they dubbed big blue "THE BEAST"...
I was happy to get the thing home in one piece without a tow truck getting involved. as far as I know the frame is still fine, but it may be time to scrub it down for an inspection.
