welding a hitch...rusty frame and hitch

[twoslo4five0]

my f350 tow rig has got some bad rust on the frame...but it has no holes...the hitch also has some rust...im gonna clean the whole frame up and cover it in rust bullet but i need to do some reinforcing to the hitch first...im thinking about adiing some like 1 to 2 inch welds to the frame were the hitch meets it...sound ok???oh im never gonna take the hitch off so dont worry about that...

 

[Pookster]

Im not an expert, but here's my two cents-

If the frame is extremely rusty, or rusty enough where you feel you need to beef up the frame at the point where the hitch is, you need to fix the frame first.

If you weld the hitch to the frame, your only applying a temporary fix- and may result in your whole frame sheering off.

here's what I would do-
strip the area of all the bolts and the hitch- If the hitch is so rusty that its falling apart, and you really want to save it, clean the hitch first in a few areas, and tack weld it so that its shape doesnt change.

sand/grind/prep the rusted frame. You could weld to add thickness, but Im no expert in that field. I'd probably beef up the areas which looked really weak by adding angle iron/ welding in patches.

 

[twoslo4five0]

nothing looks that bad yet except the bolts and washers for the hitch...the frame just has some heavy surface rust but its not flacking off yet....

 

[Pookster]

Just scrape everything down, and look for damage to the frame. Then rust bullet it.

Take the hitch and sand it down, if the welds look porous, just grind it down and re-weld

 

[OffRoad]

don't start messing with a hitch until you fix the frame. putting the hitch on a rusty frame would be like putting on a nice toque becasue it's cold out, except you've been stabbed int he head. deal with the important part first.

 

[mr.smartass]

don't start messing with a hitch until you fix the frame. putting the hitch on a rusty frame would be like putting on a nice toque becasue it's cold out, except you've been stabbed int he head. deal with the important part first.

Just had to post up and compliment you on your analogy!