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Frame back from the blaster- Tech questions

mebco09

Full Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2018
Messages
460
I just brought my frame back from the blaster, and have a couple of questions for the experts-

1. My radius arms were crusty when they went to the blaster, now they are showing some pitting where they attach to the frame. Is this amount of pitting OK, or should I think about replacing them? -OR- can I weld and grind them back into spec. (I've never done this before, but thought it might be possible)

2. I am not impressed with the factory welds, most seem pretty ugly. The attached photo is one that I am not sure about. Looks like some burn through and overall uglyness. Any concerns about the strength of this one?

Thanks in advance!
 

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bronkenn

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Bronco Guy
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Apr 27, 2017
Messages
2,662
Loc.
Southeast Ohio
That amount of pitting won't hurt anything. The factory welds are a bit ugly but they held up. I ground some of my welds and rewelded them mainly for cosmetics. I went over the whole frame and cleaned up all the welds before I painted it. Ken
 
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broncodriver99

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
4,780
Loc.
Glen Allen, VA
Your radius arms don't look too bad. I have seen far worse. I would not weld on them. They are forged parts and the last thing you want is to compromise the strength of the steel right where your front axle attaches to the truck.

I would be a little cautious on welding the frame as well. Probably not a big risk but I have seen a couple of threads on here where members reran the welds to clean them up and caused some warpage.
 

AZ73

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Bronco Guru
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Mar 28, 2012
Messages
3,541
Your radius pitting looks fine. Coat it with something like KBS to prevent future pitting.

I didn't reweld my frame, but I cleaned up all the slag and splatter before I coated it with zinc then KBS. People will powder coat it, but I wanted the ability to drill and tap future holes for the fuel line and electric brackets, fuel pumps, and other accessories AFTER it was painted. Some people say you can do that still with powder coating and it won't get rust up under it, some say you can't. I didn't want to risk it. FYI, make sure you protect your VIN. I taped over it before painting, then shot a coat of clear over it when I was done.
 
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Quick & Dirty

Sr. Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2004
Messages
826
Your radius arms don't look too bad. I have seen far worse.

Mine were quite eroded when I bought my Bronco. I replaced them with better ones. Old, rotten rubber seems to hold moisture.

7fI6JxW.jpg
 

Blue Bastard

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
2,161
^^^Yikes!!!!^^^^
Good call on replacing those.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Crawdad

Bronco Guru
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
3,635
Use massive amounts of lithium grease when sliding the bushings back on. I like using that stuff over soap. The grease lasts longer and adds a tad more protection in a wet environment.
 
OP
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mebco09

Full Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2018
Messages
460
Mine were quite eroded when I bought my Bronco. I replaced them with better ones. Old, rotten rubber seems to hold moisture.

7fI6JxW.jpg

I feel much better about mine now...

I was thinking twice about welding new motor mounts on, but judging from the factory welds, mine will fit right in. I might even be able to make mine look like a pro did it compared to what is there.
 

DirtDonk

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Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
Gotta love a freshly blasted part! That frame and those arms look great mebco.
As far as the welds are concerned, while most of them were kind of ugly, I have to say that the ones at your radius arm bracket are fuglier than most. At least most that I've seen anyway.

Are other welds as lumpy and lacking penetration as those, or were those kind of the exception?

Paul
 
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mebco09

Full Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2018
Messages
460
It looks like the lumpy welds were the ones that occurred when there was 'something' to attach, like the spring perches, that one radius arm, shock mounts. Most of these are undercut, ugly and runny. On that radius arm bracket, they welded all four sides, and then welded the assembly bolts too.

The continuous welds along the underside of the frame are pretty good.

I really only noticed how bad some of them were when we pulled the frame out of the truck upside down. They all appear to be stick welded. You can see where each pass was done. Probably before MIG was invented?

Another interesting thing that I noticed was when I pressure washed the rolling frame getting it ready for blasting. I actually blasted painted-over slag off of the welds and exposed 'new' metal. Looked like some of the welds were done yesterday. Interesting how the slag and paint protected the metal underneath. I had to do a double take, thinking that someone had to have made repairs to this frame at some point, but it was everywhere.
 

DirtDonk

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Nov 3, 2003
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MIG was around by then, but not sure how extensive it's use was in production manufacturing by the OE's. Was still kind of in the developing stages by the late-fifties and early-sixties. Guessing like many things though, the auto manufactuers were part of the cutting edge testing?
Cutting edge not being applied to Broncos in the same sentence usually though!

Welding the bolts was the standard practice on the frame brackets. But unlike many other welded areas, were often very nicely done. Not sure what was going on.

Normally I'd agree with the others to not get too deep into cleaning them up (other than some shallow surface smoothing) but in the case of those otherwise hidden welds under the brackets, I would be sorely tempted to try.

The good news though, is that they are in fact underneath and not easily visible to many. Just depends on how you feel about it all
After all, they did last this long without falling apart, so are not likely to cause any trouble in the near future either.

Good luck.

Paul
 

tirewater

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Sr. Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
1,040
Loc.
San Francisco Bay Area
Thank goodness for robot welders. Perhaps they're not great replacements for true artisan welders - but much better than crabby assembly line welders.

Although there are mistakes as seen by the new Jeep Wrangler's track bar bracket weld issues.
 

Broncobowsher

Total hack
Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
34,833
The radius arm is in good shape. It would be hard to find a better one. Even in AZ there is some degree of corrosion there.

Yes, the factory welds are generally very poor appearing, but have a very good reputation for sticking together. Pretty common to make the welds look good for a rebuild that is down to a bare frame. I would only oppose it if you were doing a perfect nut and bolt restoration.
 

73azbronco

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Nov 11, 2007
Messages
7,796
Get that grinder out and start smoothing!. Took me about 2 hours and most all of that splatter was gone.

I used Eastwood interior frame dichromate spray to coat inside.

Hada local painter epoxy my frame dark grey. Wish I just went black now but, looks nice anyway.
 

bamabaja

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Mar 25, 2012
Messages
723
Loc.
The Shoals
“I used Eastwood interior frame dichromate spray to coat inside”

Good advise to do inside of frame, will be shocked at rust, dirt, etc. Watch Matt on YouTube. I followed his method with slight mod: put cable through PEX length of frame tube and pulled back under load, made threading easier. I also attached air hose and blew out debris, then used Eastwood frame interior coating, POR 15 on frame exterior. And this after frame blasted. I thought turned out nice. Have fun !
 
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