[Unknown User]

ok,,,i'm fed up and i'm about to make my own strut tower bars out of sway bars, and steel plate. the only thing is, should i do this with an arc welder(which is all i have for now) or a mig? i've done VERY little with both, but have seen more mig welding done and it looks like it's harder to screw up. and also, what is the gas for on a mig welder? can i work without it? because i am making my own bars, it's obvious that i don't want to spend alot of $$$ because i am a cheap ass. any help would be appreciated(but not monetarily)(again, because i am a cheap ass)

 

[Z-Fan]

If you don't use the gas on a MIG welder wouldn't that make it an arc welder???...
I thought the gas was to "protect" the flame and make the weld better...No????

 

[Roadman]

Hi Chris-------------You can use either a MIG or arc welder for the strut bars. The MIG will give you a cleaner weld, and is IMO a bit easier to use. The gas used in MIG welding is usually a combination of CO2 and Argon, and provides a shield against oxidation during the welding process. Some use pure Argon, which is expensive, and usually reserved for aluminum and other tricky-to-weld metals.

If you weld without the gas, get some flux-core wire. This effectively turns the MIG into an arc welder, but you'll have the advantage of a constant feed on the wire. No need to change rods, so you work faster.

Roadman
Gulfport, MS

 

[yo2001]

My chioce would be mig with argon shield (80% argon). No more breaing the slug!!! But you would need a expensive welder with argon hook up. Mig is little harder but only takes little practice before you can use it well. What are you going to use? steel rods?

 

[JR]

Roadman and Yo are right on. Extra 2 cents is that you CAN make mig welds without the shielding gas — I know because I've forgotten to turn the gas on a time or two — but they are ugly, gnarly and there's a lot of popping and spitting. When everything's going right on a mig, the weld sounds like bacon frying.

 

[yo2001]

yes, JR. bacon on the grill was how i was thoght. Nobody believes me when I tell them that.

 

[ZCARBILL]

my .02$

why are you using a solid bar for your strut tower brace? that thing is going to weight a ton. you could go and by some .120" wall steel tubing at a hardware store or steel supplier and shave about 20+ pounds of weight off your project. if you cant find that use 3/4" sch-40 black pipe.it has an od of 1.05" and a wall thk. of .112" and weights 1.31 lbs/ft. compared to a 1" od steel bar which weighs in at 2.67 lbs./ft. thats roughly twice the weight!! but if you want to strap a boat anchor to the front of your z go right ahead. if you're a real cheap ass then go to a fab shop and ask them if you can dig through one of there scrap bins. i gaurantee you that those lazey union workers will have a ton of useable lengths of pipe laying around.