Bad welds what to do???

[TrailTorque]

What was wrong with your track bar? Are you having the DW issue?

I was having the constant corrections problem, they replaced my SS with the v41 recall and now this. Still quite a bit of play and some slight vibes at speed. Next step is to have the steering box replaced as there is a new revision out. I had them check all the torque specs, and then I went behind them and checked them too (I know I know) in the right places to no avail.. I’m thinking the steering box with a new tension spring might be the ticket. It’s really one of the last stops.

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[TrailTorque]

Yeah...I think the box is the main culprit.

Do you have a lift and what's your caster set at?

Im thinking so too.

That’s the crazy part! I have no lift! Bone stock suspension, stock caster setting. All stock except for tires 33” (which is basically stock).

And this is really the annoyance, not to go off on a tangent, I want to lift it, bigger tires, re-gear but the problem is my steering has never been 100%. I feel like until we figure out what the problem is I shouldn’t add to the issue. My fear is that it’ll just get worse.. It’s killing me..

 

[roaniecowpony]

Prep is everything in welding. If you decide to take it to someone to fix it, don't expect it to take a "few minutes" or to pay in "beer". Do either of those things...and you're likely to have a shitty job done.

Prep is important, but that doesn't mean it can't be done quickly for a beer. A great welder with his prep equipment on hand can prep one of those pix is literally seconds/few minutes and weld it just as fast. This isn't nuclear powerplant welding. And yes, I do know something about nuclear powerplant welding.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Good luck with that. I’m preparing a post to be put up in the next couple of days, chronicling my weld woes. Short version is, my 18 Sahara was part of the track bar frame bracket weld recall. It was repaired before I took delivery by the dealer, but the repair looks worse than the off-seam weld probably did. After I had 3 independent inspections by three qualified welders, all who stated the repair was unacceptable, jeep will still not correct the faulty weld repair. I am in the process of exploring all legal remedies.

Approved tracker bar bracket weld

My tracker bar bracket repair weld

Yeah that looks like bat shit. It looks like the weld was "cold" and, it's hard to tell in pix, but it looks like it lacks penetration. Is it stuck? Probably. Is it worth fussing with? If it were mine,I'd probably just take it to a shop and have them grind out the weld and re-weld it. Not a "jack of all trades" shop, a weld shop.

 

[roaniecowpony]

I'm talking about getting to it to weld it.....(it will be way easier and not "out of position") if you jack up the vehicle and remove the tire....something that's going to take a couple of minutes by itself. Then there's the fact that I personally wouldn't just burn over that mess, but grind it all out and clean off the paint as well as degrease it (JIC)...b/c as you know as a weldor...the cleaner you get the metal the less chance of contamination and the stronger the weld. Then there's the issue of multiple spots on the frame. And, you may need to protect things from the heat of welding. As I said, minutes to weld and AT MOST a couple of hours to prep.

I stand by my comment and either you're picking nits or you didn't read my comments thoroughly (which the latter is entirely possible...no fault of yours....since the thread is so long).

I don't disagree with anything you said except the time and beer. I've been in the manufacturing biz off and on most of my life. I've seen some very skilled people take 3 hours to do something I can do in 1 hour or a friend of mine can do in 30 minutes. All three with high quality. A welder friend of mine has a shop where it would not take him a full beer to do what you mentioned.

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