welding suspension and frame

SoontobeLifted_72

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Location
Wilmington NC
Im planning on getting a new welder in the near future to do some work on a truck Im building. Ive got a reverse shackle kit and SOA parts that I need to use it for (among other things). Im looking at the Lincoln Electric 175HD. Should I go bigger or would this be ok.
 
That welder should do just fine in the hands of a capable person doing the welding. If you haven't much experience I would tackle some other less important projects first.
 
I have used several other smaller welders for things like body repair and doing fencing, fixing a cracked header and other small projects. Just never any suspension parts.
 
I'd suggest staying away from the made in mexico lincolns. I Bought a 175-T new Jan '08 and today while welding on some 3/16" angle my welder said "woof." That turned out to be the welder taking a dump.


Yeah, its under warranty (for another 2 years) but its still going to be replaced by a millermatic before it gets back. This thing has had less than 20 lbs of wire through it. I didn't buy it for a production volume duty cycle, but I make money off it so it needs to work.

As mentioned, practice and do destructive testing before you trust your work. I think that sawing your welds in half and seeing your penetration or beating it to death in a vice with a sledge is the best way to feel confident on stuff like suspension. If you wouldn't trust other's people's lives with your skills, then don't.

As for the welder, I am looking at getting a mm175 with continuous adjustment for under $700 new. That's within $200 of what I paid for my tapped lincoln, and if the miller acts like the one from '84 that's in our shop and still kicking ass then I'll be very happy.
 
i did all my frame/suspension welding with a miler 180 thats about 10 years old. It worked better than great, and let me know that my miller cricket 110 really is a POS. Some places made more than one pass, but i know my metal melting isn't going to fail any time soon.

but like archduke said. If you aren't 110% confident in your abilities and trust your welding as far as your life as well as others, then just see if someone can come give you a hand.

As far as the 175, i'd run at least .035" wire through it for the important stuff, and beat the snot out of your first few welds with a sledge to make sure its not going anywhere.
 
Thanks for the info guys. The only reason I was really interested in the Lincoln is that a guy in town has a new one for sale with tank, regulator, and cart all for $500. I think its a really good deal.
 
SoontobeLifted_72 said:
Thanks for the info guys. The only reason I was really interested in the Lincoln is that a guy in town has a new one for sale with tank, regulator, and cart all for $500. I think its a really good deal.
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Decent price, I got mine new for something like $489 shipped w/regulator (no cart or tank). I can tell you that I'm thrilled with the fact that its under warranty and lincoln's customer service was very prompt to find me a nearby dealer and instructed me to take it there to be repaired free of cost.

I'd be pretty upset if it wasn't under warranty though. Thing was brand new and lasted less than a year being used fairly lightly. Put it this way, I never hit the duty cycle on it.

Check to see if you can find any deals on either the millermatic 175 or SP-175T new. Both companies just upped their little 220 migs to 180 and I know that my local supplier has an overstock on the mm175s. Got the linc so cheap for the same reason.

Oh, just a plug- James Oxygen in Boone has been very good to me. Miller dealer but they went the extra mile to call their tech, get a ballpark idea of what might be wrong with mine, then LOOKED UP the lincoln customer service # for me and told me how I'd go about getting my junk warrantied. Not what I expected when I took my online purchased, red machine in there.

Edit: Also could look for the SP-175C by lincoln, that'll be more expensive but should be US made and since they just moved up to the 180s you still might find a screaming deal.
 
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