Nashville TJ's Build - Continued
- Thread starter NashvilleTJ
- Start date
It's even yellow!
Seems legit
Next up is building new front lower control arms. First step, pull out my dry metal saw and cut to length - 29" in my case.
View attachment 428196
If you have never used one of these things, it cuts like a dream. It went through this stuff like butter - and left a perfectly straight and square edge.
That cut left me with these two 7" pieces. At about $13.80 an inch that's about $97 - each...
View attachment 428204
Anyone need to make a set of really short control arms?
Using the roller setup, I beveled the ends of each arm to prep for welding. This took a hell of a lot longer than cutting them to length.
View attachment 428199
Then with the help of a big mallet, I inserted the threaded bungs - one left hand and one right hand - into each arm.
View attachment 428206
And just like that, they are starting to look like control arms.
Going through this part of your thread as I will be making controls arms soon too. I had the same roller idea, but instead of turning it by hand with the welder mounted stationary, my plan was to do the opposite. I want control over the weld and was thinking of attaching a small motor somehow and use a dial control to get the speed I want while I weld. You could turn it up or down to get it dialed in perfectly. Obviously it would take a couple of test welds to find the sweet spot.
I looked online and could only find large rollers for big money. I was pretty surprised there isn't a smaller version. There are certain obstacles to overcome such as grounding, but I have ideas for that.
Did you look into that at all?
Going back through your thread is fun.
Thinking out loud.
Fab up a frame to hold some small wheels that would support the arms. Send cut send could make the bracketry simple.
Put a belt of some type over the arm and around something that has a variable speed motor drive such as an RC car wheel.
Exactly what I'm thinking. I posted on the welding thread to pick @AirborneTexasRanger mind. I could do this for sure. I'm post over there now as to not clutter up Nashville's thread
I gave some thought to doing something powered, but came to the conclusion that it would be easier for me to control the weld puddle by how I moved the tube by hand - and that worked very well. I’d turn the arm, stop, let the weld puddle fill in, and repeat.
And more importantly, it worked the first time. If I was building 100 control arms, something more automated would make sense.
You can look at those welds and see that it worked very well. It was also fun controlling the welder that way.
That said, building an automated setup would he very, very cool.
I think you would need something with a crazy amount of torque, and then a lot of gearing to get the rotation slow enough.
I bet @sab would have a cool idea.
Have you seen the rest of this thread?
No problem at all, Mike. I enjoy the activity.
Just trying to get people thinking, that's all I could think of while driving.
Honestly, what y'all are discussing is a weld positioner. Making one wouldn't make sense to me since you can buy one. However, and, mind you, this is the pot calling the kettle black with regards to going overboard with things, but it seems like overkill for welding a few control arms up. Now, if it were for a production situation, that makes a lot of sense to me. By the time you figure out the parameters, you'll have wasted a lot of steel in tweaking them, and you could have been done welding it without the positioner, with no wasted steel. I like your simple rig, Jeff. That's pure genius!
That said, if you really want to pursue the idea, I'd suggest waiting about two months, after all the treadmills purchased in the new year for the "I'm gonna start exercising" resolutions play out. Pick up an abandoned treadmill for a song, and scrounge the drive motor and controller, then figure out how to drive one roller with an idler on the other side. Instant variable-speed drive. Heck, you might even be able to use the rollers and bearings from the treadmill, too. All that's left is to figure out how to ground it...
Uh oh, I think I'm channeling @macleanflood - he's always coming up with wild plans!
I fully support this idea.
Thrift stores always have tons of treadmills and I've found three in the woods but the damn tweakers took the motor and wire and left the plastic.
Or maybe is was a redneck making a welding fixture table.
Vevor makes a table but I don't see a foot pedal...that would be a must for me.
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Positi...ble-Portable/dp/B0DKNXG27Z?tag=wranglerorg-20
-Mac
Thrift stores always have tons of treadmills and I've found three in the woods but the damn tweakers took the motor and wire and left the plastic.
Or maybe is was a redneck making a welding fixture table.
Vevor makes a table but I don't see a foot pedal...that would be a must for me.
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Positi...ble-Portable/dp/B0DKNXG27Z?tag=wranglerorg-20
-Mac
Honestly, what y'all are discussing is a weld positioner. Making one wouldn't make sense to me since you can buy one. However, and, mind you, this is the pot calling the kettle black with regards to going overboard with things, but it seems like overkill for welding a few control arms up. Now, if it were for a production situation, that makes a lot of sense to me. By the time you figure out the parameters, you'll have wasted a lot of steel in tweaking them, and you could have been done welding it without the positioner, with no wasted steel. I like your simple rig, Jeff. That's pure genius!
That said, if you really want to pursue the idea, I'd suggest waiting about two months, after all the treadmills purchased in the new year for the "I'm gonna start exercising" resolutions play out. Pick up an abandoned treadmill for a song, and scrounge the drive motor and controller, then figure out how to drive one roller with an idler on the other side. Instant variable-speed drive. Heck, you might even be able to use the rollers and bearings from the treadmill, too. All that's left is to figure out how to ground it...
Uh oh, I think I'm channeling @macleanflood - he's always coming up with wild plans!
I was thinking more along the line of having 12" of strap and use a magnet to hold it to the pipe, not just loosely wrapped. Have it wrapped up one way and it could play out similar to a clock spring. You'd have to be sure to kill it at the end though. I do agree that Jeff's idea is probably best though. Sweet, simple, and gets the job done.
Something like this
And a couple of v-belt pulleys with one setup with a set screw for a shaft sized to fit the control arm diameter the other for the motor. Determine the pulley sizes for speed reduction needed.
Easiest solution would be to clamp the tube vertically to the end of a table or saw horse. Something where you can reach all the way around. Clamp it good & tight so you can brace against the tube. Weld it standing up so you can shuffle around it. Keep in mind that welding horizontal you will aim the gun slightly upward since the puddle will naturally fill in the bottom.
Finished up the toy boxes for the new Grandkids this week.
Great work there Jeff.
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