KK Rock Sliders

[lfhoward]

Drilled the square tubes, matching the holes to the old steel, and test fitted them on the Jeep today.
(Drilling these holes would not be easy later on after everything is welded together!)

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The pictures look like the holes are not in the same places, but it is the perspective of the photo. Everything is measured as precisely as possible. I had to modify one hole on each side by 1/16" to get them to bolt up.

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You can really see in this photo just how far gone the old steel is.

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Drilling and test fitting took me about an hour today, which is all I had. Removing the old metal and grinding the surfaces flat will be the next step for another day.

For reference:
https://www.protoolreviews.com/how-to-use-an-angle-grinder/

 

[lfhoward]

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[lfhoward]

Went at them with my grinder, using a cutting wheel. This is an intermediate step. I want to use a hammer and chisel to see if I can get more metal off, then grind the rest down flush.

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There’s not much left of the rusty square tube.

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[lfhoward]

Got a little more progress on the rock slider repair today. Both sliders are now “prepped” with the rusty square tube removed and the surface ground flat.

Today’s project. The square tube mostly disintegrated!

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Closeup of the carnage:

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First pass was to remove most of the square tube. You can see some metal remains. It is mostly the old welds and the bottom tube surface.

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The second pass was to carefully slice off what I could with the cutting wheel, then using a hammer and chisel, remove as much as possible of the unwanted material.

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Last pass was with the grinder. I ground down what was left of the old welds, as well as removed any remaining square tube metal. I also ground off the powder coating in a patch around where I will be welding the new tube. I wanted to make sure there was no rust under the powder coating, and I zapped that in a few areas. All of this will be primed and painted when I’m done.

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Both sliders are ready for welding now. I need to practice with some scrap steel before I attempt this! I have never welded before. Should be fun!

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[profdlp]

Wow - that was impressive work by the rust! I'm sure your welds will be fine. If they are not I am even more sure they would be better than mine were I to try it.

 

[lfhoward]

Well, here is my process for today. I started by using the settings for voltage and wire feed on the welder, and joining some scrap 1/8 angle iron.

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Putting that in a vise and hammering on it bent it, not broke it, so it was a good weld!

After that, I went to work on the rock sliders. I began by measuring multiple times and tacking the metal tube into place.

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After that, I checked fitment on the Jeep and it fits!

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Then I welded all the places.

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My first welds and some of the later ones were pretty ugly!

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But some welds were not that bad!

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Tomorrow I’ll grind down those ugly welds and make them pretty. Then it’s time to paint!

 

[profdlp]

Excellent work!