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Been a while since I been on here but I got a problem....R&R rockers in a 2010 supercab, I got the new ones fitted and drilled all the holes to spot weld. I am not an expert by far but I can weld somewhat with my machine, but I never tried to spot weld. Every weld I make does not take. As you can view in the pics below there a 3 lays 2 weld together...the rocker, the inner support, and the thicker inner panel. I drilled completely threw the first two layers to be able to weld to the thicker panel....no matter how I try it, at various heat, I cannot get this tack weld to take. If they don't cool down and pop loose themselves i can pop it with a screwdriver and minimal effort. What am I doing wrong her or are these things just that hard to spot weld? I am about to resort to pop rivets if I can't figure this out. I can normally weld good enough to do the job but this is a bit frustrating. Pics below to clarify...
I put the inner reinforcement on first by itself and welded it in the exact spot where every original spot weld was, that way there was no undercoating or anything on the bare metal.
Then I ground those welds smooth, painted with weld-through primer, and put the outer rocker over it and welded that in the same spot.
Think of it more like a rosette weld than a spot weld. Turn up the heat and turn down the wire speed, start in the center and spiral out. You'll probably spend 3-5 seconds per weld instead of just a quick tack.
OK, Monday it comes all a part and we try this...one piece at a time....1 got an A-F heat dial and I have tried it on D, does not seem to want to bite into that thicker back plate. I will bump it up a heat range and see. I know at F the thinner metal eats away. I will let you know how this goes.....thank you for the thread.
Are you using shielding gas? If not, that's mistake number 1 as the type of wire you're using requires a certain mixture of argon and CO2. Second thing is your grounding. You're trying to tac weld three separate pieces of steel together, so grounding is very crucial and I'm willing to bet you are not getting a good proper ground on all three pieces since they are painted. Follow Laminar's instructions and you should be fine on the grounding.
Last edited by SHIFT_Lock; 10-21-2022 at 09:02 PM.
Shiftlock, I think you hit it on the head....my main ground has been on the outside of the outer rocker and the inner rocker....thinking about it I ground the primer off each hole of the outside rocker but totally forgot the underside was primed also. When I looked at the inner rocker where the ground is....factory primer. What a dumb mistake but live and learn. I am using the 75/25 gas. Thanks for the replies....we will attack this thing on Monday again
10-21-2022, 12:41 PM
Rocker spot welding....
