Date:         Sun, 18 Jan 2015 15:33:07 -0800
Reply-To:     Neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Rear Trailing Arm Replacement Fun!
Comments: To: Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca>
In-Reply-To:  <2E9F13D9-ED7D-44E4-9BE8-54CE89AF23A3@shaw.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Hey Alistair.

That's a very useful point of reference. Thinking further, I'm sure
I've seen threads on thesamba showing fairly rusted out trailing arms
that were repaired and put back into service. Unfortunately, my
current residential rental garage isn't properly wired for my 110VAC
MIG. The circuit is shared with who knows what. Weld passes would be
short. If any at all!

Re: that pinch seam, here's images of rust and repair done to same arm
I'm removing. Repairs were done by a pro about (5? 6?) years ago:

https://sites.google.com/site/tubaneil2/reartrailingarmholes

They have held well. Ironically, rust inside the arm is clearly
visible in first image!

And nice to know you were able to set up your MIG for Aluminum.
Something I've been thinking of doing with mine but that's another
topic!


On 1/18/15, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
> Neil,
>
> Over the Xmas holidays I worked on a spare set of trailing arms. I cut the
> pinch weld and welded in 1/8" thick plates to reinforce the area where the
> pinch seam was. This was to create more space between tire and trailing arm.
> I tig welded that with no problems. At the same time I decided to weld down
> the plate that the spring pad sits on. My thought was to seal up a rust
> prone area. That welding didn't go as smoothly. Even though I cleaned up the
> area well, there was some sort of material between the plate and the arm
> which bubbled and popped out during welding. I must have gone through at
> least half of a new tungsten, very frustrating. A mig gun would have been
> the ticket there, but our mig is set up and reserved for aluminum and I'd be
> in big trouble if I swapped in steel wire :).
>
> This was a Xmas present for a friend. He had them powder coated (black) and
> I just saw them the other day after paint. For an old set of arms they
> turned out pretty nice.
>
> Alistair


--
Neil n

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