Best rod for welding to the unibody?

[IllianaXJ]

Gonna be welding on TNT stiffners in a couple weeks, and the only welder we will have available is a stick. What rod would be best for this?

We primarily use stainless rod at work b/c that's what we're working on, but I don't know what would be the best for going from the stiffners to the unibody. Would be nice if I could use the stainless rod since it would be cheaper from work

 

[Goatman]

What's with all the unibody talk that everyone seems to be using now.........what happened to dealing with the frame? My XJ has a frame under it, running from the rear bumper all the way to the front bumper, it happens to be attached directly to the body, but it's still a frame.....weak as it is.

I don't think it makes any difference what rod you use. It depends on your skill level and what you're comfortable with. You're position welding on relatively thin material, either up and down or upside down, and the metal has a zinc covering. Being a non-professional recreational welder, I used 6011 because it worked best for me, and there is a ton of stuff on my XJ that's stick welded, even cracks in the body. I now have a MIG, and that's what I used on the cage.

BTW, it's nice to be able to stick weld, and to have some experience welding that crappy metal on our XJ's, when you have to do trail repairs with batteries. The MIG only guys can't do it. :looser:

 

[Gaius]

BTW, it's nice to be able to stick weld, and to have some experience welding that crappy metal on our XJ's, when you have to do trail repairs with batteries. The MIG only guys can't do it. :looser:

Sure we can, it only costs 700.00 to be able to do it.

 

[DirtyMJ]

I have the best luck using 7018 on the unibody.

But there's plenty of situations where I'd say 6011/6010 would be a better choice.


But basically it's all about prep. I hate that zinc on it.

 

[Marc w]

I have the best luck using 7018 on the unibody.

But there's plenty of situations where I'd say 6011/6010 would be a better choice.


But basically it's all about prep. I hate that zinc on it.

the welding rod selection all depends on the prep. if the area is cleaned properly, with more than an inch of bare metal around the weld area, use the 7018, if your gonna be burning through some rust and paint, 6010.

 

[dizzymac]

Unibody-Probably because that is what it is( one big connected piec of rust)....lol. Its considered "uni" construction because the frame and body are all one unit, but wouldn't it be nice it they were seperate, would make restoration and repairs so much easier to do.
I use 6011 on my XJ with OK results and to be honest I haven't got a clue whats in our MIG but whatever it is it works. I find welding any of the sheet metal on these things sucks at best( kind of like the brakes), but I guess thats part of what makes them so enjoyable....its always an excercise in creativity on how to keep them together.

 

[Goatman]

Unibody-Probably because that is what it is( one big connected piec of rust)....lol. Its considered "uni" construction because the frame and body are all one unit..........

Is that right? I guess I missed that. :worship:





My remarks are simply a pet peeve, nothing more. I've been doing this a long time, and we have traditionally talked about welding to the frame, crossmember, sheetmetal, etc. There is quite a difference between welding to the frame or welding to the body, since even though our frame is much thinner than a normal frame, it's a lot different than welding to a sheetmetal body panel or the floor. It seems recently all talk is about the "unibody". Every buggy out there is also a unibody, but folks don't talk about welding to the unibody, they talk about whatever part they are working on.

BTW, Chrysler calls this type of construction "uniframe", similar to their full size vans, since even though the body and frame are unitized, they do have a frame running from front to back........unlike the typical unibody passenger car.

Like I said, a pet peeve, nothing more. :cheers:

 

[dizzymac]

Didn't mean anything by it. I just think in this day of being "politically correct" that people are just calling it what it is. I have seen ppl get flamed in here for calling it a frame. I on the other hand do not call it a frame or unibody. To me it is the two long pieces of metal running front to rear that hold my rusty sheet metal together.....lol
I think someone should make a project of putting an XJ body on a traditional frame.

 

[Matt S.]

blah blah blah I am old and crotchety blah blah blah

:spin1:

 

[Hypoid]

http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/consumableseries.asp?browse=104|2030|

I use the Fleetweld 180 (6011) at home. It is a very forgiving rod to work with, easy to start and restart, easy to keep the current turned down. I've been adding steel to my tank skid, the 6011 fluxes out nicely.

We use 7018 at work, industry standard. We keep it in a rod oven because the flux absorbs moisture which will cause porosity. It's a little finicky on the home machine, I don't have a rod oven. I have to run it hotter than I would like, or try and dry it out with a torch.

We also have 6010 at work. We use it for a root pass only, grind it down and run the 7018. The 6010 burns pretty hot, cleans a lot of contaminants out of the steel. It's a little finicky on the home machine also, not so pretty to look at when it's over.

I guess I vote for 6011. Even if I had a MIG machine, I'd run a stick here just to clean out the trash.