Welding safety

[Jmkrysty]

Hey guys, just needed some questions about welding answered.
The stabilizer bar clamp bolt is broken off into the crossmember.
Tried drilling and punching with no success. I want to weld it be wanted to
know about any safety concerns or tips. Any help would be appreciated.

[jamesslcx]

Jmkrysty, Did you try an easy-out? I don't guess welding it back would hurt anything but if you can't get the bolt out.... Have you welded before? Just clean it up the best you can. Not the best way but do a good job and it will be strong enough. Good luck.

[DeltaP]

Originally Posted by Jmkrysty

Hey guys, just needed some questions about welding answered.
The stabilizer bar clamp bolt is broken off into the crossmember.
Tried drilling and punching with no success. I want to weld it be wanted to
know about any safety concerns or tips. Any help would be appreciated.

I'd do my best to drill that bolt out and tap/resize the bolt hole rather than welding such a thin steel bracket to a crossmember. Also you'll be welding overhead and the bushing might catch on fire,damaging it. It might hold up for awhile but it'll be a mess if it doesnt.

[Jmkrysty]

Thanks for all your help. I tried everything else, even got a better bit and better cutting oil with no luck. As for as the brushings go they are already removed so I'm going to weld it our have someone weld it. I'm gonna look into prices for both so I guess my only question now is what is a good torch for this job. I don't own one and just song some research to decide on cost. Lower cost is obviously better but want tip make sure it can handle the job. Any brands/types you guys recommend?

[MagicRat]

Welding is not an easy thing to do. It takes lots of practice and education to do safe, strong welds. This is why it takes welding students many months of instruction and practice to become certified.

Since you have never welded, this is not the time to learn. Attempting to weld this bracket as your first welding experience is a very bad idea. You are very likely to damage your car and hurt yourself, and very unlikely to complete the repair.

Welding is a very useful skill and lots of fun, but you must do so safely. It's virtually impossible to learn how to weld purely by reading manuals and looking at videos. After some basic instruction, you need to practice on large pieces of scrap metal and have an experienced welder review your work and give you feedback/direction.

Great welding is like learning how to play a guitar. It looks very simple, and skilled welders make it look easy, but there is a lot of technique involved in preparing the surfaces, coming up with a repair strategy, and handling the welder.

I suggest you fix the bracket some other way ie have a mechanic do it. then take your time to learn how to weld properly. A course at a local technical college would be ideal.