I was bored the other day and welded a few seams in the front of my chassis solid rather than stitching, i read about it afterwards and discovered i should've stitched. I basically just welded everything covered by the fenders and bumper, it did make a very noticeable difference by the way...

 

no need to weld them completely! stitching is good enouph. some might say you will warp your chassis if you weld it completely

 

I know now after reading, i was just on a welding frenzy when i got my welder, i did a full exhaust for my car, started welding some random stuff together, then looked at my car, said "chassis welding!", and went at it.

I haven't read why to stitch rather than solid welds other than the reason you just gave me.

 

HEat distortion. If you run a solid weld you will overheat the metal and cause a warpage.

 

In theory, it's also protection against crack propagation - if one weld cracks from fatigue, it stops when a gap is reached. If it is one long weld, you run the risk of having the crack keep going.

This follows from the observation that toilet paper never tears on the perforations...

K

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This follows from the observation that toilet paper never tears on the perforations...</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL Is someone going to make a "crack" comment now?

 

Makes sense, thanks.

 

There's another theory out there that you'll destroy your crumple zones, and whatever forces act upon your bumper will go straight to your neck.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stealthx32 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There's another theory out there that you'll destroy your crumple zones, and whatever forces act upon your bumper will go straight to your neck. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats an interesting theory, but doubtful. Seeing that the metal crunches with or without seams.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bosco500 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thats an interesting theory, but doubtful. Seeing that the metal crunches with or without seams.</TD></TR></TABLE>

especially since we're talking about relatively flimsy 10-20 year old cars anyway.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">In theory, it's also protection against crack propagation - if one weld cracks from fatigue, it stops when a gap is reached. If it is one long weld, you run the risk of having the crack keep going.

This follows from the observation that toilet paper never tears on the perforations...

K</TD></TR></TABLE>couldnt be explained any better!

 

Haha, those theorys go against eachother badly.

Pull on toilet paper and it will always rip at the perferations and never at the soild points. It makes sense stitching them and not at the same time.

 

I should have put a smiley next to that second comment, I guess. I was KIDDING about toilet paper. The joke began in WWII (no, I wasn't actually there, Giles) when airframe mechanics drilled "crack-stopper" holes in stressed sheetmetal...

K

 

Well, my lower radiator support bar broke it's spot welded points from sitting on it for months, so the toilet paper thing makes sense, it puts all the stress on those small points, making it solid would distribute the stress.

 

What about less weight as well to stitch weld vs solid..

 

Considering i used 1lb of welding wire, i don't think it really matters.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I should have put a smiley next to that second comment, I guess. I was KIDDING about toilet paper. The joke began in WWII (no, I wasn't actually there, Giles) when airframe mechanics drilled "crack-stopper" holes in stressed sheetmetal...

K</TD></TR></TABLE>

this method is still used on f18's and other aircraft... i see it daily. especially on aileron seals.