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WELDED K member pictures
#1188739
02/29/12 11:57 PM
02/29/12 11:57 PM
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18,493
Granite Bay CA
Kern Dog
OP
Striving for excellence
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OP
Striving for excellence
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18,493
Granite Bay CA
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On the advice and suggestions of several experienced members, I took a spare '70 B body K member and went to work on it. In this picture you will notice a long screwdriver that points to what WAS an open, unsupported area of the steering box mount.
You can also see the washers welded around the lower control arm pivot shaft holes. These washers are 1/8" thick and spread the load of the LCA to a much wider area. I have seen several K members that were damaged in this area when the thin factory weld breaks loose and the hole elongates.
Last edited by Frankenduster; 03/01/12 12:33 AM.
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Re: WELDED K member pictures
[Re: astjp2]
#1188751
03/01/12 03:28 AM
03/01/12 03:28 AM
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18,493
Granite Bay CA
Kern Dog
OP
Striving for excellence
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OP
Striving for excellence
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18,493
Granite Bay CA
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Quote:
Did you also reinforce or reweld the ends where the Kmember mounts to the frame? Thanks Tim
No, the welds there were plenty adequate. Unlike other areas, the mounts had full welds, not just spotwelds.
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Re: WELDED K member pictures
[Re: Kern Dog]
#1188754
03/01/12 06:15 AM
03/01/12 06:15 AM
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
Swears too much
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Swears too much
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
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Quote:
Wrong. Have you ever seen a k member without the lower control arm installed? There is a raised edge around the hole that the pivot shaft rides in. It sticks out about 1/8", EXACTLY the thickness of the washer. The pivot shaft and LCA will be in the same position that it was before.
Cars getting ruined? Learn the facts before you criticize another persons work.
I'll be welding up my 70 Challenger's K before it goes in the car (and the 6cyl one comes out), and this was something i want to do... but am wary.
My 72 Charger had this area break 400 miles from home and 100 miles from ANY civilization. I had to limp it to Calgary, find someone that could weld and knew Mopars, and he was able to weld it back up and get me going again. I had already scrubbed off a brand new set ov tires and had to ship myself some bald crap from home on the Greyhound to get back home.
The guy who welded this up for me has a LOT ov Mopar chassis/racing experience... and i think its very safe to say more experience on these cars than all but a slim few on Moparts. He did a great job, but because the weld was broken and the LCA just flopping around in a (by now) rather large jagged hole in the K, he had to 'eyeball' it (measurements were used obviously) and hope for the best. We did a tape-measure alignment and it got me home without destroying the tires or squealing the whole way.
Funny thing was, even with just eyeballing it (and our tape-measure alignment), the car had ZERO alignment issue... no pulling at all at even 100mph. Yet, when i got it home and took it to be properly aligned, they said the one side had 3 1/2 degrees (positive?) caster while the other was negative (or the opposite, i forget). It was so far off it could not be aligned, or even brought within 3 degrees ov the other side.
Yet... ZERO pull! As in, let go ov the wheel straight. It was bizarre. The brakes on the other hand, were now a nightmare... the welded side would lock up (just the one tire) with very little pressure, and it made things rather dangerous.
Goes to prove how little a visual difference it takes to mess things up badly. I want to gusset this point, but i'm paranoid after that. But... even further down the rabbit hole... how do we know it was perfect from the factory?
And as far as someone above (or was it in the other thread?) mentioning drag racer K-members not compromising structure/handling (well, for one, how would a drag racer know it handled better...???) i'll say this. The factory piece, whether good or bad, looks like crap. Spot-welds have their place in many places sure, but in suspension/frame i dont think its a good idea. For the COST (ov a few welds)... i dont think there is a choice to be made. However... when those drag racers cut/hack the K for a deep pan, they usually gusset and weld up all the spot welds and box everything else. I would say that a K with a pan-hole cut out but fully welded up would be far stronger than a full factory piece, that is still only spot-welded together.
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Re: WELDED K member pictures
[Re: AndyF]
#1188757
03/01/12 02:44 PM
03/01/12 02:44 PM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,884
Tracy, CA, USA, Earth
rabid scott
"You're Where?"
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"You're Where?"
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,884
Tracy, CA, USA, Earth
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Thanks for the photos Frankenduster!!   Like I said, I've wanted to do this before, it's good seeing what you did. I had a k-frame hole crack out on a Duster I had in high school and has to repair it a similar way.
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