Question to the welders

Question, could a truck be bagged using a mig welder for all the frame work, or does the tig process allow better joining of the metal? This would be under closed bed, not exposed, so the look of the welds is not importangt, I'm concerned about the strength of the welds. I'm a little novice on this and a buddy was saying he was going to lay his truck out without tigging it, and it just didn't sound right to me. Basically, can a mig welded notch, tabs, etc. hold as well as tig welded parts?? Or if not as well, would mig still suffice?? Thanks.

I think that most people here are using a mig welder. Unless you've got alot of time and money and patience to tig it all together. Tig welders do make very nice pretty welds but if you're good with a mig welder then you should be able to lay down nice beads with a mig that look just as pretty. I used a Miller 220 wire welder on mine and it turned out very well for the most part.

MIG is just fine for this type of work. Get a welder and practice for a bit before you any welding on your truck. You have to be comfortable with it before you make it perform the best.

Ok...tig welds do look sweet, but unless you are willing to spend an ass of time doing it & people are going to see it then in my opinion theres no point. I welded the notch on my truck over 7 years ago by mig & it still looks the same today! Most shops use mig welders to do all their work...that is unless you pay more to have things tig welded. You can lay down welds that look as good if not better than tig if you have the skill. If you look at CanDo Specialties myspace page youll see where they are doing a bag/body drop on a 94 Toyota & all the welding is done my mig.

Sweet info guys, I appreciate it. So I take it when it comes to strength it'd be all good with some good mig welding?

make sure to use a welder with the capacity to weld the whatever you're working with. You should not use 110 volt welder to work on your frame. They're just not strong enough. Also, make sure whoever does it knows what they're doing.

i dont know why you say a 110 wont work. A frame is about an 1/8 in thick. 110 is good until 3/8 in

Well, guess I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, maybe somebody who knows should answer....

BECAUSE THE WELDS WILL NOT PENETRATE PROPERLY.

BTW, most of your 115v mig welders are rated at 3/16, not 3/8. You're operating your equipment at its maximum capacities, not good.

110 is not sufficient for frame work. Most say they are rated for 3/16", but its not necessarily true. A good rule of thumb is 1 amp for every .001". That means for 3/16 you need about 185 amps. I've never seen a 110 welder with that much power. At best they are good for 1/8". This might suffice for installing a notch, but not for welding on link tabs, or bag mounts, or any other high stress components. You need a 220, plain and simple. ESPECIALLY if you are a beginning or novice welder. A 110 welder is that much more dangerous in inexperienced hands. Just because a weld looks good from the outside doesn't mean its strong. Don't risk your life for a measly couple hundred bucks.

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