Welding trick to repair my aluminum frame

[ndm_131]

A rock caused a crack on my Ranger's aluminum frame!!
I took my standard MIG welder for some repair and to prevent further damage but it kept balling up the thin aluminum wire.
A buddy taught me a new trick so it was good I stalled bringing it to a shop.
I switched to a a thicker .035 diameter wire, increased the wire feed, and lowered the heat.
That saved me a bunch of money!!
You might want to try it too if you ever need to do aluminum frame repairs!

 

[CarDad2025]

A rock caused a crack on my Ranger's aluminum frame!!
I took my standard MIG welder for some repair and to prevent further damage but it kept balling up the thin aluminum wire.
A buddy taught me a new trick so it was good I stalled bringing it to a shop.
I switched to a a thicker .035 diameter wire, increased the wire feed, and lowered the heat.
That saved me a bunch of money!!
You might want to try it too if you ever need to do aluminum frame repairs!

what a hack! haha, thanks for the idea

 

[Tumblrrr]

Nice save @ndm_131 , aluminum can be fussy like that, good call adjusting the wire and settings cos not everyone thinks to try that before hauling it to a shop. Always handy when a buddy knows a trick or two

 

[different colorways]

Gotta love DIYs haha. thanks for tip!

 

[Whiskey]

A rock caused a crack on my Ranger's aluminum frame!!
I took my standard MIG welder for some repair and to prevent further damage but it kept balling up the thin aluminum wire.
A buddy taught me a new trick so it was good I stalled bringing it to a shop.
I switched to a a thicker .035 diameter wire, increased the wire feed, and lowered the heat.
That saved me a bunch of money!!
You might want to try it too if you ever need to do aluminum frame repairs!

Thanks for the tip. You'll never know when a random rock will crack your Ranger. ROTFL.

 

[carebear21]

One of the main reasons why im in forums, thanks for sharing! Just to be sure though, did switching to the thicker wire and adjusting the settings work well for the whole repair, or were there any tricky spots where it still gave you trouble?

 

[ClubSando]

A rock caused a crack on my Ranger's aluminum frame!!
I took my standard MIG welder for some repair and to prevent further damage but it kept balling up the thin aluminum wire.
A buddy taught me a new trick so it was good I stalled bringing it to a shop.
I switched to a a thicker .035 diameter wire, increased the wire feed, and lowered the heat.
That saved me a bunch of money!!
You might want to try it too if you ever need to do aluminum frame repairs!

Thanks for the tip! you know, the reason your thicker wire and higher feed speed worked is because aluminum sucks up a ton of heat, and the thin wire melts back before it even hits the puddle.
The bigger wire and faster feed push past that initial heat barrier.
For people here who don't know, if you want to get into MIG on aluminum, investing in a spool gun is usually the best and easiest way to get a clean, consistent weld

 

[SideBySlide]

Nice job fixing that! Using a thicker wire stops burn-through when you're working with thin aluminum. You should also try backing plates and welding in short bursts to keep the heat down. Oh, and make sure to clean the metal really well first, aluminum gets oxidized super quick.