I hope these are more to your liking! :flipoff2:

The frame extension is 4x4x3/8"! Sorry I know 3/8 is overkill ,but fluk the miller can handle it and it was free! The winch cage/grill guard is 1/2" 6061-T6 that will be tig welded.

http://pics.montypics.com/Old_Scout/2002-10-05/ghetto3_3.jpg

http://pics.montypics.com/Old_Scout/2002-10-05/ghetto3_1.jpg


http://pics.montypics.com/Old_Scout/2002-10-05/ghetto3_2.jpg

Looking good, are you going to brace the spring mount area? Looks like the weak point, might fatigue at that point.

Are you trying to get that thing ready for the clean up?

aluminum winch mount? seems kinda weak. I work with aluminum all day long, it has a tendancy to weaken as it is stress loaded over and over again as loads are placed on the winch. and 6061 is pretty soft.hope you got a miller 350 or equiv. to weld that heavy stuff alum. stuff, you'll need it! just some thoughts......

-Scott

Originally posted by SCOTTS_4X
aluminum winch mount? seems kinda weak. I work with aluminum all day long, it has a tendancy to weaken as it is stress loaded over and over again as loads are placed on the winch. and 6061 is pretty soft. just some thoughts......

-Scott

They build airplanes out of 6061-T6 and it is 1/2" thick! :rolleyes:

as I said I work with this stuff all day......it's SOFT.

-Scott

Why did you decide to make that thing so tall?

I mean it's cool and all, just tall.
;)

Yea and you drive a FS Chebby with 38"'s and a 12 bolt!:rolleyes:

The guy doing my tig welding is a ASME inspector and works HERE (http://www.llnl.gov/) as a chief of fabrication. He does nuclear grade welding all day long. I think he knows a wee bit more than some 20 y.o. punk from modesto.:rolleyes:

ok guy don't get all bent...I'm just telling you what I know. oh and the 12bolt now resides in a junkyard, and a 60 replaces it. anyways......I'm just offering constructive criticism...chill out guy....oh and ask all the 40+ y/o welders that tought me how to weld this crap if they can hold a candle to me........age is nothing but a number, so if you want to call me a punk because I'm 21 years old, then that's your own ignorance.....anyways, lets not turn this into some :rainbow: ass fight on a damn bb......I'm just saying it looks good but doesn't seem like it would hold up to repetative loading......

-Scott

OS, the winch mount is made of :beer: cans of course we are going to question it for a winch mount. But I bet the 1/2" sheet is less weight then 1/4" steel.

Oh and 3/8" over kill, naw aint no such thing on a Scout, my winch plate is 3/8" and I can land on the plate with no bendy :p

Originally posted by SCOTTS_4X
ok guy don't get all bent...I'm just telling you what I know.

-Scott
Your 8 months of welding experience and looking a few 800x600 pics on the net VS my buddy Greg with +20 years experience and have seen it first hand makes me think that your opinion is the one I should listen to. :rolleyes:

dude STFU

Owchie, I guess someone touched an exposed nerve! :)
LOL, you guys crack me up.
:D

Originally posted by iscout62
Owchie, I guess someone touched an exposed nerve! :)
LOL, you guys crack me up.
:D

Yea some fauking DAN that wheels his "rig" in his parents yard is making waves. Nice trail!:rolleyes:

Hey Bob, have a :beer: better yet bring me one too :D BTW I like you extensions better this time around

Originally posted by mike
Hey Bob, have a :beer: better yet bring me one too :D BTW I like you extensions better this time around

Yea that's the problem. I have been cutting,welding,drilling and grinding all day and then Greg came by for a few :beer:s and looked over the tig work needed. We went over the plan for attachment to the frame and the other sheit. I them snapped a few pics for you binder guys and we get Chebby newbie with his .02! Time for more :beer:

so I'm just wondering, what does welding the stuff, which you say your friend is an expert in, have to do with the stress handling of aluminum with repetative loading? should we ask a structural engineer? anyways....take it where you want to, I'm withdrawing myself from this juvenile stupidity.

-Scott

Originally posted by SCOTTS_4X
so I'm just wondering, what does welding the stuff, which you say your friend is an expert in, have to do with the stress handling of aluminum with repetative loading? should we ask a structural engineer?

-Scott

Hey your the self procamied expert that it's weak! You have been tig welding for 8 months now and that is far better thanr Greg's master degree and 20 years of fab work.


Originally posted by SCOTTS_4X
I'm withdrawing myself from this juvenile stupidity.-Scott
Why is you foot starting to taste foul?:p

Jesus christ, this is the best little pissing party i've seen in a while. I usually see some sort of teenage angst road rage driving around town, but this is the hands down winner!

Keep it up guys! He, laughter is good for us!

:p

Aluminum makes a great beer can, and very poor 4x4 parts.

Fe all the way!!!

Matt

6061 is pretty soft.hope you got a miller 350 or equiv. to weld that heavy stuff alum. stuff, you'll need it! just some thoughts......
The weld zone will soften after welding but could also be brought back to the original hardness which might be T6 by heat treating. Just make sure to bevel all your joints good to get maximum penatration as that heavy aluminum will really pull the heat which is why you will need a high amperage machine.

6061 is one of the strongest weldable alloys what alloy would you suggest?

They build airplanes out of 6061-T6 and it is 1/2" thick!
Actually most structural parts of airframes are 2024 T3 which is not a weldable alloy and why planes are rivited together, and all cessna factory tanks are 5052 which is more resistant to corrosion than 6061.

....oh and ask all the 40+ y/o welders that tought me how to weld this crap if they can hold a candle to me........age is nothing but a number
Oh boy!:rolleyes: I've heard that before.
I wonder if he is up to the foil challange? :D

Now I really dont think OS will be using his winch on a daily basis
so I really think the repetitive loading issue is a non issue unless of course your wheeling with him a lot :D

I say do it as you have an"experienced" welder who knows what he's doing and like you said it is 1/2" thick.
Oh yea be sure to drill a relief in your cross tubes or you might take an aluminum shower :nuke:

my .02
rich

Well as far as weakness is concerned...

The base of the winch is mounted on the horizontal chord of the "L" that is forming the winch mount. The roller lead is mounted on the vertical chord of the "L", which is also normally bolted to the face of the winch frame...at least in most cases.

Sheer strength for a 3/8-16 grade 8 is like 25,000 x 4 or 6 (depending on how many bolts OS uses). When you assemble your winch onto most base plates you are creating webs for the angle of the base plate with mechanical welds, ala bolts.

I fail to see where the loading of potential energy, that might create premature material failure, is really aluminum or steel related...

I would be more afraid of those 9 foot tower "grill guards" that OS has going on...if somebody grabs those things from the side....He might get a leaning tower of Scout.
:flipoff2:

So the towers are for s(cow)t tipping! :)

Moo.

The "towers" are now 4" shorter and only one cross bar I added three lighting holes on each side 4",3",2" plus beveled the edge.


To all of you that think aluminum can't handle the load, just take a look at what the frame on my Warn 9500I looks like! Yes it aluminum and 1/2 thick and held down by four 3/8" grade 5 bolts! :flipoff2:

The biggest problem with people manufacturing products from aluminumn is that they do not have a clue how to do it properly. I have built aluminumn grain boxes and flat beds from 6061 and have never had a problem with them stress cracking from repeated loading. It takes more practice and skill to work with aluminumn than it does with steel.
I like the deisgn and the weight reduction is a great improvement over the same item made from steel.

Having never welded aluminum, except for tinkering around with well putting cans back together with a tig, I was wondering what all that nasty black residue was that is around the upper tack-weld?



:rolleyes:

Originally posted by iscout62
Having never welded aluminum, except for tinkering around with well putting cans back together with a tig, I was wondering what all that nasty black residue was that is around the upper tack-weld?


The black sheit is ash (I guess). I'm running 5356 wire with argon out of my spool gun. Here is the test piece I was goofing around with the very first time I used the spool gun. It was covered in the black stuff and all I did is wash it off with water.

OIC. Hmmm, I bet it's a but harder to make good puddles without a bit of practice. I mig and grind! :)

Originally posted by iscout62
Having never welded aluminum, except for tinkering around with well putting cans back together with a tig, I was wondering what all that nasty black residue was that is around the upper tack-weld?



:rolleyes:

The black is ash caused by contaminates. Pre cleaning with laquer thinner helps. Another thing that really helps is to wire brush the weld area and remove the oxidation on the suface of the metal. The oxidation is just like rust on steel, once it is rmoved you can get a better cleaner weld.

Harleym is totally correct!

Xylene wash or brush scrub the joints before you weld. You will really see the blackness if the pieces have been extruded. The oxides that form on the surface during the anealing of the plate and tube forming are what is burning off leaving the black residue.

I used to design Class A motorcoaches and the sidewalls, ceilings, and floors were framed out of extruded square, rect, and square with flange aluminum tubing. Every joint that the welders made was BLACK. The weld was nice and pretty and very bright.

Ramble Ramble Ramble

I'm running 5356 wire with argon out of my spool gun.
OS
You should use 4043 wire on 6061 to get maximum strength and use a clean stainless wire brush for cleaning.

just a thought.
rich