what type of welder should I use?

Hey guys I just bought a hitch mounted winch so I need a hitch mount on the front of my x. so I decided to build simple bumper with a hitch tube in it , I want it to be made out of like a 2 by 4 steel box beam will this be strong enough? and should I use my stick welder or my wire feed welder on the welds? thanks for the help guys

Mike

Probably whatever you're most comfortable with, but I believe MIG (wirefed) gives the cleaner weld because of the shielding gas. I could be wrong but that is my impression.

You could use a stick welder, but it'll get messy unless you're really good with it. I would go with a 220V MIG, but 110V MIG would probably work, depending on the brand of the welder.

not to discount wlding but you do know that reese/drawtite make a front mount hitch w/ 2" reciever for 91-94 explorers/navajos, dont you? its a class III Part #13517

I have been looking for that hitch forever. Too bad I just did a body lift and it would probably look terrible now

i just did one too....if you kept your valance (like i did) , it will look fine. it was designed so you would have to notch teh valance but if you have the BL then it should just sit below it, should be pretty well snug.

well I already got all my metal bought and cut so im just gonna go ahead and weld it myself, I have access to both a 220 volt mig and a 220 volt stick welder i just wasnt sure if the stick welder would make a stronger weld then the mig welder thanks for the help guys I will try to get some pics up when im all done.

Mike

I think the real question here is which one are you better at?

Both technologies will make a weld stronger than you will be able to break if used properly but more often than not people don't know how to weld properly and end up making welds that aren't strong at all.

The best welding equipment in the world is useless and dangerous in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it.

-T

I'd go ahead and use the MIG, it's much easier to do and the welds come out looking beautiful.