Do you think this can be emergancy repaired?

[mattadams]

Well today I was replacing the O2 sensors in my Explorer (man were they filthy, hopefully that will fix my problem with the power. Well, while I'm down there I noticed that my stupidlift axle drop-down bracket is cracked... not cracked, severed. Perfect timing, especially since I'm supposed ot leave for Moab in two days. I have no idea how long this has been severed, I'm guessing for probably quite a while though... I'm hoping this can be welded well enough to last through the trip THEN repaired... what do you think?
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[Kyle K.]

Repair!!

Yeah that should be repairable , i would weld it down the seam of the crack !!!! AFTER jacking the bracket back into place so that the crack is almost fit properly together!!!! then i would weld a 3/8" triangle gusset from the ear to the body where the point of the triangle is pointing to the crack. BUT i would document this well keep your photos and everything and use this to get a replacement from superlift, i am glad i saw this post as i have these same brackets but haven't wheeled on them yet. i will probably disconnect everything and brace, gusset, and backplate everything i can to strngthen the brackets.

If it is any consequence to your decision i am a certified welding inspector for a company that build lifting beams that pull or hoist up to 100 TONS.

dodgerr

 

[mattadams]

Kyle, y ou are definately right on by saying you were going to strengthen everything. These things break all the time, I just wish it hadn't chosen to break 2 days before I was to leave for Moab! Anyways, I'm going ot take it to the best four-wheeling shop in Denver tomorrow and see if they can get me in on an emergancy... I recall Ryan Penner breaking his drop-down bracket, and I think he broke it in exactly the same spot. I think he also broke his radius arms so I'm keeping a close eye on those as well.
On the plus side, I got the two o2 sensors installed successfully, though it took a lot of swearing to get it done!

 

[Clint]

should of went skyjacker lol j/k hope u get it fixed in time i would hate to miss it just cause of my truck breaking

 

[wabbit]

I'dlike to slap the "engineer" that designed that mounting tab...

Matt,
You can get it welded and definately add the triangle gusset as previously described. The job shouldn't be much more than a minimun shop charge. While they're at it, have a gusset welded to the other side bracket if it has a flimsy mounting tab like the one shown.
Hope it works out...

 

[rpenner54]

MAtt thats what mine looked like from moab last year! You can borrow mine for the time being. I was told by the minekee guys that they would not weld that because the weld would break again. Let me know if you want it or not. Then you can send yours in to superlift for a warrenty replacement, which is better then the one you got on there now.

 

[mattadams]

Originally posted by rpenner54
MAtt thats what mine looked like from moab last year! You can borrow mine for the time being. I was told by the minekee guys that they would not weld that because the weld would break again. Let me know if you want it or not. Then you can send yours in to superlift for a warrenty replacement, which is better then the one you got on there now.

Ryan, I'm not sure I could get the swap done by tomorrow though... I'm hoping with some reinforcement I might be able to make it last until I get back from Moab when I can go ahead and do the swap for the superlift part. Do you have the improved part or the old part? How long do you think it'll take to do the swap?

 

[rpenner54]

I have the improved part. I don't remember how long that sucker took. It takes a while though since its a toughie. I going to a concert tonight and tommorrow night also so I don't have any time to help. Its probably around a 4 hour or so job just guessing. So if High Country could re-inforce it I would see it probably wouldn't take to long. The only thing is if you weld it in you gotta grind the welds off to get that part back off. So then you might be stuck for a bit with the old part. You should just do that and then throw away a bunch more $$ on a solid axle setup.

I could drive it over to your place at lunch time leave it there if you want? Then let you borrow it till you get the new part. Its not like I use my truck that often.

 

[mattadams]

Ryan, if you want to swing it by that would be cool... it'll depend on how early I'm able to get off work... it looks like all it would involve is undo the three bolts holding it to the frame strucutre, then remove the bolt that holds the bracket to the axle, but theres probably more to it that I am missing... High Country is backed up for days and couldn't even get me in for an emergency, but did recommend a shop that he said he trusts with his weld jobs that could probably get it doe as well. Hopefully he'd be able to weld the two pieces back together without welding it to the frame, that way once I got back and had more time to work on it I could just unbolt it and replace it.

 

[rpenner54]

Yeah I could probably bring it by at lunch time if you want. Your garage code the same? Since I still don't have a window I don't want to leave it sitting out for long.

 

[mattadams]

oh LOL I thought you meant you had the part that wasn't attached to the vehicle, LOL. DOH! I'll let you know if I'll need it for certain otherwise I'll just try to weld it up until after Moab. That was your explorer isn't sitting there all weekend or longer.

 

[rpenner54]

Oh no sorry... LOL I have that same one that will hit the diff though because its a plate. Accually you might be able to use that in your weld up job. Its the old style thats just a plate and drops the stock bracket down which you could cut out weld in behind yours now and it should work. Its up to you on that one though.

I think that would work anyway. Or the welding shop probably would have a better idea then that.

 

[sphaugh]

any chance that the drop brackets were heat treated?

if so, proceed with extreme caution....

 

[Brett]

I can probably understand now why your truck has been driving so bad.

 

[tdavis]

Matt - call superlift before you weld on this bracket.

Welding on it will void the warranty.

And, if you can, have something welded over the crack - it will help it.

 

[mattadams]

Originally posted by tdavis
Matt - call superlift before you weld on this bracket.

Welding on it will void the warranty.

And, if you can, have something welded over the crack - it will help it.

are you serious it will void the warranty? Well, too late now... guess we'll just have to do a whole new front axle system, LOL.
Took it to a referral of a referral. Not the most beautifal weld job in the world but it oughtta hold til after Moab (especially since I think its been busted for months now). Here's what we opted to do after taking a look at it... we got the two as close together as we could (vertically I mean, since one had dropped below the other) and ran a wide beed of weld down it. Then we took a piece of 1/2" stock, cut it to nearly the right length, then welded both sides of it. As you can see we cut the stock a bit too long, but better to be too long then too short eh? . We did it this way so we didn't get the weld too close to any bolts - so we could easily remove it later without having to grind too much. We'll see how it does, it will definately be better then nothing . The vehicle does drive better now just in the short few miles I drove it home. We'll see how it does on the highway... Check it out.
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[tdavis]

Originally posted by mattadams


are you serious it will void the warranty? Well, too late now... guess we'll just have to do a whole new front axle system, LOL.

That is mondo, correcto.

Any welding, cutting or drilling on any superlift component voids the lifetime warranty on that component. Of course, this only applies if the *know* you modified the part. So tell them, unless they want the part back?

So I said "bleep that!" and had my drop brackets modified, and a crack repaired on one of them.



I'd still call superlift, and tell them the bracket cracked, and you want a new one. They have never asked for anything back when I did that..

 

[Clint]

thats what i would do ask for another and send the original pic another thing u should of done to the weld is run a 1/2 inch beed all the way across the plate u cut out becuase it kinda looks like it was just spot welded btw what did they use for that i would of used a stick arc with 6011

 

[Kyle K.]

Weld??

Matt please be careful with that thing!!!! From a weld inspectors viewpoint that fix scares me, i realize the job was just a fix for now but really take it easy on that. I think wheelin it might be okay for just the weekend but no jumps or anything, anyway be safe.

dodgerr

did they run a bead down the center of the crack? to join the halves before adding that thing? I think that's what you said, that should definitely help.

 

[mattadams]

yes they did run the bead down the center of the crack first Kyle. Don't worry, once I get it back from Moab I'm going to call Superlift to get the replacement part. The only other run I've got scheduled is June 2nd and its a fairly easy one, and I hope to have it fixed by then with the improved bracket.
Thanks for the conern though, hopefully it'll last through Moab .
Of course, once I got this fixed I was driving around town and somehow my passenger side tie rod was VERY bad, I was loosing control of the vehicle it was that bad... anyways, thats getting fixed right now, and I am hoping that it will all be good to go by tomorrow around noon.