5th wheel camper mounting brackets

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Good morning fellas/ladies. I work at a coal fired generating station and from time to time we do odd welding related projects for the guys around the plant for home that dont have access to a welder or possess welding skill. Anyway one of our fellow electricians ( self proclaimed welder aparently ) purchased a used fifth wheel hitch kit for his truck now the frame mounting brackets were built for a later model dodge than he has now so they didnt fit exactly right. he decided when he was on the farm to try and tackle welding the frame brackets directly to the frame, So he comes in today and literally tells me this story, said the welds were horrible and asked if i would maybe look at re-doing them, After explaining to him how these brackets should in my opinion always be bolted he realized he shouldve talked to us first. Now i dont deal alot with frame work but have done my share of repairs on our coal handling dozers/scrapers etc. But in my experience when it comes to truck frames, any sort of welding especially vertically along the frame which he did would create huge stress risers, and i would think hes damaged his truck frame by doing this? making it more suseptiable to stress induced cracking by altering stress flow lines. Again i am no expert at all so i figured id post here. Iam certainly not going to be "re-welding" these brackets for him thats somthing id never touch for sure. What are you guys opinions? ive recommended to him cutting them off, and buying the appropriate brackets and drilling/bolting. But with the location of the brackets still having to be located in the exact spot where hes welded it would be my assumption that that section of weakened frame now could fail even if he drills and mounts these properly, due to the stress's exerted by the fifth wheel camper while pulling?
Reply:The welding part is your call and what you're comfortable with. When I bought my powerstroke someone had welded on the gooseneck hitch. The welds were adequate and I left it alone. On several occasions I pulled my 42' Pro trak with over 10 tons on it (15 tons total) and never had a bit of a problem. You won't create much of a problem welding on p/u frames like you will with semis.
Reply:Welding on chassis creates stiff spots, in which causes cracks eventually. use your best judgement on how those rails are supposed to flex uninterupted.I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Originally Posted by BCTimberwolf You won't create much of a problem welding on p/u frames like you will with semis.
Reply:hey guys, no i most definatly wouldnt touch this with a 10' pole, it would be an easy enough weld but its just one of those things kinda like welding rims! I talked him into ordering the proper brackets.