recent chassis extention

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One of our good customers brought an old 76 model mack for his farm and brought in to get the chassis extended and a tray built new tanks fitted exhausted and a few other little jobs this job was my nightmare easy job to do the nightmare start after we had sat down with and workout how long he wanted and what over hang he wanted the laws in my state are overhang can be no more that 60 percent of the wheel base (over hang for those that don't know is how much of the chassis sticks out the back of the truck after the rear wheels ) so we got that sorted he wanted 52 percent overhang then when I got the drive line back in the chassis ready to mark and drill he change it all again to give a idea what this guy is like he changed the lay out of the exhaust 5 times when  the new tanks he got custom built landed at work he workout they were to big of then I had to modify the tank mounts to suit his new tanks I lost the pics of the welds  but it was welded using austarc 16tc Low Hydrogen Electrode's I always do chassis joins this way I know you can mig them but I prefer the above I had the engineer come in and sign off on the job this  we need the engineers ticket for rego here on jobs like this any way here a some pics of it from start to finish the worst part is we have to pull the tray, tanks and mudguards of it again after harvest so he can get the chassis painted and the cab it was extend to fit a 5mtr tray to carry a grouper bin like the one in this pic and thats why the tray has very little floor Last edited by wello; 05-10-2008 at 07:48 AM.Creative metal Creative metal Facebook
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Reply:Traythe old girl ready to drive out the gate on Monday on a real good pic took it with my photo Creative metal Creative metal Facebook
Reply:You get all the fun jobs.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Nice work Wello, that is a big task!John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Why a angle cut and not a step cut?  ( I.e.  cut up 2 inches, the cut across 6 and up 2 again, and exact opposite on the other side)  Just curious...  Looks great...  I was just curious.. (newb questions)
Reply:Nice work ,brings back memoriesChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:Nice work Wello. Thanks for the pics.That Mack is in unbelievable condition.Where'd they find it; in a time capsule? Bicentennial model, with dual air intakes, polished tanks, chrome bumper, front flaps... Hot stuff!Single battery and extra air tanks... probably had a pneumatic "grocery dropper" starter too!Hope they never have to pull the top-mounted differentials, clearance looks tight now!! Last edited by denrep; 05-10-2008 at 10:48 AM.
Reply:Great work Wello.austarc 16tc must be made and used down under. I have never heard of that kind. Is it similar to our low-hy 7018?
Reply:thanks guys smokeshow I do a angle because it easyer and quicker to line the rails up and it nice and strong have been doing it that way for 25yrs have tried step cuts adds more time than its worth mark  austarc is an aussie brand there AS/NZS 1553.1:E4816  AWS A5.1:E7016-1 denrep it does have the air starter on it the own has about 15 Kenworths as well has fitted air starters to some of them this truck will be his play toy on his farm he also has got about $900 of led lights put onit  Creative metal Creative metal Facebook
Reply:Awesome Wello, nothing but the best.David Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Wello, Thanks for the reply... I was just curious as to I had never seen it done any other way...  I am always eager to learn new and more effiecent ways!
Reply:A step cut would also create 90degree inside corners and it has been my experience that many cracks propagate from those inside corners. I would have used the angled cut myself and in the direction that it was cut as well.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:Another shining example of, "Built like a Mack truck."  An 'R' model, I believe.  It's great to see one not rotted out by road salt.  Oz's dry climate should keep it running for a few more decades.I only live a few miles away from the Mack assembly plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania.  One always wonders where a deck set of them running the interstate is headed.  Usually domestic, but I've prepped some for the middle east and south america.  Mostly triple frame units meant for off road or poor road conditions like logging in the Amazon basin where the vehicle GVW is always ignored.
Reply:If it were me, I'd put a diamond pad on the inside of the rail, across the weld...but you've obviously done more of these than I have.
Reply:Originally Posted by EngloidIf it were me, I'd put a diamond pad on the inside of the rail, across the weld...
Reply:Originally Posted by Black WolfThat is a nice thought, and it does work very well in the proper applications, but stretching truck frames is not one of them.
Reply:Engloid - My apologies,From your response, I gather that I may have caused some offense.  None was intended.  Yes, I very much do understand what you meant.  Yes, it IS a very good practice and procedure to help spread out stresses and input forces, but I do not believe that it is an accepted way of reinforcing the frame of a commercial class 8 truck after doing a frame stretch as discussed here.If you took the bare main frame after a stretch, and welded in your diamond patch, it WILL NOT pass inspection up here in Canada, or at least in Alberta, where I am from, and where we do this type of work.  It has to have an inner channel bolted inside of the main frame as I already posted.If I am reinforcing something that will receive static loading, I may weld a diamond patch (with rounded off corners) all the way around.  If the piece in question will be subject to dynamic loading/unloading, and flexing, I use an irregular shaped piece (Imagine a piece of 10" flat bar with an elongated circle cut out two opposing ends of it) and weld it along the two longest sides only.  This provides support to help withstand the stresses, without making it too rigid, and causing tearing.The latter is pretty common up here.  We use it on Class 8 equipment that hauls oilfield equipment.  Bed Trucks, Picker Trucks, Winch Tractors..... You name it.  Pretty much any company that manufactures oilfield floats and lowbeds use these plates to reinforce their designs.Sorry to all for the hijack.  I do not suspect Wello had this in mind when he posted the pictures of his work. Later,Jason
Reply:[QUOTE=Black Wolf;186420]That is a nice thought, and it does work very well in the proper applications, but stretching truck frames is not one of them.  The only way we do them up here, and the way I was taught, is exactly how Wello did his stretch.  Some guys cut at 45 degrees, some at 30 degrees, to each their own.  Every stretch frame I have seen has a formed C-channel insert that is BOLTED to the inside of the original frame, that is the full length of the stretch, and extends along the original frame 2 feet or so past any welding.[QUOTE]the  law here in my state you must have a inner rail thats goes at least 2ft pass the welds each way the longer the better if the inner rail isn't put in over here they wont pass it for rego the engineer need to pass it will just look and walk out and I stand a very good chance of lossing my ticket to do this sort of work which won't be happening the inner rails I put in this job were 8ft long going behind the running gear as on this model Mack they spaced the running gear out from the chassis 5/16 that work out around 4ft each side of the welded area in other words a bit of overkill but better safe than sorry don't worry about a hijack Black Wolf nothing wrong with healthy debate about a subject thats how we all learn things Creative metal Creative metal Facebook
Reply:a couple of better pics of the old girl it will be coming back in later  to get the blue on the cab and the chassis painted the same green as the body Creative metal Creative metal Facebook
Reply:Excellent post, Wello, and I do it the same as both you and Black Wolf mentioned, bolt the sleeve on the inside, also on occasion either/or bolt a "glove" on the outside.   Glove is a partial frame rail, upside down "L" shaped piece, across the top and down the side, not across the bottom.  Sounds backwards, but it works.   I always spend a little time, deciding where to end the additional metal, don't want to end just at or before a major stress-point; ie right at a cross-member or right at a spring-hanger.   Preferably, I always try to go past the first spring-hanger, if it's more than two feet than so be it.  In this country, at least my state, nobody's inspecting anything afterwards, if you wanna stretch a truck out, you just do it ....   if it breaks later .....  uh, see you in court.   Truely a "professional" job ....
Reply:And BTW, that's how we repair/stretch aluminum frames also,,,,,   I have a nice collection of old 9" Freightliner steel frame rails out back, fit perfectly inside of anybody's 10" aluminum rails ....   sometimes with a little pressure, but it fits ......
Reply:Here's one where the chassis has been shortened. And, to stay on topic, I've welded on the bumper on this, but it was a few bumpers ago. Six tons and 100mph.Now for the trip home..
Reply:The more that show, the stranger they are.As if the long hood isn't rare enough, it's got dual headlights too!I'm sticking around just to see what shows up next!Hey Tractapac,Crane loading of trucks, and tandem steering axles, are rare in the US.Thanks for the pics