DIY Sidekick Cross Member Replacement - Done PROPERLY
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2021
- This time at Balmer's Workshop, I show you how to properly replace the fuel tank forward cross member on a 1989-1998 Suzuki Sidekick, GMC/Geo/Chev Tracker.
This is a very common problem that often sends these little rigs to their grave! Don't let it happen to yours - follow the steps outlined in the video or come see me to have your cross member replaced the right way.
Please visit my website for all my custom and production fab work:
www.balmerfab.com
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That's a whole lot of work!!!
Great video, thanks
Glad you liked it!
great video as usaul.
When I have to weld around the gas tank or use a grinder , I learned long ago this trick that
I have been safely using . That is to drain the tank run the exhaust from a running car into it. That will prevent any fumes from igniting .
Thanks for your comment! That's a very interesting method... I guess running a consistent flow of CO2 or CO2/argon mix from a welding bottle into the tank would work as well. Thanks very much for the idea :)
Great work, watching and learning your tricks as my welding sucks doing my own GEO Tracker build.
Nice replacement. Never would have thought to use a jig for mount alignment.
About how many hours into a job like this. Just checking for those who can't do this type of work and would need to farm it out? I'm lucky that my 98 Sport came from Oklahoma with little rust and she's garage kept with little winter driving here in Virginia to keep her together.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your comment Banjoman! The job takes me about 6-7 hours with a hoist, plasma cutter and with plenty of practice. I would expect a qualified fabricator to take about 10 hours at this for a first attempt.
Man you’re a genius 🤙🏽
Thanks very kindly :)
Welcome back, very happy to see another video come through. A couple of questions.
First, since this vehicle has a lift, would you ever consider raising the fuel tank mounts for more clearance? Or would you prefer to keep the center of gravity low and beef up the skid plate?
Second, while recently building my sliders, friends had commented that apparently it's not good to weld vertical lines on a vehicle frame. No one could confirm or deny, or explain why though, and I was wondering if you'd ever heard of anything like that before. It came about when discussing welding plates to the frame as I just welded in square plates. Keep up the good work and I really appreciate that you include general maintenance on the channel, as anyone interested in doing custom mods to their vehicle is also going to have to deal with issues like presented in this video.
Don't use square plates, cut them diamond shaped and weld at angles to the frame instead of vertical welds.
@@thebanjoman1963 that's what I've heard, but I've never heard an explanation of why.
@@1stuart1 I have heard this too, and I think the real reason this is done is to lengthen the weld which makes it stronger. Shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Any other shape will be longer, which means more weld resulting in more force required for failure. The question of course is how strong does it need to be. If the slider frame support is 1.5 or 2" round tube then it has a circumference of 4.7 to 6.3". If you then weld a plate to the frame for reinforcement and it is 5 or 6 inches tall on each side, then that is a far longer and stronger weld (10-12 inches versus 4.7 to 6.3 inches) than the weld that connects the frame support to the reinforcement plate. Seems like the failure point would always be the slider frame support tube weld in this case regardless of the shape of the reinforcement plate. At least that is my take on the situation.
Lots of people talk about resistance to cracking, but I am not convinced this is the reason. Cracks can change direction as well as continue straight. Perhaps the stresses would be different in the new direction and this would cause the crack to stop propagating, but like I said I am not convinced this is the reason. If there is some AWS document talking about this I would love to read it.
I also watch a channel call "IC Weld". He's a heavy equipment mechanic and he does lots of weld repairs to cracked equipment, like excavator booms. Plenty of straight welds on that equipment, from the field repairs to the factory welds. The key here seems to be if there is a straight weld on each side of the boom, then the top and bottom piece are continuous and welds on those pieces are in a different location. The way you don't have a location where there is a continuous 360° weld on a boom. The welds on the top/bottom and sides are staggered.
I am hardly and expert so if someone has a different take on straight welds post it up.
@@Fix_It_Again_Tony I wondered about weld length as well, but that never made sense to me because when I cut square plates for my frame, I could have rotated each plate 45 degrees to get a diamond shape and not have welds perpendicular to the frame, but the weld length would not have changed.
@@1stuart1 if you take a square and rotate it 45 degrees, the welds would be the same length. But if you have two plates with the same width top and bottom, but one has straight sides and one has sides cut into the shape of a dimond. The one with straight sides will have a smaller perimeter and the welds length will be lower.
This video is so invaluable for me. Thanks so much for this I’ve got my crossmember cut out and I’m ready to order the tube. Do you remember if the 1.5” diameter you mentioned is the inner or outer dimension? Thanks again
Ah i think i found the answer in the comments. 1.5” inner diameter + .120 wall = 1.75 outer diameter. i think.
@@walterwalter3498Thanks for your comment! It's actually 1.5" O.D. with a .120" wall thickness. I always use tube rather than pipe so it's the outside diameter you'll here me quote.
Did you make a jig to make up replacement units that can be shipped and welded in place by owner?
No, sorry. I may offer it as a future product though. Stay tuned to the website:
balmerfab.com/
What material did you use for the new crossmember? Could you use any kind of material?
I use 1.75" x.120" wall ERW round tube. I would recommend using specifically this material.
Hi, I need to replace this cross member on a Jimny. I have a genuine replacement part. How many hours labour is realistic to be charged for this so that I don’t get ripper off?!
Thanks for the comment! I haven't done this job on A Jimny before so I'm unfamiliar with the details of that X-member swap. I can tell you that the job in the video is about 6 hours of labour now that I've done plenty of them but the first few were more like 8 hours.
both of them crossmembers have gone on my 95 escudo, time for big welding time this year i think
Thanks for your comment! I hope the video helps you with your job.
Good suzuki sidekik
Do people just drop there car off at your work shop and you design the bull bar or do they design. If they design it do they just show you a picture on what they want
Generally my custom builds are based on a combination of either photos, web links or drawings provided by the customer along with my input. Depending on the specific part, I mat CAD design it, in which case the customer can see a full rendering and ask for any alterations they might want before they commit to the project. Otherwise, if the project is more "art than science" I'll take an old school approach and work with Coroplast mock-ups and so on. The customer still gets a lot of input but it's a bit more challenging for me to offer a "preview" of the component that way - a bit of faith in me is required at that point ;)
...and Vitara.