Welding a wore out bore: A job you can make money doing 💰😀

[@theseldomseenkid6251]

13:00 That was the OSHA safety bee. It left when it heard someone down the street yell "Hold my beer. Watch this."

[@markashlock9017]

I am really enjoying these “real life” welds and repairs you are doing Greg. Keep up the good work…and THANKS!!!

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

You’re welcome. If there is a will there is a way, a little bit of hard work and a grinder can do a lot 😀

[@Ryansroga-wm6pj]

Interesting repair clever techniques nice job👍

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Thanks. The repair bought more than a few more years out of the boom for sure

[@ericarachel55]

as a returning novice to welding in my retirement years I like your philosophy, it is the same one I had during my years as a blue collar person who had to repair many different machines and pumps

[@samuelscragg7052]

If I ever leaned anything about welding repairs is that sometimes it just ain’t gonna be perfect. Your repair job will hold up past the life of the vehicle. And you did say that and I’m in total agreement with you.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

There are definitely tons of repair jobs that get done where the whole thing needs to be tossed out instead lol. If you can do a good enough job that it will last for a while, it’s a job well done. Perfectionism is great, but that mentality goes out the window when your welding in a new floor in a garage truck 😅

[@johngersna3263]

Good morning Greg. Outstanding! I love the repair videos because you're putting the things that you've been teaching us to video. God bless, and I told you that we'd be here when you got back. 👍👍🙂

[@NeoMK]

I was going to say you really could have used a mag base drill press with a bore cutter after welding.... But after seeing the end result those items were totally unnecessary. You sir are a die grinder flap wheel GOD. Nice work Mr. Machinist!

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Haha thanks for the compliments. No doubt a mag drill would have been the way to go. If the truck wasn’t so wore out I would have actually done something like that. When I saw how many miles it had, and how bad the every bushing was in the boom, it simply wasn’t worth it. Honestly that boom is the most worn out I have ever seen. It would have taken me probably 35-40 hours to legit refurbish that boom, and at that point it’s hardly worth it. I don’t like half-assing anything but sometimes you have to put lipstick on a pig and be happy with what you have lol.

[@summerforever6736]

Came out good!!

[@JulietHotelFoxtrot]

Uff da! this video could not be more "in da nort woods" if you tried. I love it. Seriously good stuff. Next time I crack a grain belt, I'll be thinking of this.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Haha thanks for the kind words 😀. Grain belt is pretty good. I am due to have some of that 😀.

[@mkearn724]

Nice work and a nice video Greg. That was pretty slick how you ground down the burr on the underside. Im sure that since you took the time to tig it you saved yourself a good bit of grinding that stick would have left you with. A few different burr bits and a pencil die grinder probably would have came in handy for this fix. On a side note, those thorogoods look like they’re holding up well.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Thanks 😀. Definitely some burr bits and a pencil grinder would have saved they day. I had those but they were in storage and digging them out wouldn’t have been worth the time 😅. If anything it proves how you can do a decent job with minimal tools, it just takes longer. The old “right tool for the job” saves a ton of time. The end result was far from precision or perfect, but it should get it to the end of the trucks lifespan (not much longer lol). The thorogoods hold up pretty good for me, I wear that pair every day and they are probably 6months old now. If I keep them oiled I get a year out of them, less if I don’t do any maintenance. Not bad 😀

[@mkearn724]

@@makingmistakeswithgreg I completely agree with the first part, about being able to make due with what you have. I’ve been wearing damn near the same boot as you for years now. I get the crazy horse darker brown rather than the tobacco color like yours. It’s kinda crazy how everytime I buy a new pair the price is up. I used to get the 8” wedge soles moctoe with safety toe for $189 and I think my last pair was damn near $260

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

@@mkearn724 I know 😮. My first pair of thorogoods I bought for 150$ and bought another pair for half off (225 for two). Now they are over that a pair lol. One of these days I have to go up to their factory (it’s 2.5 hours north of me in Wisconsin) and check it out.

[@michaelallen1432]

MEK is a good alternative to acetone if you want something that doesnt evaporate quite as fast but has similar properties otherwise.

[@dapapadon1829]

Nice repair!

[@jimmywilson1388]

That’s awesome man, you did great considering the situation… Hopefully they’ll throw a little grease to it every once in a while…😂

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Haha yeah some grease would be nice. The wear on the wear plates on the boom suggest it’s the original (trucks over 400k miles) but I have a hard time believing nobody greased it for all 400k. I should start pricing a grease gun in on tow truck jobs 😅.

[@jimmywilson1388]

@@makingmistakeswithgreg Hahaha 🤣

[@ghffrsfygdhfjkjiysdz]

11:03 they make low torque die grinder, which is what you have and a higher torque buffer.

[@slowb4lls1]

We gotta find out how to mod them crappy things and take out the torque sensor cause I’m with you it’s got some balls if it didn’t cut off every two seconds

[@slowb4lls1]

Actually I’m prolly gonna do what I did with this mini box fan they wudnt warranty and stick this junk under the front tire of the parked tool truck and just leave it

[@G5Hohn]

I can’t believe that pin has neither seals nor grease provisions. Seems obvious that this kind of wear would eventually happen in a totally dry bore when dust and dirt enter. I bet that pin and bore are just soft mild steel too. I proper hardened pivot pin in a bronze bushing sealed up and greased would last about forever.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Yeah, there are a ton of things that flat out dont make sense on the trucks. I have done a ton of repairs on tow trucks and some of the stuff I have seen is wild. Companies (well known wrecker suppliers btw) will make something out of 1/2in thick steel, yet I will find numerous welds that have no fusion. They might be 1/2in wide but they will be paper thin. A ton of the hydraulic components are designed/installed to be completely unserviceable within a winter or two. No grease fittings, pins that go in blind with no way to push them out, sharp edges left where hoses rub against lol. No wonder they are all wore out all the time lol.

[@markdeitchman8938]

thanks Greg. I enjoyed seeing a real life welding repair. most welding you tube videos show "in the classroom" welding. but to see how it's done in the real world really helps. just curious: was the base metal you were welding basic low carbon steel? or do you think it was high carbon? did you use er70s-6? er70s-2? how did you decide what filler metal to use? if you had used stick welding process instead, what electrode would you have used? 6010? 7018? how would you make that decision?

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Great questions, thanks for asking. Based on how wore the material was compared to the pin, the steel was likely just mild steel. If it was hardened the steel wouldn’t have just compressed like play dough over time. I completely forgot to mention, but I did test it. I tig welder a spot on the base material (with no filler). I took a file and filed it. The spot filed just like the base material, indicating it didn’t have higher carbon content. I did this before welding the first pass. The phone died so it was cutout and I forgot to mention it. Also based on all the factory welds it’s unlikely to be any higher strength alloy. I welded it with ER-70s2 wire, s6 would also work. I have used both and honestly there isn’t a huge difference between the two on clean steel. For stick I would have used 7018 more than likely. The reasons being: smoother weld that won’t easily trap slag (far easier to clean between passes), less spatter that would stick to everything around, the deposition rate per inch of rod will be more so I don’t have to feed as much rod in (making it easier to weld) and it would be easier to grind down flat because of the bead shape. Rod selection for me is based on a few quick thoughts. 1: does it require strength, 2: are there big gaps to fill, 3 is the surface in poor shape, and 4: why am I doing the repair (aka why did it break, or wear out in the first place). In the situation of the hole, a combination of a lack of grease caused the assembly to pivot on the pin more than the bushing, which lead to wearing it out. Had the assembly been properly greased it’s whole life 90% of the wear would have never happened. Based on the miles and trucks condition it didn’t make a lot of sense to do hardface on the bore over a 70k wire because the failure was caused by improper maintenance and likely overloading of weight. Hard face will hold up to wear but overloading it would still compress the steel and oval out the hole. I believe the pin and bushing may not be original, but the arm with bores definitely are. The risk of cracking with hardface due to the brittleness of it wasn’t worth it either. So with tig it leaves er70 as being the ideal solution. With stick it could have been done with 6010 but to me the issue of getting it clean between passes would have been hard and 7018 would be far easier. Honestly any solid weld without porosity will likely outlast the truck in the situation I showed, even 6013. I find that I am more capable with 7018 which is why I would have used that. If the steel was higher strength alloy 7018 would be the go to choice. Generally speaking I only use 6010 and 7018 rods (or other xx18 rods) for everything. Occasionally I use 7024 to get big welds done fast on clean angle iron and such. A persons ability to produce a quality weld matters too. On some scabby trailer on a uphill run I am using 6010 because I know I can get a solid weld despite gaps or poor fit. For flat welds on clean steel I am using 7018 all day. As far as wire welding flux cored wire is the way to go. Trying to use a home hobby machine to get a penetrated weld on 5/8th to 3/4 steel would have been extremely hard with gas shielded MiG. Most hobby machines would have made roped up welds and had poor penetration, flux core wire in the same machine would have been no issue.

[@NeoMK]

@@makingmistakeswithgreg I have noticed that flux core seems to burn hotter than shielded for some reason in my little Lincoln Mig. It penetrates better but it spatters and leaves the flux everywhere. But yeah, now hearing it from you I guess flux core does penetrate better and runs hotter.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

@@NeoMK yes, flux core has increased penetration and can weld thicker material per amp than gas shielded MiG. A 140amp wire welder can safely weld 1/4 and possibly 3/8th steel with flux core wire. With hardwire gas shielded MiG you can’t get much penetration above 3/16th steel at 140 amps. That’s why I always tell people to switch to flux core when welding 3/16th and thicker steel with home hobby welders. With the right settings/wire it works great with minimal spatter.

[@jdeluisa]

I don't know how to weld, but I have a question. Would the tig weld have been cleaner if you used a torch to preheat the metal to remove some of the contaminants, or would it not have made enough of a difference? Love your channel, learning a lot.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Great question and welcome to the channel 😀. Preheating it with a torch could definitely cook some of the grease out, and possibly help. If I had ground back further into the metal (a 1/8th inch) it probably would have helped too. The biggest issue I had besides the grease was it was windy enough that my shielding gas was getting blown away fairly regularly despite doing everything I could do mitigate it (wind blocks, high gas flow, #8 and #12 cups with short stick outs, etc). I wasn’t planning on doing a job like that and had everything I owned besides the tools I used packed away in storage, so it truly turned into a “best I could do” situation. Religious cleaning, grinding to bright shiny metal, and a quick torch heat would have been the way to go for sure. 😀

[@jdeluisa]

@@makingmistakeswithgreg Thank you for responding. I am learnng a lot watching your videos.

[@michaelc9507]

I just recently found your KZbin channel and subscribed. Lot of good information your providing. Do you have a scratch tig set up?

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

So I have scratch, lift arc, and high frequency start. I generally use HF because it’s flat out easier. Are you looking for help with scratch start? I will be doing a tig video series in feb.

[@michaelc9507]

@@makingmistakeswithgreg just stretch start would be awesome!! I got my rig going a while ago running off Linclon weld power. I do a lot of industrial stick and MiG on AR plate. Quarry your videos are detailed I enjoy them thank you

[@douglasthompson2740]

Frustrating to do a job without the tools that you have but can't get to!

[@richardgoldschrafe4747]

Very little wear on that grease zerk though lol.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Yeah, that zerk is surely good for another 400k+ miles lol

[@thegarbagegladiators4735]

I did learn something. I learned that I need to learn how to stick weld, instead of flux core. lol. I have some pretty heavy 12 inch I-beams I salvaged from a scrap haul and Have been holding onto them for a while until I figure out how to weld them together for what I plan on building. I am going to buy a stick or, multi process machine. darn tootin.. Theses I-beams are a tad bigger than 1/4 inch thickness. btw.......FUCKIN BEE!!

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

I do like flux core, but for 1/4in I beams I definitely would want stick. Flux core is capable of welding 1/4in all day but for best results you need a 200 amp welder otherwise duty cycle/penetration will be a huge issue. It definitely pays to know how to stick and flux core wire weld. 👨🏻‍🏭

[@thegarbagegladiators4735]

@@makingmistakeswithgreg What are your thoughts on the Vulcan Omnipro 220? just got to save the money first tho. lolol. gonna be hard.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

@@thegarbagegladiators4735 honestly the Vulcan welders are solid. You can technically get more for your money on a budget. My ideal budget setup would be a everlast 185dv or 200 ac/dc tig and stick, and a used 140amp MiG machine. Or for even less a 161sth everlast dc only tig machine instead of the 185. It really comes down to if you have 240 volts, and what your intended needs are. If you are only welding 3/16th and thinner steel 100% spend the money on a nice MiG machine. If you are going to weld thicker than that routinely stick will be better. If you want to weld stainless, aluminum, and things like roll cages, a tig machine is the way to go. Honestly I haven’t owned a MiG machine until the one I bought to do videos (firepower fp200). It’s a great tool but I did 90% of all my work with a tig/stick machine and only occasionally using a 175$ flux core welder.

[@thegarbagegladiators4735]

@@makingmistakeswithgreg I was thinking a PrimeWeld CT520DP? Since I was needing a plasma cutter as well. Have you tried prime weld before?

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

@@thegarbagegladiators4735 I like prime welds 225x (and I have used it) but I have not used the 520. I had a plasma cutter for a while and ended up selling it because I never really used it (I use a torch a lot due to portability). I am sure the 520 works decent, if you buy it let me know what you think

[@slowb4lls1]

Oh yea, it’s kinda basically bullshit 😂😂 I’ve got the same junky grinder and mine cuts off of you push wit one pinky pressure ….It’s the built in torque sensor, thanks milawaukee, it’s a garbage tool design. I sent two back already and they said it is what it is. I said yea so basically your telling me it’s totally useless on any speed correct? Thanks Milwaukee

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Yeah it’s bizarre the way it runs. It seems to have a ton of torque with a burr bit but anything else forget about it. I just bought a m18 die grinder and hopefully that will be better 😀

[@dougmarkham1919]

Greg, can you help me out. I have high schools students that I would love to show your videos to, but the "F" bombs prevent me from administration approval. Thanks for your consideration.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Here is the deal on that. KZbin automatically searches everything I make, logs every offensive word, gives me points, and then distributes the video to people based on age restrictions of their account. On top of that I manually enter my score, from what’s considered able to be monetized, and literally have to score all aspects of my content. KZbin compares what I think and what they think, and only if they are close does it monetize and assign a “safe for viewing” and “safe for monetization” score. I am in compliance with what is deemed socially acceptable for KZbin. I understand your frustration and desire to share videos with kids, but as time for me to make and edit videos decreases my ability to filter things out will decrease as well. Initially I did a better job of editing things out, simply because I was afraid I would be black listed and didn’t want that to happen. Now i realize I won’t be black listed, I simply don’t have time to edit everything out like I used to, so what’s in a video will be entirely situational dependent. I do believe if the age rating of a KZbin account is changed any video with foul language I have will be automatically removed and only ones that are in compliance with points will be allowed in. It’s not a perfect solution for what you’re requesting, but it may help you for mine and others content.

[@bearbait2221]

The owner of that truck>>Whats grease??? derppy operators never grease sh!t

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

Isn’t that amazing lol. 100$ in grease over the 400k+ miles on that truck and the boom would be in ok shape still lol. I do a lot of tow truck repairs and you would be shocked at how few have any grease on anything. 😅

[@bearbait2221]

@@makingmistakeswithgreg I would like to see what tools you used diegrinder or just a sander? Because i'm a fellow tool hoarder and i like how you handle them there wallerd holes LOL JK you did such a good job it looks line bored to me. I didn't see any carbide die grinder pecker tracks like i would make i guess i need to look harder in the abrasive isle. I'm Alaskan gold miner and fleet heavy equipment mech and my biggest bit$h is seeing operators drinking coffee for 30mins every morning never even look at the machines oil or grease or loose bolts or tires than drive off wide open. I might start a mobile mech business and the name in large letters on the side of the truck would say>>>>>>> "What's grease for?" good show liked ur vid nice tig work on old grease chit my fav i can just taste the burnt grease now mmm good.

[@makingmistakeswithgreg]

@@bearbait2221 the little drum flap wheels work great for getting a decent surface finish, they are just slow. I have a bunch in 40-120 grit. It took a bit of time to polish it out decent. The pin fit pretty good, I could have don’t a even better fit on it but honestly it wouldn’t have made any difference in the long run. The lower pins that hold the arm assembly to the main boom were so wore out there was probably 3in of side to side play in it. Everything was flat out wore out, but I fixed the worst out of all lol. A Alaskan gold miner? I would sign up for that in a second. Only thing is I can’t handle the cold 🥶. It’s my dream to be out in the middle of nowhere working on equipment.