well the frame cracked on my zx...it's not big but its about 1" on both sides of the frame (inside and outside) so i got it welded good and now the weld split in half

anyone here got a good way to fix a crack? i don't really care how it looks in the end i just don't want to come down from a wheelie and go face first into the pavement

please give me some ideas and pics would be good...i really need to fix this and getting another frame is my last resort cuz i'm broke

 

get a new frame.....

 

get someone who knows how to weld. welds shouldn't crack

 

yea welds definatley shouldnt crack, your probley not to hip on how to prep the metal and cooling procedures.

btw not being a ****, just agreeing with guy above.

 

I had a frame crack welded twice and both times it cracked.

Then I found a guy that really knew how to weld an aluminum frame and it never cracked again.

 

its because your not getting good penetration

 

wrong, sorry but that's not accurate for welding. if the weld cracks it's because it was a sub-par weld, if the metal cracks around it it's normal.

 

I say get it rewelded. Then put a plate on both sides of the frame that covers the crack and weld that into place. It should relieve stress on the new weld as well as reinforcing the damaged area.

 

the plates wouldn't work either. when you weld on a metal you make the surrounding area a little weaker, so if you added a plate, the area under the plate would be ok, but the metal around the weld for the plate would be different than it originally was.

 

should grind a V in the crack so when it gets welded you get penetration all the way through instead of just welding over the top. if it were me i would then have a plate welded over the top of it. i work with construction equipment (bulldozers,excavators) and thats how we repair them when we get cracks in a high stress part of the machine, and they see a lot more stress than a bike

 

thats what i was thinking but no plate

 

good idea, i'll do that but the frame is so thin that i'll probobly make a bigger groove trying to put a V into it

 

Hopefully a new weld will hold... on the other hand anyone know how much a new frame would be?

 

good luck. I wouldn't grind it at all. welding on heavy equipment is steel welding. frame repairs should be tig or mig welded and done right. what ever you do make sure it's repaired or replaced correctly I guess.

 

heh

i would tig that thing



i wouldn't take a grinder to it but sumthin like a dremel or air powered cut off tool would work

in this case you wanna make a VERY tight v just enough that you can lay down a bead all the way back oh and remember to let it cool in between (might wanna back weld)

 

I'm not trying to argue with you guys, but if you know what you're doing, you should get good penetration through the whole weld, a back weld isn't a bad idea, but if it's inside the frame, it's not happening unless there's an accessable area real close. you have no choise but to tig weld it, it's the only way to weld aluminum

 

get a frame off ebay? or.. i have welded a frame before with good results. just depends who you take it to. chances are its cracked in more than one place, so stripping the motor out might be required to get it fixed right. what year zx6r?

 

hmm now why would i mention TIG WELDING!!!!!!!!!!


god i was just sayin

 

mig welding aluminum is a BAD idea. get it tig welded... thats the only real way to do it right

 

Yeah Mig is possible on aluminum also, but a skilled Tig welder should get it done right. also make sure they are using the right Filler material, that crack looks like some stuff I've seen happen when the filler material wasn't a match to the base metal.