Mike Mileski Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I just thought I'd pass along the name of the guy in Tucson that shortened my strut housings. His name is Eric Miller and, for $40 each, he cut out the exact amount I wanted (in my case, 1.5 inches), welded them back together, ground the outside welds smooth and then welded on the support ring for the threaded sleeve. All I had to do was file off a few weld bumps inside the tubes. Eric, now retired, was an aerospace welder at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson for over thirty years and does pristine work. You can ship him your struts for shortening but he won't ship back, you'd have to come and pick them up but, believe me, its worth it for that price and the quality of the work. He can be reached at (520)749-8705 if you want to discuss your individual needs with him. Mike Mileski Tucson, AZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJ 280z Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 do you have any pics of what he did? i take it these are TIG welds right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evildky Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 nothing wrong with mig welding them so long as you get good penetration, I mig's mine and I suspect most people mig theirs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2126 Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Wasn't there press some time ago about Rayteon having weld failures.......just kidding! But IIRC, Isn't gringing the welds smooth on a structural member a no no? Maybe John C. can enlighten us! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJ 280z Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 don't get me wrong, theres nothing wrong with MIG welding, if i weld mine myself it would be with my MIG welder, but if i was to pay someone to weld for me, I can easily take anything down to full-race and they will TIG weld it for me, with the amount of side work i have em do, they would probably do all 4 for less than 100 bucks..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zbeechbum280t Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 where did you get your threaded sleves and what shocks are you useing ...? THX, Joel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Mileski Posted April 15, 2007 Author Share Posted April 15, 2007 They were TIG welded. And remember, this guy shortened them himself, made a fixture to reweld them straight and then did the welding. I didn't have to do anything. I am using strut inserts and a coil over kit I bought from Modern Motorsports. Here's a picture of one of the sectioned front ones, now 1.5" shorter than stock. Mike Mileski Tucson, AZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Ahhhhh, good old USAF Plant 44...I know it well! Good work comes out of there. Glad to see you got some payback from years of experience locally! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 But IIRC, Isn't gringing the welds smooth on a structural member a no no? Yes and no. For inspection purposes no welding inspector will certify a weld that has been touched by a grinder. For our purposes, if the weld is "under" the threaded collar when installed, some grinding might be needed to get the collar to slip over the weld. I do it a little bit and am not worried about a failure. As long as the tube ends are beveled and there's good penetration, it should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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