Well knowing that the Z has week upper suspension mounts, i added a gusset to each one, i figured sence im riding alot fo mx and jumping alot and that i have +2 a-arms on stock shocks i really need it, just incase it starts to crack or if it would brake i added some gussets, i think i did a great jog, they look great and my welds are pretty good, i only had 1 spot where it was hard to get a good weld but i got it but its not pretty, heres the before and after pics

the first couple are before then the ones under the line are after pics, oh and the welds are good and look alot better in person










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Looks good man, maybe you should think about running a tube between the top where the top of the gussets are, connecting both of them. whats next? New shocks?

Did you pull the shocks off before you welded? Or just heat those bushings right up?

I pulled them off, and covered everything with shop towels so no metal crap would fly off onto the paint, but instead it caught the shop towels on fire

did you oxy-fuel those or arc them? looks like some impurities got into your weld. might have been better off using square stock and cutting it to fit the full gap. would have distributed the impact evenly and not created another weak/stress spot.

ok i got it...you flux core wire welded it didnt ya. that explains the look of the welds.

just a little criticism. you also might wanna grind off that weld to the shock mount itself and reweld it (2nd to last pic) looks like bad penetration.

yeah i used ozzyite's super duper flux welder, na its actually a great welder, but yeah i did have a couple spots where there was a bad weld and i went over them, that on i think is pretty good, the welds do look better in person, except for one of them on the right side there was a hard spot to get to and it got a little hard

yeah some of those nose cones dont get into tight spots very well. but with some grinding and spot welding it should look fine when all powdered and done. maybe put a little filler rod in between the gusset and frame to clean it up. if i had some free time i would help ya weld it up with the gas mig...but i gots my hands full rebuilding my bike every weekend in ramona.

I am waiting for Shockman to use up the 10 lb spool of flux core that is in my welder so I can put the air back on it. I keep tacking everything on my frame for now so I don't have to use the flux on my frame. So come back and get the welder it is back at my house and weld away little man.

I thought there was child labor laws.

HEHE ok, i need to gusset and make a steering stem, and then gusset the steering stem mount, and then dan has plans to do lots of work on our little trailer but he wont bring it to the top of the drive way so i can work on it, so it will never get done sitting down at the bottom, and theres no way im working on it in this heat down there

that was the one thing i hated about welding..aside from the huge burn holes in your skin...was the heat while welding in the sun. needa lose weight? theres a diet, burnt skin and sweat.

when I first started welding on my frame I welded for hours one day and I actually sunburned my arm from the arc soo bad that it blistered, now I have the gauntlet gloves and the cool looking leather top half coat. Lots of holes in my socks and pants also.

I hate it when it gets down in my socks it burns and ya cant do anything, when i welded in the gussets i put a whole bunch of clean rags on my frame and over the radiator and a-arms and stuff and wehn i was welding it started to catch on fire so now a whole bunch of our rags have burn holes in them we still have that half coat just hanging on our rafters (SP?) in our garage

yeah i got killer gloves and the shoulder leathers. but doesnt protect the top of my head and my neck when welding above shoulder hieght with a stick welder. had a piece of slag sit and burn into the skin on my collar bone, had to knock it off me. also had my nuts roasted once, then a piece burn my leg, then fell into my shoe, burning 3 holes in me. welding is a good job to wear protection on. shorts and tees (me) just dont offer the right protection