K-member at the end of its life?

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Tantibus-74 said:
Well... I might have a solution... I have a motorcycle I haven't sold yet. I don't ride hardly anymore after my last accident. So I'm going to sell it to pay for the aftermarket K-member and tubular upper control arms.

It's a 2005 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Classic it should more then pay for the setup.
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Click to expand...

Hell if you're gonna do that, give GTS a call, Gerstsuspensions.com and get you a complete tuned kit like I did.
 
Well, I attempted to weld it yesterday. So far it looks like it holds up well I put all my weight on it and tried to see if it would budge or shift. Nothing.
Although the welds look like turds.
I used the craftsmen flux welder with Lincoln flux wire.
View attachment 20160404_052334.jpg
 
Just fyi, firm feel will make it better than new if you don't want to mess with it
.
 
No worries with that weld. All I have is the $90 HF Flux-wire welder and my welds often look similarly lumpy, but after grinding them with my $14 HF hand grinder to shiny smooth metal, they look great. My main problem is I can't see well with the HF auto-dimming helmet, so often think I ran a nice bead, then see it was off the joint. Anyway, I have fixed major issues, like a separated K-frame in my M-B where a shop's weld repair failed (for PO), so definitely paid for itself. I welded 3/8" steel trailer shackles to make a tow mount and got good penetration (turned blue on reverse side). A bigger problem is burn-thru on sheet metal like my Dart floor pan. The HF welder works great, just not for delicate work like a TIG.
 
A gas conversion on that welder would seriously improve things, flux core wire is ugly. The outer welds look cold, but I can see the weld penetration on the inside of the tube so it should be ok.

Make sure the pivot tubes are clear of any weld intrusion or slag before installing the LCA's.
 
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