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Message: [QUOTE="me2, post: 343371, member: 3825"] Update Good news. I got the trailer hitch rails mounted. Bad news. I burned up my TIG torch. I'm building the exhaust manifold from stainless steel. A local scrap metal dealer sells nice used(?) SS for $1 per pound. I bought what I needed for the manifold for $30. The exhaust port plates are 1/2" SS flat bar. I selected that thickness because that is the thickness of the exhaust port flanging on the Cummins 6.7 manifold, that thickness should be less prone to warping while welding and less prone to flex when the manifold bolts are tightened. The main manifold body is 2x2 3/16" tube. The exhaust manifold will be TIG welded, because its SS. The 5th wheel hitch mounts had 1/2" plate mild steel T joined to 3/8" plate. I stick welded the first mount. For the second mount, I thought it would be good practice to TIG them to see what it would be like to work with 1/2" material. Long story short, by the end of the 2nd pass (at greater than 200A) the copper conductor of my TIG torch lead had melted its way out of not only the cooling jacket, but also the entire cable cover. I have no idea why this happened and I haven't investigated yet, but I can't TIG the exhaust manifold together until I get my torch fixed. The other thing I learned that the backside of my welds of the main tube to the flanges will oxidize because of the heat involved. Sometimes this is called sugaring. Such welds are prone to cracking or fatigue failure. To rectify this situation, I need to run shield gas (argon) inside the header body as I weld it. Not a big deal, but I do need to purchase a second flow meter before I can do that. So the exhaust manifold is on hold for a bit. [/QUOTE]

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