.

b.boyd · Jun 30, 2017

Waffle said:
Well, I got screwed bad on this tank repair. After I already spent $250 for weld repair, $125 for powdercoat and all the other money spent in order to wheel a holliday weekend and board a dog, My fuel tank leaks. Again! Haven't even had the chance to wheel it, I've been here at Rush for about an hour. I topped it off to go riding and when we stopped someone else smelled fuel. Tank is leaking in the exact same spot at last time......

Man, that sucks bad...did the person doing repair it tig it or use spool gun? Did u test before you put it back in?

whiskeymakin · Jul 1, 2017

Hate to hear that. Guess the guy didn't pressure test before he gave it to you either. See if he will give some money back for your troubles and throw it torwards a bladder

Nuts · Jul 1, 2017

Just skimmed through the thread and I don't think the fuel cell cracks are a matirial thickness issue its a design problem. Putting the sharp "V" at the bottom like that puts all the stress on that weld. When the fuel sloshes around the tank walls flex in and out, eventually work hardening and cracking the weld. There either needs to be some type of gussets on the inside to hold the walls solid, or have the bottom edge be formed and put the weld at the top. Both of those are hindsight fixes fir this situation though.

redneckengineered · Jul 1, 2017

Waffle said:
Well, I got screwed bad on this tank repair. After I already spent $250 for weld repair, $125 for powdercoat and all the other money spent in order to wheel a holliday weekend and board a dog, My fuel tank leaks. Again! Haven't even had the chance to wheel it, I've been here at Rush for about an hour. I topped it off to go riding and when we stopped someone else smelled fuel. Tank is leaking in the exact same spot at last time......

Gotta pressure test to be sure. That sucks man. **** in his sunroof.

fl-krawler · Jul 2, 2017

How tight against the mounts does the cell sit before you tighten the bolts? I have seen a few cels that were built when the chassis was just tacked, and the distortion caused by final welding of both the chassis and the fuel cell distorted things just enough that as the bolts on the fuel cell were tightened down it "pulled" on the cell and pulled it apart at the seams.

ETO · Jul 3, 2017

Aluminum cells in these buggies need to be a minimum of 1/8" aluminum and not made out of the cheaper 3003 or 5005 grades of aluminum. No real need to weld inside but I would suggest that you purge the tank with argon when you weld it make sure you use the proper filler rod and make sure you weld hot enough to get full 100% penetration this will insure that the welds are just as strong as the rest of the tank. In these types of buggies thought the best deal is to build the cell out of .090" steel and purge weld it like I explained before.

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Slowstroke01 · Jul 4, 2017

Re:

My tank leaked from a tiny pin hole. First time out took a bar of soap rub it on the hole it lasted a couple months before the bottom cracked. Pulled it out fixed it. If it cracks again I'm gonna try go to a bladder style cell.

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truckbroke · Jul 5, 2017

Laffy Taffy :JRich:

poolman · Jul 5, 2017

Will Jimmy not warranty it??

stuftmunky2k · Jul 7, 2017

Waffle said:
It was tigged, no spool gun. There's a pinhole left behing in nearly the same spot and facing my radiator. My "temp solution" ended up using permatex hi perf thread sealant smearing into and around the hole then I covered with Gorilla tape, and kept wheeling. This time it wasnt another questionable failure on my part but a welding failure on theirs.
It left their shop with a pinhole then went straight to the powdercoater.
Tank fitment to chassis is good and definitely not pulling on it. Fuel slosh probabably is an additional factor, hence my repairs having the edges covered with a fold then double welded. I hear different when it comes to aluminum grades. I hear that 6061 like what I have is more prone to fatigue cracks vs the the grades you mentioned. Ultimately I don't know and I won't enter that debate anymore. I like steel and could care less about the extra weight. There probably is chassis flex from the upper link mounts and I plan to stiffen this area up in the near future. This combined with the plans for my next tank (1/8 - 3/16 SS walls and backpurged) should be the end of it all, I hope.

You can see the drip runs starting at the top of the pic. Minor, but I don't shrug off fuel leaks and draining-dissassembly-unbolting-cleaning-sanding-driving-welding-painting-reassembly-install really pisses me off a week after I just did all this.

You have the worst luck.

civicmindedex79 · Jul 7, 2017

poolman said:
Will Jimmy not warranty it??

Surely this is a joke. It would be interesting from some of the conversations had out on the trails to have a thread for worse F ups on a built chassis that the builder could care less about. That would probably shed some bad light on shops so I don't suggest it. SO.......

I will just ask has anybody ever had anything warrantied by a shop on a chassis or component (fuel cells, axles built, reservoirs, headers or any other custom built buggy part)?

poolman · Jul 7, 2017

civicmindedex79 said:
Surely this is a joke. It would be interesting from some of the conversations had out on the trails to have a thread for worse F ups on a built chassis that the builder could care less about. That would probably shed some bad light on shops so I don't suggest it. SO.......

I will just ask has anybody ever had anything warrantied by a shop on a chassis or component (fuel cells, axles built, reservoirs, headers or any other custom built buggy part)?

Not a joke at all, my close friends have Smith chassis, one has 2 of them. I have a angryfab chassis and he's backed up everything he has touched, even bought me a seat that in hindsight probably was not his fault. Seriously. George told me if a weld failed he'd fix it and I believe that, even if he had to drive to Kentucky, I've had mine on its top a couple times and rolled it all the way over and have beat it down several times. No issues.

civicmindedex79 · Jul 8, 2017

I won't say shops won't stand behind their products but I will say that personal experience says once it's yours its yours. The few small items I called on was met with a swift "if you can't fix that or afford $300 to go another way you probably don't need to be in this hobby". Was even told if needed assistance in future with small changes then would try to work in quicker and get it done. Only thing I ever called on for this was to install my new complete axle that was under the buggy with make shift tractor heims. I wanted it to be checked and possibly move the shock mount locations. I was told 3 weeks and it would cost a grand. Just fyi.... I have yet to hear a bad thing about any of George's chassis.

poolman · Jul 8, 2017

Waffle said:
Why "would" Jimmy Smith warrant it? Why should he? Actually, lets not go there at all since that's not fair to him. Moving on....

Sir I was just saying my builder would have took care of it, and if he would not, " which I doubt " I'd pay because I'm confident in his work, but it's your money bud.

I'm not sure but from my past experience if I called in 3 years George would make it right. Just my 02c. That's why I ask about warranty. I'm out.......

lowbudgetjunk · Jul 9, 2017

Re: Re: Cracked my Smith buggy fuel tank, again. Solutions? Is this common?

poolman said:
Waffle said:

Why "would" Jimmy Smith warrant it? Why should he? Actually, lets not go there at all since that's not fair to him. Moving on....

Sir I was just saying my builder would have took care of it, and if he would not, " which I doubt " I'd pay because I'm confident in his work, but it's your money bud.

I'm not sure but from my past experience if I called in 3 years George would make it right. Just my 02c. That's why I ask about warranty. I'm out.......

Click to expand...

Y'all got to figure out this whole quoting thing. My brain hurts everytime you muck up 1998 technology.

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poolman · Jul 9, 2017

Re: Re: Cracked my Smith buggy fuel tank, again. Solutions? Is this common?

lowbudgetjunk said:
Y'all got to figure out this whole quoting thing. My brain hurts everytime you muck up 1998 technology.

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