Attex Welding Questions???

[terra tiger crazy]

Has anyone ever done any plastic welding on an Attex? If so do you have any tips or pics. I have been welding on my Attex Trainer off and on for months. with varying results. It has cracks about every two inches it seems. I want to finish welding it up, then use olive drab rhino liner on as paint and armor(lol). I know that the liner will cause drag in the water and mud, but the trainer will mostly see grass and snow. For the wet stuff I will use my terra tiger, after I figure out my outboard mount for it. any help would be great.

[Beeman]

Love the beer bottle Christmas tree!!

[LarryW]

Hey Terra Tiger Crazy,
That will be a sweet ride when you are done! HydroMike welded his up real nice. You could probably search and see if he had any tips and look at his gallery. I have played a little with the welding but I ended up just making the abs repair goop and going that route. That seems to be a tricky route also. Sometime it works, others it cracks again. Racerone3 embedded fiberglass cloth in the abs but I havent heard how it turned out. As for the rhino lining, I bet there is something you could spray on top of that to give it a gloss or take the texture out at least. I have never heard of it done but seems like there would be something. That may be an idea. Looking forward to seeing it completed and what you came up with.

[azz7772]

here is a couple links

Tips on how to plastic weld.


http://www.6x6world.com/forums/conte...c-welding.html

[Stonewall]

As for the rhino lining, I bet there is something you could spray on top of that to give it a gloss or take the texture out at least. I have never heard of it done but seems like there would be something. That may be an idea.

I know a guy from Michigan that has a spray-in bedliner in his truck that is slick. It's almost like a hard plastic, but it's still a little pliable. I have never seen anything like it around here, all the spray-ins down here (including mine) have small chunks of rubber in them.

Making a HDPE skidplate would be a good way to go. If you made it to run up the sides of the machine a foot or so, it would both protect and add some structural integrity.

[terra tiger crazy]

Thanks for the links they were some what helpful. I think I might be using the wrong tip on my welder. I also am going to try different thickness of rods. The skid plate is a good idea, as this plastic body is very brittle. I was also wondering if anyone has ever re-bodied any amphibious 6x6s. There is one in my area that claims to be a Hustler with a custom aluminum body. I seems to me that a new stainless or aluminum body would be stronger and easier to make. Then to repair the bodies in some cases.

[coosaridgerider]

There are a lot of video's on youtube about plastic welding.

[terra tiger crazy]

I just visited HydroMike's gallery. His trainer is ah-some. Mine is cracked and split in the same spots. If he was able to fix his, I should be able to fix mine. Mine of course will not have a diesel. I haven't decided what engine to use yet. The original is locked up bad.

[LarryW]

I think a rebody would be cool but I wouldnt recommend it on the trainer since it is a rare classic. I suggest getting something more common if that is what you want to do. And if you have the fabrication skills to do a rebody you might as well build your own frame. Then you can space your axles out to run the tires you want to run. Then get a T-20 and engine of choice. I think it would be fun to build.

[racerone3]

I coppied a lot of Hydromike's ideas in the rebuild of my tank trainer, and as Larry mentioned I also tried the ABS goo/ fiberglass cloth hybrid repair. It seems to be holding up really well. If you dont already know, GOO is just scraps of ABS melted down in Acetone over a few days. Mike and I also did full Poly skid plates on our bulds ( yet another thing i coppied) which seem to stiffen the body up quite a bit. The frames on the Tank Trainers could also use some beefing up in my opinion. Sadly I didnt formulate this opinion till mine was built and I'd had a chance to drive it. Here is a link to my build thread and gallery. Let me know if there is anything I can help out with. http://www.6x6world.com/forums/attex...tor-build.html Combat Vehicle Simulator - Amphibious ATV Pictures

[terra tiger crazy]

I was thinking about plastic welding the cracks then maybe using the GOO to help smooth the bad spots. I think will copy the skid plate, but with maybe a little thinner material. My frame is very straight and heavy so I won't be reinforcing it much. As for the re-body option, I am not thinking of doing that to the trainer. I was thinking about future 6x6s that I might find. I have past up a few that had a complete drivetrain, but destroyed bodies.

[marshgunner]

I like you tried to plastic weld the cracks in my tank trainer. Some cracks held some did not so I to will be trying the abs goo cloth method and hope I have better luck than the welding. I have took some time away from my trainer to work on a hustler but after that is done I will start back on it.

[hydromike]

I just visited HydroMike's gallery. His trainer is ah-some. <snip> Mine of course will not have a diesel. I haven't decided what engine to use yet. The original is locked up bad.

Thanks TTC. Actually, the engine in my Trainer is a Kubota gas engine. It's a WG750, about 25hp or so. It's a very neat little engine.

I coppied a lot of Hydromike's ideas in the rebuild of my tank trainer, and as Larry mentioned I also tried the ABS goo/ fiberglass cloth hybrid repair. It seems to be holding up really well.

Brian's ABS/cloth repair is holding up a lot better than some of the cracks in the body on mine. I went a different route when trying to reinforce the body itself, but in hindsight I would have put an internal plate in the upper body to reinforce trouble areas I'm experiencing. After ABS welding both sides of the cracks and putting the skid plate on, most everything on the lower body has held together. On the upper, I have a recurring crack on the left side upper that's been welded, rewelded, and it still comes through after a ride. I know exactly why it does, and I've given up fixing it. When 'Race says that the frames could use some beefing up, it doesn't have anything to do with the heavyness or straightness of it. The frames in the Trainers twist like crazy. They're basically a ladder frame, so they're kind of designed to be somewhat flexible to take the stress off other components. The problem with this, is that ABS doesn't really like to flex with the body.

At all.

I can go for a ride and actually see the crack open up if I try to keep (for instance) the front left tire up on an obstacle. This is with a 1/4" HDPE skid plate, the original 3/16" steel angle belly band, and an additional 3/16" plate sandwhiched between the upper and lower bodies. I realize that these will flex too, and my efforts have eliminated quite a bit of flex that's transmitted to the ABS, but these key stress points are still taking a bit of a blow. It's a battle-scarred beast of a machine, and I'm not too worried about it (any longer).

My opinion (with most any machine, but this is particularly applicable to the Trainers) is that investing in the time and money to fabricate a skid plate on a machine is worth every penny, and every minute. It's not a lot of fun, and takes a lot of finesse with the applications of weight, pressure, heat and the development of new combinations of vulgarities. Unless you have more than one machine, you only have to do it once.

Good luck.... let us see the progress....

[terra tiger crazy]

IMAG0622.jpg
I got alot of the welding done.Then I ran out of rod, I will have to order more.

[racerone3]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8743[/ATTACH]
I got alot of the welding done.Then I ran out of rod, I will have to order more.

It is amazing to look at pics of the known trainers before repair. almost all have cracks in the same places!!