No room for a hood

[fun4now]

check with you local welding supply guy. i got a pair of safety glasses that are rated at#6 shade. seems like they told me other shades where available. i use mine under the car for exhaust work. keeping in mind the amp's used for the arc and the process, a #6 would likely work fine. they are 100% UV so spots are the only worry, i never had any trouble using them with MIG under my car/truck.
some times use them for driving into the sun on the way home .
cant see the speedometer or anything in the dash, but out the windshield into the sun i can see great.

[Aeroweld]

Put a #10 lens in your cutting goggles then tape a rag around the the lower half or the goggles to protect your face. Wear a welders skull cap that comes down to the top of the goggles. Poormans leather hood.

Tried to upload a couple of photos of the set-up I've used a couple of times for close quarters welding to give an idea of what I'm trying to describe. BTW Not sure If I'd recommend it for a situation that may catch the rag on fire but for some applications it works great.

[Sberry]

I have done a few variations especially in powerhouse where it was really tight and that was back before the advent of auto dark. I am with the concept that with a little work I can get in to see it with a regular hood most of the time. At first it seems there isn't much room under there but there is enough if you work at it. Getting positioned is helpful, create something to sit on, etc.

[Aeroweld]

The floor of the trailer is supported by I beams. The I beams sit on the slider rails. The slider rails have cracked away from the I beams. So if you can picture this there is the slider rail then the I beam then a wood floor. It wouldnt matter if the trailer was jack up on its side or upside down, Id still only have a couple inches to work with. Its so close that I really cant even position the gun at the proper angle. So you understand, Im welding between the wood floor(top) and the slider rail(bottom). I have to reach under the trailer and keep my head out beside the outside frame rail to even get a glimpse of what Im doing. Each weld would be less than 2 inches long, but thats on each side of the I beam on both sides of the trailer and probably 20 crossmembers. As it is now Im only tacking the outside edge.

The close proximity is one of the reasons I bought the Thunderbolt. I thought I could bend the electrode to get the right angle. Too late I found out about something called "inrush" and couldnt use my generator. So now Ive got two welders. I suppose it wont be too long before I go out and get a Max 150 since now Ive learned the difference between transformers and inverters.

I hope Ive explained that well enough that its not mud.

I know exactly what you are facing with the job. I used to work for a company that did lift/air axle installations. We would usually have to add additional frame to the trailer to install the axle(s). We were generally working with "new" as opposed to doing a repair. About the only way we could get to the top of the frame to weld the new section to the existing crossmember was by "feel". Since it was a lap fillet we'd bend the rod to get roughly the angle we would need. About the only way to do the weld was to watch the flame from the arc to get the consistancy while running the bead. In a sense you were doing the weld almost blind. After the weld was done it took a mirror to actually check the weld quality. Only other way to do it would be to pull the floor out and do it from above as someone suggested

[Flyingpig]

The trailer is a 94 model with a wood floor( lots of screws). The trailer works every day. If I had to take the floor out it would be time for a new trailer.

[pipewelder_1999]

Can you use a mirror? That eliminates the head fit issue if you can get a line of sight to the weld.

I have done plent of Tig and Stick in one. I imagine GMAW of FCAW is a bit easier other than the smoke on the mirror.

[Flyingpig]

Im going to look into getting some goggles and Im open to trying a mirror. I wonder if I can do that backwards.

[pipewelder_1999]

Dont let the mirror change what your hands do. Get a feel for how your hands move while looking in without the hood. Remember that feeling.

Get the mirror aligned with the joint if possible. Where iyou are welding toward it or away from it.

With the mirror in place, get a feel again for how your hands have to move.

Put your hood on, look at the mirror and weld.

It may or may not help you. But it may be worth a try.

[JTMcC]

I use the gold welding lenses for mirrors, the large window size.
You can duck tape two or three around a joint and have a pretty good view from both sides.
They work better than anything else I've tried.

JTMcC.

[MAC702]

I use the gold welding lenses for mirrors, the large window size.
You can duck tape two or three around a joint and have a pretty good view from both sides.
They work better than anything else I've tried.

JTMcC.

I'd forgotten about that. I use to use one as a mirror in my gym bag when we weren't supposed to bring glass into the locker room at the gym.

[MAC702]

I use the gold welding lenses for mirrors, the large window size.
You can duck tape two or three around a joint and have a pretty good view from both sides.
They work better than anything else I've tried.

JTMcC.

I'd forgotten about that. I used to use one for a mirror in my gym bag when we weren't allowed to have glass in the gym's locker room. Worked great