Q. I am going to be welding in some chassis reinforcements on my street/track car shortly. Should the welds be made with the car supported on jacks or with the car resting on its tires? (Submitted by: Ben Lesnak from Rochester, NY)
A. Great question. Not many people are forward enough thinkers to realize the difference. I assume you are doing a uni-body tie in or something similar. If this is the case it's critical that you try to do this on as level of concrete possible. If you're not on a good pad, it's possible your car will have a twist frame causing an alignment issue. We do this on a surface plate with the front tires on ramps and the rear end on stands. This loads the chassis the way it is aligned. You can now take the rear tires off to get more welding room as the rear tie in is usually close to the wheel well. The front tie in is usually a foot or so behind the wheel well and shouldn't cause any problems. Also make sure the doors are closed on the car while welding. This will help stiffen the body.