Engine driven welders & truck electronics

[Mark Whiddon]

Not sure of how you have this bench set up, but you could make a sort of double table. Two steel plates with a rubber mat sandwiched between them. bolt them together at the edges and use a nylon sleeve to insulate the bolt( or just cut a piece of rubber hose to use the same way). I am thinking the bottom side would be somehow connected to the truck bed (ie. welded, bolted, or just placed on top of). MAKE SURE you ground the work you are welding on as close as possible and not just grounding the table and setting the work on top of it. You can also use a grounding stake from your welder to decrease the stray current even further. Yes I know,most people don't do it, but if you are that worried about frying your truck, it wouldn't hurt. I am sure others have better, different ideas. Remember, electricity will take the path of least resistance, so make it easier for the current to go someplace other than the truck. I think if you just isolate the work as much as possible from your truck you will be ok.

[Axle]

We're building a welding bed for our truck and need to know a way of isolating the welding bench when mounting it to the rear of the truck bed. We don't want any arcing of the truck's electronics when welding on the bench, but we want the bench to be strong enough to stand up to hammering and weight.