Okay, long story short. 1985 4Runner. Tore inside framerail at lower rear mount. Noob welder wannabe. Attempted to patch the hole. Now the end of the tubing on the outside framerail is off by a little less than an 1/8" - it doesn't line up with the steering box hole. I can't adjust the box to make the bolt go through, already tried. Haven't plated the inner rail yet. So do I grind everything down and redo it so it is straight? Or do I run a 1/2" drill bit from the inside out and modify the steering box hole? Or vice versa? Suggestions? I knew I shoulda left the bolt in there as I welded... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Maybe a pic would help, because I'm not sure what you are talking about.

Pics are coming, and it's converted to crossover steering.

You can see there is part of the tubing showing through the steering box mounting hole.
[img]http://community.webshots.com/photo/194119729/194121463RbZpgp[/img]

Another...
[img]http://community.webshots.com/photo/194119729/194121488UwXvJT[/img]

What do you think???

Hmmm... no pictures. I suck at this! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" /> Anyways, if you follow those links to my Webshots gallery, you'll see the problem...

I would just stick the drill bit into the tubing and drill it out a little, rock the bit up and down to elongate the hole on the outside. Or step up the bit size to 9/16" or so, make it a little oversize. Maybe when its close, do the same to the steering box hole, but I would take most of the metal out of the tube.

So you wouldn't recommend running the bit from the inside out and taking a little bit off the steering box hole? Better to drill out the tube instead? How's about if I took a dremel to the tubing lip from the outside, leaving the steering box hole intact, and when I finally got enough material removed from the tube,run a 1/2" bit through to get it to line up? *whew* Pretty good runon sentence there! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

I would just remove most of the material from the tube, too much out of the steering box hole and it may be weakened. Its probably easier to get the drill in from the outside, too.