[thenrie]

If you weld it with a mig or arc welder you should be fine. Welding it with a torch puts too much head in the metal and will cause warpage. I bolted my cradle to an old pan and did the weld with a mig welder. No problems at all with movement or warpage. Also, you really don't need to weld all the way around the joint. A couple good 3/4" welds on each side of the flat bar stock on each side of the cradle would be fine and reduce the chance of warpage.