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axle welding question

M

mollyman

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I was thinking about welding the axle tubes to the diff on my 14blt and 60. I know that the diffs are a different material than the tubes (I believe the diff is cast iron were as the tubes are just regular steel) so how would i weld a bead around the tube at the diff. I am super new to welding and thought this would be my first try (I have a mig welder and a stick welder but were I work has all kinds of welders) any help would be great thanks
 
In this situation I would just clean it up and weld away. You are not relying on only the weld to hold the parts together, rather the weld is just adding a little extra strength so whether or not the weld is optimum shouldn't really matter.
 
I was thinking about this the other day...I know it happens on 10/12 bolts, but do the axle tubes come loose on the 14FF or D60?

Is heating up the area on a non-problematic axle going to cause issues with the "tightness" of the press fit? I've seen one 12 bolt welded up twice (loosened itself up first), both times it eventually broke the welds. I assume part of that is due to oil contamination that couldn't be taken care of.
 
we welded my brothers jeeprear. its a 8.8 out of a ford exploder.
we cleaned off all the grease. cleaned it up with a wire wheel. and welded it up. i camt remeber if we heated around it a little or not
 
dyeager535 said:
I was thinking about this the other day...I know it happens on 10/12 bolts, but do the axle tubes come loose on the 14FF or D60?
Click to expand...

Its actually pretty common on 14 bolts, I've seen several: Steve Fox spun a 14 bolt tube last year, a guy during BB a couple years a ago spun a 14 bolt tube, same thing happened to a friend. Stephen Watson spun a D60 tube on his buggy a few years back.


dyeager535 said:
Is heating up the area on a non-problematic axle going to cause issues with the "tightness" of the press fit?
Click to expand...

No, it won't.

dyeager535 said:
I've seen one 12 bolt welded up twice (loosened itself up first), both times it eventually broke the welds. I assume part of that is due to oil contamination that couldn't be taken care of.
Click to expand...

Once the tube spins, the press fit is basically gone. Then you are relying on the welds to keeps the tube from spinning and the tubes will often spin again.

Moral of the story is to weld up your tubes before they spin ;)


I just MIG'd mine, no preheat, worked perfectly.
 
Ahh, interesting. Figured the tubes on the 14FF were about as indestructible as the innards! :)
 
welding the tubes is a good idea but an axle truss would be better. much more strength and no worries about bending an axle tube
 
where can u get a 14blt truss weld on or bolt on ??? Missouri offroad went out of business they had a nice looking one
 
I do not think that it is worth it to try and weld the carrier to the tubes. Axle tubes are DOM tubing which is steel, the carrier is Gray Cast iron, you will not get the weld to stick to both of them at the same time. the factory slug welds are not even designed to do this. The Factory Slug weld only adheres to the tube and acts as a pin. If you are able to spin a tube you have a bad carrier and thats it. I have seen in testing on 14 bolts ones that have a correct press fit break axle shaft in there failure mode of large torqu loads applied over a short period of time. If the carrier bore was machined out of spec the tubes tend to twist in the carrier.

So the axle shafts should break first on a good axle
 
rollin36s said:
welding the tubes is a good idea but an axle truss would be better. much more strength and no worries about bending an axle tube
Click to expand...

Steve Fox's rig had a truss and still spun a tube.


1979jimmy350 said:
I do not think that it is worth it to try and weld the carrier to the tubes. Axle tubes are DOM tubing which is steel, the carrier is Gray Cast iron, you will not get the weld to stick to both of them at the same time. the factory slug welds are not even designed to do this. The Factory Slug weld only adheres to the tube and acts as a pin. If you are able to spin a tube you have a bad carrier and thats it. I have seen in testing on 14 bolts ones that have a correct press fit break axle shaft in there failure mode of large torqu loads applied over a short period of time. If the carrier bore was machined out of spec the tubes tend to twist in the carrier.

So the axle shafts should break first on a good axle
Click to expand...


All true, but remember that most of us are using 25 year old axles. The press fit does wear out over time, even though its kinda weird to think of it that way.

I've never heard of a spun tube on an axle that was welded before the tubes spun.

Also, I've heard that Dana center sections are nodular iron.
 
It is worth it to every drag racer i know who runs a stock housing/axle tube combo. Only way to prevent tube spinning is by welding them to the center section before they spin! Many guys do heat the center with a torch prior to welding though.
 
we have a large oven for preheat...a while back we had a d70 that got a LARGE truss all the way across it always tracked funny...come to find out it was bent due to heat if you can belive that....this could have been avoided by welding like you would if you were working with sheet metal but we just made a oven insted
 
I'd like to weld up my axles, but I'm concerned about warping the housing/tubes when welding. I guess preheating would help, but how much? Would it be better to weld short sections at 90 degree intervals and then go back and fill in the gaps? IIRC some drag racers adjust their toe by heating and cooling the tubes. I'd hate to end up with an axle that didn't run true or had lots of toe-in - or worse toe-out.
 
BGKYK5 said:
Would it be better to weld short sections at 90 degree intervals and then go back and fill in the gaps?
Click to expand...

this is how i would do it...

i personnaly dont build the trusses or weld up axles...my buddy does all of that so im not sure how long,what temp preheat he uses but i know they are in the oven for A WHILE
 
This is what I was told By Kyle. He finished building up Willlyswanters Rig.

I would suggest welding the tubes if you can. The housing is grey iron and straight steel filler is not going to fuse well. PReheat the iron with a oxy torch to about 350*F, weld it with nickel rod with an AC stick welder, post heat it a little and then wrap it in a welding blanket to cool slowly. That should provide for the strongest weld between the mild steel tubes and the cast iron housing.
 
chevysmithz71 said:
This is what I was told By Kyle. He finished building up Willlyswanters Rig.

I would suggest welding the tubes if you can. The housing is grey iron and straight steel filler is not going to fuse well. PReheat the iron with a oxy torch to about 350*F, weld it with nickel rod with an AC stick welder, post heat it a little and then wrap it in a welding blanket to cool slowly. That should provide for the strongest weld between the mild steel tubes and the cast iron housing.
Click to expand...
we didnt use that exact way but by preheating with a torch is how we bent the tube on the d70
 
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