Another thread made me wonder, how many of you guys have welded up your axle tubes to keep them from spinning in the housing?
CK5
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Who has welded their axle tubes?
- Thread starter Hogback Fabrication
- Start date
I did, heated it nice and warm and migged really hot then wrapped in rags. Working ok so far even with traction bar. Friend's truck used to always lean real bad to one side in the rear. He swapped springs and shocks and such trying to figure out why and it still leaned. Found his tube rolled and was twisting up that one spring funny. Welding guy at work gave me some odd kind of rod to try too if the mig job doesn't hold. Its supposedly for off material welding such as the cast and steel.
Might have bee NiRod, although welding to cast steel shouldn't be an issue. Cast iron is a problem though...
Rene
Rene
odin
1/2 ton status
I welded the tubes on my 71 Camaro.
Warmed the center section with a torch hit it with the MIG then wrapped it in a damp blanket. Worked out well.
Warmed the center section with a torch hit it with the MIG then wrapped it in a damp blanket. Worked out well.
gerber boy
Registered Member
why the rags? or damp blanket?
i understand the pre-heating, but not the blanket? i would think that heating it up with a torch again would work well for post heat treating???
but im just a canuk so i need some educatin,
i understand the pre-heating, but not the blanket? i would think that heating it up with a torch again would work well for post heat treating???
but im just a canuk so i need some educatin,
we did this to a d70 with a torch and warped the axle...since we have done it to a few sterling rears and now we have a large oven made for preheat
That why you take all the weight off of the axle first.
odin
1/2 ton status
why the rags? or damp blanket?
i understand the pre-heating, but not the blanket? i would think that heating it up with a torch again would work well for post heat treating???
but im just a canuk so i need some educatin,
Im no metalurgist.....but my father was a welder for 25 years and he made the suggestion. Something about the metals cooling at the same rate.
Just my .02 cents. I think bolting up basically the equivelent of a truss as a jig to keep it from warping during pre-heat, welding, and post welding cool down. Thats what I'm going to do. And yes no weight on the axle itself.
Yup both tubes fully welded on my 14B. I actually did it after you suggested it during a conversation about traction bars. i figured it was out so I might as well.
My 14bff is basically trash, so when i get another one, ill do the weld tubes trick. Kinda waiting for the tubes to twist, will give me an excuse to get it done.
Once the tubes spin, they're much more prone to spinning again even if you weld them.
Basically, the idea is to weld them up before they spin and before the press fit is ruined.
the bottom line is I need another housing anyway, ive fubared this housing to the end of no return. Don't care if this housing spins, the new one will be welded BEFORE install when i do the swapover.
Any welding on cast shouldn't be 'quenched'. Post heat is best to prolong the cooling, or at the least wrap it after welding so it doesn't cool too quickly.
Rene
Rene
chevysmithz71
1/2 ton status
I was told to do this and plan to in the next week or so.
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.
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.
The housing is cast steel, no need for Ni-Rod. You think the factory rosette's are Ni-Rod? 
Pre-heat to ~200 localized at the tube housing area, weld, wrap...have a beer. 350 not only isn't necessary, it'll cook the bearings.
Rene
Pre-heat to ~200 localized at the tube housing area, weld, wrap...have a beer. 350 not only isn't necessary, it'll cook the bearings.
Rene
gerber boy
Registered Member
The housing is cast steel, no need for Ni-Rod. You think the factory rosette's are Ni-Rod?
Pre-heat to ~200 localized at the tube housing area, weld, wrap...have a beer. 350 not only isn't necessary, it'll cook the bearings.
Rene
wouldnt you want to heat a fair bit of area aound the tubes and the housing? i know stresses set up in the area adjacent to the weld (where there is no weld) and if you have most of the housing at a higher temperature it will prevent cold cracks and hydrogen cracking of the welds from the heat of the weld area being pulled from it to the colder area. at least i know this is true with high pressure boilers so i assume it would be the same.
i had just never heard of the damp blanket wrapping before.
I wouldn't wrap with a damp blanket, or quench it in any way. Cast steel has good ductility, so the common stress cracking due to rigidity in the cast pretty much doesn't apply. It's a weldable material.
I'd wrap with a welding blanket if you have one available...anything you can do the prolong the cooling a bit would be good. Quenching will introduce more stress.
The pre-heated area should be a couple of inches either side of the area to be welded. Ovbiously the heated area's temp will gradually become less the further out from that area you get...so there shouldn't be a huge 'heat-sink' effect.
Rene
I'd wrap with a welding blanket if you have one available...anything you can do the prolong the cooling a bit would be good. Quenching will introduce more stress.
The pre-heated area should be a couple of inches either side of the area to be welded. Ovbiously the heated area's temp will gradually become less the further out from that area you get...so there shouldn't be a huge 'heat-sink' effect.
Rene
chevysmithz71
1/2 ton status
Thats what I thought when I read 350
.
I welded my front and rear no preheating just welded it
