welding question

Here's a question for all you welding guys. I've seen a lot of great looking welds on this site. I'm welding some brackets on my 8 inch rearend and want strong welds. What is the stronger weld, MIG or Tig?

 

The strength is only as good as the skill of the weldor. Car factories use robotic MIG welds on the assembly line and they're plenty strong. So I would say use MIG unless you got the $$$ for a TIG setup.

 

Either *can* produce a strong weld, but a MIG weld is more likely to suffer lack of penetration. MIG welds are harder to make as good. The slower cooling rate of a TIG weld is also beneficial to make the weld itself to bemore ductile.

If you are taking it to a welder to have it done, then TIG would be preferred.

 

In addition your application is structural/safety critical. If you don't have experience and skill doing structural welds you'd be better off farming your welding job.

Good piece of mind for you since you don't want those diff brackets coming loose in the highway!

 

Proper penetration is more important than process for what you are welding. You need a lot of amps on thick axle tubes.

 

Your biggest problem here is warping the tubes
I don’t care what anyone says and it doesn’t matter how much you skip around or how many cool this or that you put on .. it will warp.

Iv seen them warp just from torching off spring pads.

The easiest thing to do is tack the housing down on the welding table (fully braced all over) do your welding …. Then stress relive the tubes with the torch all around the tubes were you welded …. Let it cool and remove.

Mig is fine for this thin gage deal ….. Preheat if your worried

 

Also if Your welding something alittle thicker use a piece of the wire your welding with and give your self a gap between the two surfaces for better penetration. Don't lay it on get In between.

 

Any time you weld (or heat) partially around any type of pipe or tube ( round or square) it will pull toward the weld. (Or heat)
Weld all the way around the tube and and there is very very minimal warp. Any bracket can be made to weld all the way around the tube.

Pre load the tube the other way to counteract the weld pull before its welded and after the welding it will be straight. Clamping flat and straight will not be enough. The problem with this is it takes experience to know how, where, and how much to do this. Experience comes from creating a pile of warped stuff lol !!!

 

Your right
I havent learned a thing in 53 years ... forget I said anything

 

you will have to have the housing straightened after welding. Most reputable rear end shops will have a fixture to straighten it back out.

 

I was agreeing and offering another way to skin that cat.

 

Roger on that. No matter how much or little you weld on a rear end it will warp.
They are straightened by putting concentric plugs in the 4 bearing sockets and getting a precision ground bar to slide through all 4 easily.
The actual straightening process can get quite involved.
If straightening isn't done, it can lead to early bearing failure.

 

Thanks - learned something important today.

 

While we're getting technical, to get it properly straightened you would also have to put the same load on it that it will have in the vehicle. They deflect under load. A hard bump in the road will flex the housing to some degree.

 

most welded housings are never straightened and have served the intended purpose for years ---as in all factory housings---inspect yours after welding and take action as needed...

 

Factory Housings.......guaranteed go thru a straightening check...."PRINT" would specify the allowable dimension for the design.......just saying....... ....... also can say many "Forged" cranks are straightened too.....with no failures...... Yee Yee.

 

Bump a 4 yr old thread for a yee yee ?

 

But new to me...

 

I have welded housings for years no issues . Yes they do warp put enough to cause an issue . Never had an issue . As someone stated use a piece on your mig wire to separate the pieces and fill in with weld . It will last till the cows come home

 

Save some of them .... For others to use

 

You want good strength with your weld. Fire up your arc welder. Y'all say it warps the housing anyway. I have welded Forest service wild land fire trucks that would split the axle tubes from overloading and running through the back country in Az. Never had a problem after welding them with 7018 rod. That was a Spicer floater rear with press in tubes. they would come in for a leak and the tubes would be split length wise down the tube.