Question to you guys. My buddy is workin on his ride and wants to use a Chev 10 bolt diff, its actually an S10 diff. Anyways, we were plannin on doing a triangulated 4 link out back but the angled links will have to have their brackets welded to the center section and the center section appears to be Cast. Can this be easily welded to the center section safely or will it embrittle and break when forces are put to it?? If it were a Ford 8 or 9 inch there would be no issue as it is just stamped steel in that case but this is cast... Or in this case should one go with a 4 link with panhard bar instead?? Any advice would be great. Thanks
I don't know the real metallurgical answer to the main question, but a couple things you can consider (outside of 4-bar + panhard): - You might be able to move the upper links outboard a bit so the mounts still get welded to the tube, but just barely clearing the cast portion. - Or the axle end of the triangulated bars can be out near the ends like the lower parallel bars are, but have the front end mount to a crossmember so they are closer together at the front. (Reverse the triangulation). Hopefully some of the HAMBers that are more smarter than me will chime in with the geometry issues.
Off-road guys typically bridge over the cast center section (weld to tubes) and attach mounts to the bridge. If enough thought is put into it, it can look pretty neat.
Depending on how confident of a welder you are...its definietely possible. You need to strip the housing and degrease the hell out of it. Preheat the entire casting, and then weld it with a nickel rod, preferably with TIG or Stick. Go check out a good welding book from the library that talks about welding cast iron. Be carefull and make sure you know what your doing first.
I would do a small test weld somewhere and see how it reacts. I was using a rear end that had a cast center section and wanted to weld my triangulated 4 link to it. I welded on a test piece to check it out seemed to weld fine but as soon as I tested the stength of the weld a chunk of the casting would break out. I ended up building a bridge over the centre section and attaching my links to that at least that way I know what kind of metal I am welding.
I've done it and it held up fine with 40" tires and loscked diff. If your unsure of the welding to cast, then do what was said and bridge over the housing with tubing and weld it up that way.
Have you considered a rear out of a late 80's Monte Carlo or Regal or the like? Pretty much the same rear end as the S-10 (I think) but came with a triangulated 4 link from the factory so it has ears with bushings already in the cast section. The big ugly outter brackets could be cut off and replaced with more atractive brackets of your choice. The center of the rear may be far enough up under the vehicle that the cast ears don't show and problem solved. Just a shot in the dark. I crushed an 198? Cutless a few years ago and saved the rear end for just such an application. Good luck.
do a search for doggerroger he did a tri 4 link and made some nice mounts to use the diff cover bolts.
If your using a S10 rear end Fender bender international makes a bracket for $30ish bucks that will accomplish what you are trying to do....I ran into the same problem for my ford 8.8 and asked the same question to a couple of old school welders, they all told me that structural welding to cast was a ****s shoot, sometimes it worked and sometimes it failed....I didnt like that answer....I got one of the s10 bolt mount brackets, welded the mount holes shut and redrilled them for the ford 8.8....works a treat and has given me no problems in the last 3 years of driving it thata way I'll post a pic when I get home (if I remember) Here is a link to what your looking for http://www.fbirides.com/product.asp?idno=8161
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