Welding Tips and Tricks

I have a 1998 Jeep Wrangler... the front caliper brackets have some pretty bad wear areas on them where the brake pads and calipers slide against the brackets. The wear is approximately 1/16 to 3/32 inch deep.

From what I am reading online, the brackets are forged steel... I'm looking for recommendations as to what filler to use in tig welding to fill the wear areas. I'd like to use something that is fairly wear resistant. I have Er70s-2, would that work, or is there something better that my LWS woul be likely to stock?

Thanks -Bear

That's a part that I just replace as needed.

Ok, but I'm cheap... any filler recommendations?

-Bear

Nope.

Holding brakes on the vehicle is too important to pinch pennies.
In my opinion.

Ok, thanks... still looking for recommendations...

Thanks -Bear

If doing this was my only option then I'd use 70s2. But the most likely thing you will do is soften the base metal from welding on it making it susceptible to bending, deforming, or wearing faster than it did the first time. Not to mention if it deforms or bends it's going to lock up your wheel while you are trying to break. There's also the unlikely but still possible issue that the forging is high in carbon content. Then it will become extremely brittle during the weld. This would cause a stress fracture or total failure, again while your trying to stop a 2 ton vehicle. The liability legally that your opening yourself up too is a major concern.

As much as we all here like repairing stuff than buying new, we still have things that we stop the repair work and say-that could cause a massive problem later on. If you weld it and it holds-sure you did it, but if it doesn't-well you are going to have a lot of explaining to do. I'm cheap, probably cheaper than you and if I was you I'd just spend the money and buy the brackets. The price of failure is far greater than the price of the part and we can't reccomend something that is extremely likely to fail due to liability on our part. Nothing against you but I would not reccomend it to someone like Jody or anyone who has 100 years of experience.

You can't just buy the brackets... they are part of the steering knuckle...

This is a common problem with the Dana 30 and Dana 44 axles... and this is a common repair for the problem.

Its not something that I came up with just trying to save a buck or two... this is the accepted way to repair these knuckles over spending several hundred dollars replacing them.

It is also a common repair on older vehicles, where replacement parts are no longer available... and its also common to weld up wear areas on drum brake backing plates...

I'm not getting into an argument about whether it should be done... just wanting to know the best filler to use.

Thanks -Bear

682bear wrote:I have a 1998 Jeep Wrangler... the front caliper brackets have some pretty bad wear areas on them where the brake pads and calipers slide against the brackets. The wear is approximately 1/16 to 3/32 inch deep.

From what I am reading online, the brackets are forged steel... I'm looking for recommendations as to what filler to use in tig welding to fill the wear areas. I'd like to use something that is fairly wear resistant. I have Er70s-2, would that work, or is there something better that my LWS woul be likely to stock?

Thanks -Bear

"From what I am reading online, the brackets are forged steel."

First thing to do is spark test vs HR or CR steel.
If color and pattern look the same and has forging trim marks, then it's forged steel. No guessing.
If color and pattern look different then spark out on some CI for comparison.

ER70S2 will work with steel forging.
Be aware that even with excellent prep, immaculate cleaning, good technique and heat input control....welding on a steel casting or forging will often as in usually--see an nice increase in hardness in the HAZ.....even if not needed or wanted.

After prep and cleaning, playing the torch on AC, just barely lit-like 10-20 amps, down in and around the area to be welded,
just let it dance around, pop, fizzle, vaporize contaminants and de-gas the area. This is also excellent way to prep CI--bar none, which most experts have never heard of and don't dare to try. It will look like it's been etched with HF, which it has.

I won't fiddle with the 'wear resistance' increasing-that you mention. I'd suspect that's more from repeated pad changing without any brushing/cleaning/lite lubing at the pad change. Years of accumulated rust/grit/sh*t/ that nobody can take 5 min's. to deal with. [On old GM stuff I have, I've had calipers and assemblies that were zip for wear after 300K miles...but I did my own pad/brake work and focused on really clean stuff going back together.] An overlay of 312/309 SS on one side only with the other side still original might just aggravate sliding contact wear.

If these are locating, sliding contact areas that were machined for that purpose, then some how you're going to need to
re-establish the squareness, parallelism, perpendicularity and dimensional relationship that ustah exist and won't after weld buildup.

Posting some relevant picture views always helps.

No pics right now... its still assembled...

The first thing I plan to do is check the ball joints and unit bearings... if any of them are bad, then there is no reason not to rebuild the entire knuckle assemblies and replace the knuckles at the same time.

If everything else looks good, I will test to be sure that it is not cast iron... that is too easy a process to overlook. I do like to know exactly what it is that I am welding...

I am still debating whether to Tig or Mig... most of these repairs I think are done with Mig... but I feel that I can better control the heat with Tig...

That is excellent advise about cleaning witj HF... Thanks!

-Bear

I would pick tig over mig for any build up work.

Poland308 wrote:I would pick tig over mig for any build up work.

Amen to using TIG, unless one wants to create even more work in the finishing after,
plus have a half azzed overlay coverage. 4 x 4 forums tend to give and show the worst
welding efforts.

dave powelson wrote:

Poland308 wrote:I would pick tig over mig for any build up work.

Amen to using TIG, unless one wants to create even more work in the finishing after,
plus have a half azzed overlay coverage. 4 x 4 forums tend to give and show the worst
welding efforts.

I know thats right!

-Bear

If its as common of a problem as you say it is, you would already know what filler to use.