Welding Tips and Tricks

? I am working on rotating the steering nuckles on a dana 60. I have some high content nickel rod from lincoln that has worked well for me on cast. I have a good bit of build up to do in some areas and would prefure to run wire feed. Is anyone familiar with this process, and if so could you recomend a good wire? Also while were on it does anyone know what kind of cast is used for nuckles and differentials, what temps for pre and post heating so on?

I've watched the guys on the "powerblock" repeatedly do this with plain ol' ER70-S02 wire and no preheat, but I don't agree with them.

I've found when welding cast steel to forged steel that 309 makes a good rod/wire for buildup. I preheat 300-350 on the cast only. (ER70 tends to crack, even with preheat. I have no explanation for my success using 309.) I suggest leaving room for two passes w/ your high-nickel rod.

Steve

thats another thing, the nuckles are pressed on so I cannot preheat them without warming the axle tubes, do you think that will be a problem? I was tacking evering thing in position with a 70XX wire and the tacks were cracking so I know it will not work well. I have seen alot of motor heads get away with murder when it comes to welding cast vehicle parts but for me I know better and I never have there succes. I can use the NI lincoln rod, just did not know if there was anything commonly available for MIG. I assume that is is a "good" cast because they are factory welded.

When I said, "preheat the cast only," I was aware there will be heat transfer to the axle tubes. I meant to say "apply the heat solely to the cast". The axle tubes are more flexible than the cast, and will tolerate the heat they accumulate.

Note-- in cases like this you might achieve perfection, you might not. Your mileage may vary. I only suggest what has worked for me in the past, and I have not done the particular weld you are asking about.

Steve

roger, I know these can go either way. I have done alot of cast welding but not recently and its good to refresh yourself with the knowledge of others. Two more questions while I have you. Is the Ni (nickel rod) from lincoln or whomever a weaker filler?
I was planning on putting the whole axle in my powder coating oven to pre heat it. Do you think that will create any issues?

I believe, for your purpose, a high-nickel rod is the best choice.

I see no issue using a powder-coat oven for preheat. You'll get a controlled temperature, and preheat on the axle tubes shouldn't be an issue.

Steve

Slightly off topic question-would that chronotron be a good choice for this app?

kermdawg wrote:Slightly off topic question-would that chronotron be a good choice for this app?

Not without the appropriate flux capacitor.

Sorry, you lost me with that one.

Steve

Sorry guess thats the wrong name for em :p Theres a rod name something like chronotron, that was suppose to be really good for welding cast with, and I was wondering if it would work for this app. Ill try to find the name of the rod, I have it in a book at my house.

If you want to do this the correct way and not just guess about everything and hope for the best, you can find a small spot and remove a little sample of the metal. Send the sample in to have it tested and then you will know exactly what you are dealing with and exactly how to weld. Unless you can get ahold of the info on the axle housing from a credible source. I don't mean to offend anyone, but this is something I would not leave to chance.

That rod I was talkin about- Cronatron Cronacast 211, part number CW1034.

Website-http://www.cronatronwelding.com

kermdawg, I just looked up the rod you referred to. It's apparently for cast iron, while I expect the steering knuckles he's working on are cast steel. Cast iron has a high carbon content compared to steel.

The formulation of the cast steel and the axle tubes should be similar; It's the crystal structure that differs. This leads to different shrinkage rates upon cooling, and carbon infiltration from a mild steel filler is a likely cause of the cracking. I think this is why I've had success using 309 to mig and tig cast parts. I've never had to do this weld in a critical application, however.

jpence has the best suggestion. Find someone with experience with this particular application (a site for rock-crawler builders should have good prospects), or get an analysis of the alloy and consult a pro at one of the major welding suppliers.

Steve

DOH! lol nevermind me. I saw cast and thought cast iron-must be the plumber in me. Sorry!

Welding axle is complete. I bought Ni lincoln rod but it would not run worth a shit. I ended up welding it with 7018 an inch ir so at a time and jumping around quite a bit. It welded very nicely and with no cracking. I preheated at 350 and post heated down to room temp over 24 hours. Seems they may have used a high quality cast.

Sam

Congratulations!

"Perfect" is anything you don't have to do twice.

Steve

The motor heads really do some dodgy shit. But They don't show what happens days and weeks later when parts give up because of crap welding techniques.

Samydavisjr,

Now that your project is done, I've just noticed that on the semi-trailer axles I encounter the cast is welded to the tubes with what appears to be a dual-shield process. Admittedly, these appear to be done robotically, but this might be worth filing away for future reference. (If you can MIG, or if you can do flux-core, you can do dual-shield.)

Steve

I am agree with Otto Nobedder. I think also same.