OK , here's what I have : A good friend runs a car resto business , and he's working on a Ford T I think it is . Single transverse spring , ladder bars , and aftermarket bracketry welded to a Ford 9" rear axle housing . They pulled it to move one of the transverse spring mounts inboard to clear brake hardware - the mounts were NOT centering the axle under the car . What they found was a real mess , stress cracks in the axle tubes , holes burned thru and leaking oil . The welds look like they were made by a monkey on crack , just gobbed on . My plan is to grind out the cracks 90% of the thickness of the tubes , with stop holes drilled at the ends . Grind off the shitty welds on the brackets , leave the few that look decent there but feather the ends . I want to TIG this thing , because the MIG isn't big enough and because I'm not that good with a stick . I have on hand 308/309/312 and ER70S2 TIG fillers and 6011/6013/7018 in rod . The axle housing and brackets are mild steel . The arc rods are going to be a bit big for filling the cracks but they might be the best choice for re-welding the brackets . I'm looking for recommendations on what to use where . Oh , and the reason for the stress cracks - they're all near the end of the bracket welds - is because of the ladder bar attachments to the frame . Bolted to a tab that was bolted with a single bolt to the frame - they moved under accel/decel , and this sled has a motor that has been "modified" ... a lot . I plan to recommend some mods to tie that axle down a lot better .
- posted
8 years ago