I need some welding advice

Project: Redoing bracketry on my front D44. All brackets will be 1/4" wall and axle tubing is 1/2" wall.

Welders:
220V Lincoln Mig: 175A, .035 wire, 90/10 gas mix
220V Lincoln Arc: 225A max output

The plan is to use the MIG to build the brackets. Its a little under powered for 1/4" but I've done other projects with it and its worked well. I want to use the Arc to weld the brackets to the tubes but I'm not sure what size rod, type of rod, and what amp setting I should be running for 1/4" to 1/2". I've only run stick a few times so I'm planning on plenty of practice first.

I was told to weld brackets to an axle use a 7018 rod and preheat the axle housing and use 190-200 amps with the arc. Hope this helps.

tcfXJwfo said:

I was told to weld brackets to an axle use a 7018 rod and preheat the axle housing and use 190-200 amps with the arc. Hope this helps.

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is this for welding to the cast diff housing? most of the welding will be to the tubing. but the bridge over the housing will have at least one tie-in to the housing.

190-200 amps is WAY too high, in my opinion. If you're just welding to the tubing, 6011 should work fine. Easy to use, although the bead isn't as pretty as 6013. I would think you could easily handle this with 80-90 amps...prolly a 1/8 or 5/32 rod.

Heck, your practice should give you a good indication of what amperage you need, as long as you're using similar materials.

If i were you I would use 1/8" 7024. If some of your welding has to be done in an out of flat position then use 7018. The 7024 will produce a more fluid and in my opinion better looking weld. A ballpark figure on your amperage is gonna be from 90-110 amps on dc reverse polarity. You will probobly just have to find an amperage setting the works good for you Be sure to concentrate your arc slightly more to the thicker metal to keep from blowing a hole in your 1/4" material. If you could stay off the cast housing you would be better off but if your design has to have it then im sure you can make it work. Cast is just a little more tricky to weld and is a pain in the but.

bevel your flanges and use 7018 1/8 rod at a setting of approx 120 amps, if you want to do two passes ( i recomend it ) just clean the slag off and wire wheel befor the second pass, i weld for a living and i dont recomend the 6011 or 6013 for this application but as you said you will be practising first any way.

honestly man, the 175 mig would work with out a prob for the whole job, but, when i did my axle (all 1/4" brackets) i used my stick welder because i didnt have the miller 251 at the time

anyway, 155 amps, 6013 rod, DC reverse......go to town

WHy would you want to use 6013 rod? Why not use a 70 series rod and get a 70,000 # tensile strength weld instead of the 60. Not to mention its gonna look like it was welded on a farm.

i used 6013 because its what i had...... i dont see the need for that much strength on 1/4" plate....with the 6013 youll tear the plate before you break the weld (ask me how i know)

Above it was stated that this guy is a relative newcomer to stick welding. Back in my sophmore year in shop we stick welded a bunch of stuff with different rods. Maybe im some sort of a tard-vark but i found that 7018 and 7024 was way easier to weld with than any 60xx series rod. 60xx series a strong deep penetrating welds but have a relatively thin flux coating compared to 7018, when i first started 6011 it looked like dog shit, and then even when i got good with it (or so my teacher said), i could still never make it look like a good 7018 weld. As teal cherokee said its true that you probably dont need that extra 10,000 psi tensile strength but in my experience 7018 will weld a lot nicer and cleaner for a newer welded than 6011. As far as welding to the cast centersection, if its cast iron you'll want a higher nickel content rod right?


Mike

Well, I've done what you're about to do. I also currently have my D44 housing out of the rig and on the bench for repairs and upgrades.

ANY of the above techniques will work. Welding mild steel brackets to DOM tubing isn't rocket science, and as long as the welds are reasonably good any of the above mentioned materials will work fine. I have similar welders to you, a Lincoln 225 stick, and a Miller 175 MIG with same wire and gas. When I built my front housing I didn't have the MIG, so I welded the whole thing with the stick using mostly 7018 rod but also 6011. I happen to use a lot of 6011 because for me it's a lot easier to use on all the position welds that are inevitable when welding on Jeep stuff, and the 6011 is easily strong enough for what we do with it. Bottom line is use what you're comfortable with, and use the heat setting that works for what you're welding, adjusting a little as you get started. I agree with the comment about starting at 120 amps.

I also agree that you should just use the MIG. The 175 has plenty of power to weld brackets to the axle tubing. Now that I have the MIG, if I did it again that's what I would use. I just added a truss to my housing, with a section of 1.5" tubing across the top and then plate all across between the tubing and the axle housing. I welded the whole thing with the MIG. I also changed shocks and needed to change the lower shock mounts, and welded them with the MIG.

The only thing I've welded with the stick in the last few years was just now fixing my broken axle housing (why I also added the truss). I had to grind out cracks in the center section where the tube goes into it, and old weld from around the tube from previous repairs (should have trussed it way before :doh. I used the stick and a special near stainless steel rod for welding up the housing, and pre-heated and post-heated everything. But, for welding brackets onto the axle tubes, just fire up the MIG and weld away.

BTW, 3/16" on the brackets is plenty strong enough.

yeah, 3/16 would hold up pretty well.....

my rear 60 is getting all 3/8 bracketry (is that a word???)
but im just crazy like that

i'm torn between 1/4 and 3/16. i just want this to be the last time i've got to do this. i'm picking up the steel this afternoon so i better make up my mind.

If you buy pre-fabbed mounting tabs or brackets they're all (at least all that I've seen) 3/16. Really, it makes little difference, but 3/16 is strong enough. Everything on mine is 3/16 and I've busted the housing twice and nothing on my mounts has even bent slightly.

Goatman said:

If you buy pre-fabbed mounting tabs or brackets they're all (at least all that I've seen) 3/16. Really, it makes little difference, but 3/16 is strong enough. Everything on mine is 3/16 and I've busted the housing twice and nothing on my mounts has even bent slightly.

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sounds good

badbowtie87 said:

Not to mention its gonna look like it was welded on a farm.

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So, what are you trying to say?...:gonnablow

FarmerMatt said:

So, what are you trying to say?...:gonnablow

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:roflmao:

lol.....farm welds are good welds

3/16 will work fine putting full size gm 3/4 ton axles under mine with a land rover suspension all my welding is done with my mig have built race cars and all welded with mig. good luck

just get 7018 and you can use it on everything. the 7024 (jetrod) is for flat welding cuz it has to be ran hot. but for a beginner get 6011, it's like 6010 but is better for mill scale. for the best performance get 6010 5p+ an cover with 7018.