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Welding to spring steel?

Lucas

NAXJA Forum User
Location
ZOO YORK CITY
Im making a set of RE style spring clamps for my bastid junkyard leafpacks. Im planning on welding them to the bottom of the dakota overload leaf that finishes off the pack. The OL leaf is more or less just a thick piece of solid stock, and it doesen't add to the spring rate untill fully stuffed so im not worried about losing temper.

Just wondering if there is anything I should know about plug welding 3/16 onto spring steel. Any heat or speed tips?
Thanks.
 
Welding to spring steel crystalizes it and will cause it to crack. That said, the piece you are talking about may not be real springy and I didn't pick up on how and where you were going to weld it, so a lot is up in the air.

The bottom line is that you should try and find a different way to solve your problem or you may end up with a fubar'd setup.
 
I want to add spring clamps like this to the bottom overload leaf of my pack.
DSCF0010.JPG


the OL leaf doesn't really flex at all. At rest, 80% isn't touching the rest of the pack, and at full flex its still flat, preventing the rest of the pack from inverting (along w bumpstops). I just want to weld similar clamps to the bottom of it.
 
If you ever take a close look at those, you will find that they are riveted through a hole in the leaf. If they could do a cheap weld, they would. A weld on what you are talking about might work, but I wouldn't want to chance it.
 
I don't know where to find a giant rivet gun.
 
Rivets aren't done with a gun :twak:

Pop rivets are done with a gun.
 
I'll be the first to admit I'm ignorant about this, how are rivets done?
 
HOT plug of metal is inserted into the holes, and then beaten into shape from both sides, hoding the pieces together. Look for some old footage of ironworkers building the Chrysler Building or the Empire State, there's often pics of a dude with the rivet "oven" tossing hot rivets across the spans to another who catches them in a funnel-shaped bucket before they are plugged into the holes and beaten.
 
The moral of the story is this:

If you weld your clamps onto the overload springs towards the end it will not only be easier, but because the overload spring is not stressed you should not suffer any consequences. I've seen it done before with good sucess. In fact I've seen OEM springs done this way as well, or at least springs on a stock vehicle.
 
Yucca-Man said:
there's often pics of a dude with the rivet "oven" tossing hot rivets across the spans to another who catches them in a funnel-shaped bucket.

I saw that on Popeye...Bluto caught one in his shorts...THAT had to HURT!!
 
Just an idea, but if you did want to avoid welding to the spring steel itself, couldn't you weld a bolt sticking up out of the spring clamp, drill a hole (or use an existing one), put the spring clamp in position with the bolt sticking through, weld a washer onto the bolt on the other side so it holds it tight and then grind it down flat so you just have the thickness of the washer on top? Just another idea.
 
ChicksDigWagons said:
The moral of the story is this:

If you weld your clamps onto the overload springs towards the end it will not only be easier, but because the overload spring is not stressed you should not suffer any consequences. I've seen it done before with good sucess. In fact I've seen OEM springs done this way as well, or at least springs on a stock vehicle.

I suggest you re-read Old Man's posts above.

Sure some dooood may have done it - that does not mean it is a good idea.

I seriously doubt you have seen it on ANY stock vehicle, you most likely have seen the riveted clamps which to the untrained eye can look like they were spot welded.

Or research metallurgy a little bit and you will discover why this is a bad idea - hint : answer in Old Man's post.
 
Your best bet would be to drill a hole, countersink on the top, use a countersunk bolt with an allen head to go through the leaf, leaving it flush, and then through the retainer. Finish it off with a nyloc nut. While the hole with a countersink isn't the most ideal, with the tools available to most fabricators, it is probably the cleanest and safest.
 
I had this discussion with the owner of a local spring shop just a couple or three weeks ago. They don't weld that type of rebound clip to the spring. They punch the spring, then chamfer the hole and use a flathead bolt (like a plain old wood screw head) so the surface that mates to the next leaf is flush.
 
Old man, I appreciate the advice but botching the OL leaf is no biggie. It is basically a long lift block. From what I hear drilling spring steel is a PITA and welding a clamp towards the end it seems like the easiest way to go. I'll update when it happens.
 
Grant said:
I suggest you re-read Old Man's posts above.

Sure some dooood may have done it - that does not mean it is a good idea.

I seriously doubt you have seen it on ANY stock vehicle, you most likely have seen the riveted clamps which to the untrained eye can look like they were spot welded.

Or research metallurgy a little bit and you will discover why this is a bad idea - hint : answer in Old Man's post.

Believe me I know the difference between a weld along the edge of a clamp and a rivet through the center. And yes, I've seen it done on numerous vehicles. Perhaps it didn't come that way, but somebody somewhere along the path did it and as far as I could tell it held up - especially when I'm TRYING to remove the clamp and the welds are solid and sound.

I'm not sure if anybody is understanding what he is trying to do. Personally I'd rather weld on that overload spring before I tried drilling a hole through it. Spring steel is notoriously difficult to drill. The overload spring is a non-load bearing spring, its barely a spring at all. On the dakota packs its close to 3/4" thick at the center.

In a structural application would I ever weld to spring steel? Of course not, but for this is it perfectly acceptable and much easier. Hell yea it is.
 
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