Okay so im having a buddy with a machine shop help make me ladder bars with a shackle, i have the whole design planned out and want to weld the brackets on the axle. Seems pretty straight forward, but im just wondering, should i take out the axle shaft to weld on the axle tube wherethe bracket goes?? Seeing as im looking for good penetration i dont want to damage/weaken the axle shaft. Am i worried about nothing? Has anyone else done this??

Thanks for the help

-Aaron

 

The shaft wont know you were there.

 

Okay thanks

 

No prob.if i was a betting type id bet the tubes are 3/8" thick at least.
Now go have some fun

 

I believe they are 1/2" im 95% sure, and the other 5% is beer

 

If not using a jig to hold the axle housing you're best bet to weld on it is to leave it in the truck. Like Aaron said, it's plenty heavy, but it still can warp with too much heat in one area. With the weight of the truck on it you will be fine.

 

I dont doubt that half inch aaron.them tubes are thick!
darrin is right.be careful with the heat just the same.

 

A lot of times when I hear somebody say, "I'm looking for good penetration" and they are worried about something like that axle shaft getting hurt from the weld, that tells me your fixing to try to weld with way too much heat.. You don't need to crank your welder up to 150 amps to do the job your fixing to do. Don't go crazy with your heat. Keep the heat reasonable depending on the thickness of your brackets your welding on..

I just felt like I needed to say that b/c almost everytime I hear someone say that, they end up cranking up the heat on their welder and absolutely butchering the job they were trying to do. IIRC when I welded my axle tubes to the housing, I did it at 95 amps with an 1/8" rod and got good penetration. That housing and the tubes are thick, but there's no need to burn all the way through the dang things. LOL