Technical Grinding off TIG weld and welding up my axle bracket with MIG. Any issues ?

I bought a TIG welder last year and it take lots and lots of practice to get good at it. I should have use my MIG but I welded up my axle bracket with TIG and its hit and miss. I am contemplating grinding off the TIG weld with die grinder and weld it back up with my MIG welder which is more forgiving and I am good with it.

Is there any issues with removing old TIG weld and welding it back up with MIG?

I can also leave it alone and weld a plate across the two halves of the bracket and also hit it with TIG on the inside between the two brackets.

 

Why not just mig over it?

 

I would dig out most of the weld with a slitting wheel on a grinder, then mig over it. That way you will have penetration, and no excessive buildup of weld.

 

I’ve seen way worse looking welds on factory housings, FWIW

 

I go to salvage yard often and I see factory weds and it boggles my mind that those weld hold for a long time!

 

MIG and TIG are just different ways of making heat and freeding the filler metal. If you got good penetration with the TIG, consider refining the weld with a "wash pass" - no filler.

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Do you plan on straightening the housing after all of the welding ?

 

Warping the tubes did cross my mind. Will have to check if its already warped!

 

Crap, the axle tubes are warped. Is there anything I can do like heating up the other side to straighten it out? I do have another housing.

 

Check Paul's thread titled "The Incredible Hulk" he gives an excellent run down on how to straighten the housing after welding.

 

I found it. This?

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...incredible-hulk.1098132/page-11#post-13634433

 

That's the one, he goes into the technique for straightening later in the thread.

 

Nothing wrong with your TIG weld, other than the warping. Don't be afraid of it. If you need to add a little more bead over some thin spots, go ahead. Then, straighten it after you are done.

Bending the housing to straighten it would be much better with the TIG weld than a MIG weld. The MIG is a much harder weld, more prone to cracking when you are bending it.

 

I removed the TIG welds with die grinder and rewelded with my Hobart MIG. So much easier and quicker. Wish I never bought the TIG Now I just need to straighten the axle tubes. I will be going to my friends house who has an acetylene torch.

 

I would run another pass with the tig and try not to undercut the base material. I am not a fan of mig. Then again Tig was my profession .


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I see splatter, but no undercut, what are you seeing? Or you speaking of another TIG pass?

 

You coulda (or still can) buzz around the weld joint with the tig and smooth out all the lumps and bumps. Get the row-of-dimes-look.
To straighten just buzz a pass with your tig on the side of the weld you want to pull it to.(understand?) The heat will draw the metal toward it and away from the non buzzed side. Heat it the way you wanna pull it!!
You can make that metal do a dam U-turn if you put the heat in the right spot!!! (well almost!)
6sally6

 

I tried that and ended up with bunch of pin holes and it went down hill from there at which point just remove the TIG and went to my trusty MIG. I have ways to go before I get proficient with TIG.

Waid

 

Wish ya never bought a TIG?
Blasphemy!
Best weld process next to a torch. Especially for sheet metal.

 

Guess I am just old school but never felt secure with TIG or Mig welds on suspension parts...Always used 7018 low hi stick...If it is good for pipeliners then it is good enough for me...

 

Yes the tig welds . Are you using a foot pedal? Tig gives you the ultimate control. What I like about tig is I know what my weld looks like while I am welding. With the variable of the foot pedal you have total control. Practice!


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You get to heat up the metal before adding filler.
That’s my favorite part

 

In all reality, you need a line-up bar to tell how bad it is warped, and what it needs to be straight. I use a fixture, with a 12 ton jack, and chain it down. Tig is the process that I generally prefer, but use the method you are comfortable with.

 

Agree. However, I will probably drive less than 500 miles a year on my street rod therefore I will line up with straight edge which should be good for my use.

Waid

 

A straight edge, will not tell you the alignment, between the housing ends, and the center section.

 

If your not going to use a bar let us all know what your 4 wheel alignment reading is!

 

If you set the rear end on a steel table and level it the best you can.....then clamp it or tack weld it to the table so that the face of the pumpkin housing is vertical. Use a square. Then check each end of the housing to see that they are vertical. Last, hold something against each end and measure the distance in front and in the rear. Both readings should be the same. That last measurement is a little hard to do because you need extra hands. You can make two roughed out plates that bolt to the ends of the housing and extend a little in front and in back. Once they are bolted to the ends, its easy to measure and see if they are the same.
You are somewhat going at this bassakwards, as you really need to verify these measurements by tacking the ends on, then double checking before final welding. Its also best if you have a thru bar, but most people get by without one.

I made a simple jig years ago that sits on the welding table and automatically gets the ends vertical. Then by checking the front/back dimension I get it square. The thru bar holds everything in alignment. It takes some effort to build a jig like this, but then you have it forever and any future narrowing is super easy. Can also help out friends......

Not mentioned in the picture: On this jig the rear end is mounted in the two center uprights just to support it. Then the dummy pumpkin is inserted. It has two homemade bushings that slide in where the pumpkin bearings go. A long round bar is slid into the bushings and exits the housing at each end. The cut off housing ends are bolted to the outer uprights and then slid into place at each end of the housing. The ends are automaticall in a vertical alignment by being fastened to the uprights. I then measure in front and in the rear......the distance between the end uprights. When those two measuremnets are the same, the ends are parallel. The bar going thru the whole thing holds the bearings in alignment. Then tack weld and double check..........

 

Don't wanna beat-a-dead-horse but........when you get pinholes in mild steel....TIG over them using stainless steel filler rod. Fills those little pin hole boogers right up!!
TIG welding is the 'cats meow' once you get a handle on it!!
If you decide to 'shitcan' your TIG set up.let me know and I'll come haul it off fer ya!!!
6sally6

 

If it is out much at all you will be lucky if your wheel bearings last 500 miles

 

This^^^^^^^
Look at how NEARLY EVERY professional shop narrows and CHECKS their housings.
None of this "thats close enough" crap, they don't want to rework something, plus it just makes sense to design a welding fixture that simulates the environment where they will LIVE for THOUSANDS of miles.
This includes the use of a dummy center section that establishes a centerline and not relying on getting the ends "looking at each other" purely by luck.
Even when using the correct welding fixture, some housings require a little tweaking now and then, depending on the weldents being used, especially when using a housing like the one pictured on top here, notice the beefier lower housing, sometimes these even require straightening.