daily doubler build

[JohnnyU]

It's hard to deduce truely what it is, I'm no metallugist (is that a word? lol). If it is in fact ductile, then I would think it should be easier to weld. All in all I'm probably over thinking things again, and I'm sure it'll be fine.

I'm sure it will be more than fine. Most people don't even do any research, so you're a leg up on them.

I was just offereing my opinion on the material composition. While it probably won't make much difference in what electrode to use, the two materials are quite different in application.

 

[4x4junkie]

Agreed, it should be ductile iron. Weld away.

 

[Bray D]

Ductile = Nodular right? Would the diff housing be of the same material? What applications would gray or white iron be preferred over ductile?

Anyways I got it welded up tonight. I setup the heater and let it warm up the knuckle/tube. Surprisingly enough, it held it right in the mid 80's - perfect. I first tried welding within the packaging preferred amperage (105) and was having trouble forming/pulling a puddle. I decided to up it to 120 amps (5 amps over recommended) and it worked quite well. quickly formed a puddle that I could pull for an inch or so then let cool. I was curious so I checked the temp right after I knocked the slag off and was surprised to see it was consistently in the 200-250*F range. I could touch it for a 2 count before it got too hot for my fingers. I thought that was interesting.

I then would flip the axle, check temp to make sure it was under 100*F, and weld another inch or so. Flip again, wait a few minutes for it to drop to 90-100*F, and weld again. It was surprisingly easy to monitor the temp, my the end of the night I had a decent 'feel' of what temp it would be at.

The rod itself felt like it was 'soft'. It didn't burn excessively quick, but it just felt different when pulling the puddle.

OK enough of the chit chat - on with the pics

initial temp check

pass side caster (without pinion angle set)

driver side caster

pre-weld

tacked up

welding process

DONE

Of course I only took pics of the decent looking welds. You can see from the finished product that its FAR from perfect. Its hard for me to start a weld cold, I'm used to burning things nice and hot. This whole assembly was welded cold, so that was an experience. I'll go in and take down the high spots with a flap disk. If I feel it could use a second pass, I'll do it. I used just under a half pound of rod, so I should be able to get another pass done if need be (I bought 1lb).

 

[Bray D]

Damnit those pics are good. Sometimes I wish my camera didn't show ALL the details lol.

 

[wahlstrom1]

Nice pics, good work and I bet your wishing you had my 75' axle to work with so you didn't have to mess with the cast wedges, lol.

-andrew

 

[Bray D]

Meh, I'd still have to weld on the cast knuckles. Then have to worry about wedge placement (I prefer not to link it ATM)

 

[wahlstrom1]

How's the doubler holding up so far? I did the SAS first, now I'm looking at doing a doubler...

-andrew

 

[Bray D]

Pretty good. I've got ~10.5k on it and she's still rockin. I'm going to pull it down and clock it before christmas break is up. You can bet I'll post up if I find any overly-worn parts.

 

[wahlstrom1]

Cool, let us all know for sure. I take it your clocking it higher for more ground clearance and not lower for better driveshaft angle?

 

[Bray D]

Clockin up to have a higher crossmember to tie the radius arms to. I think I can only clock it one hole in the clocking ring without the front output interferring with the doubler case. I'm going to go as much as I can though, we will see.

 

[Bray D]

logged a few more hours on the build:

I went ahead and welded another pass and ground to a nice chamfer. If the weld isn't strong enough now then I may as well just give up. After that I removed the factory trac bar mount and cleaned the housing, that was a job in itself. Got the locker installed and setup bearings made so I'm ready to start the gear install.

I had planned to setup the gears tomorrow but, 15 mins after parking at my g/f's house tonight, a buddy stopped and said my truck must've come out of gear cause it rolled down the hill and hit a car. We all walked down there to assess the damage. Hit a 97 mustang, dented up the rear quarter pretty good (you can see my tire marks halfway up the car) then another small dent in the door. We called the cops and filed a report, insurance should deal with the rest. My truck seemed fine till I went to leave, my alignment if jacked. Looks like I'll be fixing that tomorrow.

Funny thing is - I had to take my truck out of first gear to move it

 

[metalmacguyver]

Time for a compression test?

 

[Bray D]

Maybe, the ol 3.0's starting to get some miles on her. The hill was hardly a hill though, I've left it sit in neutral and warm up many times (after turning my tires a bit so it wouldn't roll). Just a wierd situation all around. I don't even know wtf my deductable is. Hopefully not too much.

 

[rickcdewitt]

what end of your truck hit the stang? i bet i know who won the confrontation(mines came out on top three times,but only once was my fault.)

 

[Bray D]

The pass. side of my front bumper. My truck's perfectly fine - other than the alignment issue.