Welding on a swaybar

[therieldeal]

Alright... I know that welding spring steel is generally accepted as a bad idea, but hear me out. I'm sure we have several welders/fabricators on the forum and I'd like to hear your opinion.

I have a swaybar with a cracked eye at the end. I was thinking if I cut some small pieces of plate steel (maybe 1/16" or 1/8") and welded them to either side, I could repair it. It's for a street car so it wont be seeing any radical amounts of tension.

What would the best method be to avoid damaging the temper of the bar? Stick, tig, or mig?

I was thinking I could weld in small increments and allow it to cool before moving on.

Then I thought, I wonder if the repetitive heating and cooling would be worse than just heating it once? I could do it all in one shot and then quench it in oil.

Any suggestions?

 

[superdave1984]

Junkyard. Better safe than sorry. Swaybar can't be that expensive.

 

[BlackBII]

Well, the problem with spring steel is once you heat it you take the carbon out of it, and it causes it to become super brittle, like glass.. so you 'could' weld it, but it may just break..You could weld it, let it cool, then heat it up till cherry red then quench in oil. Being that it's just the eye that's cracked, you may get away with it. Probably best to take it to a spring shop.

 

[therieldeal]

i was hoping that adding the plates to the sides would add plenty of strength to the eye (i'd drill the hole through them after, obviously), but i dont want to weaken the swaybar itself too much.

its the center part of the bar that generally flexes, right? not the ends?

my fathers neighbor is a retired welder... ive seen the guy weld 60 year old cast farm implements (like, tractor components) which worked just fine after and didnt re-break. i dont know much about welding myself, he'd be doing the work.

oh... and i'm not having any luck finding a replacement unfortunately.

 

[Loanranger]

absolutely not. There has to be someone on here near you that would just give you a swaybar. I have one of each style if you're close to my area, otherwise, grab one at a junkyard.

 

[therieldeal]

its not for a RBV

this is more of a general question than a ranger specific question

 

[PaleBlue90]

i agree, id just get one at a junkyard. better safe then sorry

 

[MAKG]

Good God, spring steel is TOXIC.

You can probably get a junkyard swaybar for less than the ER copay.

This is one of those "put the welder down" moments.

From an engineering perspective, fabricating something cheap and off the shelf ALWAYS increases risks of quality problems. A one-off cannot possibly have a verified process.

 

[therieldeal]

i'm not having any luck finding a replacement unfortunately.

what do you mean spring steel is toxic?

 

[BlackBII]

If you weld it, you need to wear a respirator while doing so.

 

[therieldeal]

strange. what kind of compounds are in there? i was under the impression that spring steel is merely high carbon steel that has been heat treated in a specific manner.

 

[BlackBII]

You idealy want to always wear a respirator when welding. Spring steel is just heat treated high carbon steel...I'm not sure what Gross is referring to...

 

[Sunk]

Spring steel releases more/different gasses when you weld or heat cut it than regular steel. I remember thinking about this when a buddy was torching off the eyes from a set or Ranger main leafs, and told him not to breathe, lol.

 

[therieldeal]

http://www.mercedesshop.com/diy/mb_tools/mb_tools.php?page=35

the fact that that specifically designed product even exists makes me thing that i shouldnt have any issues with messing up the swaybar..

now as far as strength and transmitting the least amount of heat into the rest of the bar, what is best? mig tig or arc? he can do all three...

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

you could also lower your truck with these:

CLICK

and then boost your motor with this:

CLICK AGAIN

just because it exists in the aftermarket doesnt make it a good idea. i too vote to find a replacement swaybar. have you checked ebay or craigslist?