Got a shop and want to tube a new housing. Can buy and cut the tubes to length. Also can turn them to size and with heat slide them into the housing, but have never welded on the ends. Is this difficults? It is a dana 60/44 and I think all I need to do is clean up/square up the end of the tube, slide the end into the tube and measure for pinion angle. Tack, measure again, and weld...yes?

Anything about the welding I should be concerned about? Will mig it.

usually it's done with alignment pucks and a big ass round rod through them to assure the inner bearing area and outer are lined up.

Originally posted by xj4rocks
usually it's done with alignment pucks and a big ass round rod through them to assure the inner bearing area and outer are lined up.

For rear ends, yeah.

For front ends, there isn't an outter "bearing" per se, but you need to build in the right caster, camber, pinion angle, and have the shafts align with the carrier correctly.

I assume by "60/44 hybrid" you mean a Front end with a 44 chunk and 60 outters. Seems to be the going rage today.

Some of the guys with more experience can surely give you better advice. The short answer is to pre-heat the casting, and use high-nickel wire if possible.

For the alignment of the housing, be "best" way is to us an oil-hardened rod (BIG $$$) and pucks to locate the rod in the center of the carrier bearings and in line with them. Then you can press the tubes into the carrier, and use more pucks to locate the outter end of the tube relative to the carrier bearings.

I assume you have access to a lathe. I would use it to machine a nice interference fit between the outter knuckle and the squared off ends of the axle tubes. Then you can press everything together whereever you want you pinion and caster angles to be, and weld it up. Assuming you have the tube ends and knuckles properly prepped, the press fit will force the camber angle to come out correct, and you will be ready to go.