I talked to Sunray engineering about building me some RC D60 axles for my FJ40 and they said I needed to know where the spring perches will be for my 4 link. They said if they did not weld the perches BEFORE putting the axle tube together, there was a good chance it would warp the tube.

Has anyone heard of this? Unless you're really welding a long bead or welding alot in a single spot, I don't see how this could happen with skilled welder using a mig welder.

Comments?

Thanks in advance,
Charles

Heat moves metal which equates to warpage. If you want to keep it straight it may be wise to add heat to the oppisite side to where you are welding. A small rose bud and a heat stick will do. You can get heat sticks that melt at a certain temp. so you can accurately determine how much heat is being applied.

This is very possible no matter how skilled the welder is heat is heat and that is what warps metal.

The only problem is... how do you tell them where to put the spring perches for a 4 link without putting the axle under the vehicle to see how things line up? Do I need to make a wooden axle with the same dimensions and put it under the vehicle to get the exact dimensions? What a PITA. Also, how do you know what the caster should be without seeing how much the vehicle is going to sag???

Thanks,
Charles

Have them build your axle housing without the spring perches welded. Then you can bolt it all together where you want it to be, if you are happy with the position of everything weld small tacks to keep the perches in place.
Then tear it all apart. Then you can put the axle housing up on some pipe stands and do your welding or you can take it back to the shop and have them weld it.
Any compitent welder that knows his trade will know how to deal with the heat/warpage issue.

[ 08-21-2001: Message edited by: Reddog ]

Don,

Thanks for the info. I like this idea much better.

Charles

well this is for a dana 60

so I would ask them to use thicker
tubeing. I highly doubt that .350
or thicker tubeing is going to bend

In the real world any movement 0r
bending will be minimal and wont
mater.

I think they're just saying this to cover their A$$ in case someone who does not know how to weld ends up really warping the axle.

When I talked to Currie, they said they use a 7/16" thick tubing. I'll ask Sunray to see what they use.

Thanks for all of the replies..

Charles

I going to go with Landcrusher on this one---DONT worry about it. Although it could its doubtful that its going to.
weldpro

One more thing- Have you guys seen Allpros' high clearence housing for Toy mini trucks? Now that could have a serious warpage issue! <IMG SRC="smilies/eek.gif" border="0">

Thanks for all of the replies. I won't worry about it too much.

Charles