03-02-2015, 11:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-02-2015, 11:56 PM by broncosbybart.)
Appreciate it all!
Ben, you beat me to the punch on the truss idea. I had already fabbed something up. Not quite as involved as you mentioned, but should be good enough.
First thing I did was weld the axle tubes to the center section. There is a lot of conflicting info out there on what the center section is cast from. I can tell that this one is some form of cast steel. I had to drill the bulk head fitting in the housing for the ARB. When I did, the material did not chip but it drilled like a piece of steel usually does. That said, I had a job keeping the welds from cracking around the axle tubes.
My first attempt was without any kind of preheat and using standard 70 series wire in the MIG welder. I ran a couple small beads and they cracked right away. Second attempt was to preheat a little with the MAP torch and run a few small beads. They cracked too.
I ordered some 308L stainless wire. There are a couple options for wire but this was the most affordable. When it got here, I loaded it up and got to welding. First though, I used a propane heater to heat the housing up to 200 degrees and then went to it. I welded small sections at a time, on opposite sides of the housing and alternated sides to keep the thing from warping. After each weld, I used a sharp pointed slag hammer to 'peen' the welds to help keep them from cracking. It took a little while to get it all done but it came out pretty good.
Next, I fabbed up a 'truss' using C channel. I will be mounting my center brake flex line to it, so I drilled a hole in it and welded a nut to the back side for a retainer bolt.
Then, came fitting the whole mess up, making some extra gussets, and finally a removable brace to the rear diff cover.
Used a few pieces of C-channel for a truss mount and to make some 'flats' for the bump stops to hit on. Figured it would add some strength to the housing.
The inner plate for the traction bar is welded directly to the center section but is heavily braced to the other plate, which is welded to the axle tube as well as to the truss. Fingers crossed that none of it goes anywhere. It should take a lot of force to break it free.
Ben, you beat me to the punch on the truss idea. I had already fabbed something up. Not quite as involved as you mentioned, but should be good enough.
First thing I did was weld the axle tubes to the center section. There is a lot of conflicting info out there on what the center section is cast from. I can tell that this one is some form of cast steel. I had to drill the bulk head fitting in the housing for the ARB. When I did, the material did not chip but it drilled like a piece of steel usually does. That said, I had a job keeping the welds from cracking around the axle tubes.
My first attempt was without any kind of preheat and using standard 70 series wire in the MIG welder. I ran a couple small beads and they cracked right away. Second attempt was to preheat a little with the MAP torch and run a few small beads. They cracked too.
I ordered some 308L stainless wire. There are a couple options for wire but this was the most affordable. When it got here, I loaded it up and got to welding. First though, I used a propane heater to heat the housing up to 200 degrees and then went to it. I welded small sections at a time, on opposite sides of the housing and alternated sides to keep the thing from warping. After each weld, I used a sharp pointed slag hammer to 'peen' the welds to help keep them from cracking. It took a little while to get it all done but it came out pretty good.
Next, I fabbed up a 'truss' using C channel. I will be mounting my center brake flex line to it, so I drilled a hole in it and welded a nut to the back side for a retainer bolt.
Then, came fitting the whole mess up, making some extra gussets, and finally a removable brace to the rear diff cover.
Used a few pieces of C-channel for a truss mount and to make some 'flats' for the bump stops to hit on. Figured it would add some strength to the housing.
The inner plate for the traction bar is welded directly to the center section but is heavily braced to the other plate, which is welded to the axle tube as well as to the truss. Fingers crossed that none of it goes anywhere. It should take a lot of force to break it free.