ways to weld directly to the 3rd member

[camcruiser13]

teach me what i have to do to weld on to the 3rd member,im thinking this is the best place to attach one end of my ram to.

and can i do it with a mig welder?

thanks for your comments and wisdom.

 

[camcruiser13]

i have been doing some research and it seem like you need to preheat the area and get it red hot to slow the cooling down to prevent cracking in the welds. after i do this can i just weld steel to the 3rd.

sorry for the stupidity

 

[FLYINGLOW]

i have been doing some research and it seem like you need to preheat the area and get it red hot to slow the cooling down to prevent cracking in the welds. after i do this can i just weld steel to the 3rd.

sorry for the stupidity

I believe that you are to weld to the cast steel while its hot, not after.

 

[scott67fj40]

If you are welding steel to cast, you need to heat the cast up first, weld with an arc welder using nickle rods and then reheat after weld and let it cool as slow as possible.

 

[Mace]

weld to the housing.. not the third..

 

[woody]

when I installed my ram, I welded to both the housing and the 3rd for the mount....the upper side is a large 1/4" thick triangle, to the steel housing...that was MIG'd on...the lower portion of the mount was a piece of 1/4" thick angle, and that was stick welded on. I did not preheat.

Thus far (2+ years) it's worked great....IIRC, there should be a pic in my front axle buildup thread ...somewheres....lol

 

[camcruiser13]

let me show you what i have drawn up, i think im going to change the ram position thought and move the cylinder to the diff side

in these pics is the angle too steep, and would it damage anything>?

 

[woody]

mine is behind the axle like yours, and exactly parallel to the tie rod. The rod-side mount is over the leaf spring area, angled slightly above parallel, with the diff-side mount on the housing/center

zero complaints with it, and it's well protected.

 

[4rnr]

I just welded my antiwrap bar mounts to my 3rd and I just welded it with a fluxcore welder. I bet it will hold, we will see this weekend.

 

[camcruiser13]

does the angles look ok in those pics woody, or do i need to extend the bracketery, i saw you axle build, sweet.

the thing thats giving me the headache is that the rods are way back (out of harms way) and the bracktes get longer and longer the more parallel i try to get it. i donthtink its a problem and the steel isnt going to move.

let me know

thanks

 

[vtcruiser60]

If you are welding steel to cast, you need to heat the cast up first, weld with an arc welder using nickle rods and then reheat after weld and let it cool as slow as possible.

x2, AND....you may want to cover up your welds with a rag while they are cooling to slow down the cooling a bit. Also, you could tap the welds lightly with a hammer to take some stress out during cooling. You don't want to hear anything that sounds like a penny hitting a bathtub or a can. Chinking is bad...

 

[woody]

angles "look" ok, but my old laptop isn't the best screen to judge from....

basically, with the tires on the truck pointed straight ahead, you want the ram 100% parallel to the tie rod, period. Above/Below/etc doesnt' matter, just parallel...otherwise, you risk bending the rod.

Also, keeping the rod-mount closer to an end (ie: over the spring pack area) helps keep the stress off the center of the tierod, where bending is more likely.

no such thing as perfect, just highly acceptable

 

[D'Animal]

This is how I did mine. Your steering ram is behind the third where mine is in front. I think in your front on pic you have the ram backwards.

 

[D'Animal]

Are you using a dual piston Ram?

 

[camcruiser13]

no just holding it up to check angles

 

[camcruiser13]

ill tinker around the next couple nights and see what other ideas i can brain storm up

 

[LT]

Set the welder on shoot to kill. Let 'er rip.

Oh yeah you do not need to pre-heat cast steel. If you are welding on cast iron then you would have the pre-heat the whole area that you are welding.

 

[camcruiser13]

Lt what steering you running?

what are your plans as far as changing the mounts?
and the 3rds are cast steel right?

 

[LT]

I think it is the All Pro set up... not sure. I bought them off Mark when he was parting out his old 79 FJ40. Mine is mounted on top of the housing though.

The only change i'm doing to the mounts is moving the ram closer to the tie rod and making it sit parallel with the tie rod.

 

[camcruiser13]

gotcha