Just having a little fun....ouch!

[Goatman]

I went out for a few minutes yesterday to haul ass down some dirt roads in the foothills just out of town, to test some new rear bumpstops I just installed, and to get a feel again for my front springs and bumpstops. It works pretty well, still a touch stiff in the rear, but overall the best yet, and it can catch decent air with no hard landings. I hit one off camber bump a little hot and came down on the drivers front, still felt good but my passenger about pee'd in his pants.

A few miles down the road the front end did something funny when I hit the brakes to stop. I broke the weld on the inner C on the drivers side, and the knuckle rotated forward. Thankfully I wasn't going fast when it went and it didn't rip the brake line, though it loosened the banjo bolt enough for it to leak brake fluid. I had to call my daughter to come get us, go home and get the truck and trailer to get it home. Damn, just out having a few minutes of fun.

 

[JnJ]

Your weld?

 

[Goatman]

Unfortunately, I have no one else to blame.......I hate it when I have to learn the quality of my welds the hard way. :dunce:

Maybe there's a reason that Currie and most of the other axle builders add a gusset on the inner knuckles on the axles that they build. This will go back together with a good gusset, and I'll add one to the other side.



Of course, I could quit jumping it........................naw!!

 

[David Taylor]

Time to weld on some 60 ends. With the coil overs you could just shorten the tube and keep the same wms you have now.

 

[Mr.OverKill]

what axle is it?? ( 30, 44, 60 )

 

[David Taylor]

what axle is it?? ( 30, 44, 60 )

44

 

[JeepFreak21]

And people complain about how difficult it is to turn knuckles!
Billy

 

[Mr.OverKill]

ok.

can i have a couple?:laugh3:

 

[CRASH]

Go IFS or go home.

CRASH

 

[Goatman]

Go IFS or go home.

CRASH

I've been working on an idea to make a long travel, high clearance twin traction beam Ford front end that should be good for both crawling and prerunning. Maybe we could collaborate for a new URF product.

We could call it the URF Trail Tough TTB.

 

[JnJ]

I've been working on an idea to make a long travel, high clearance twin traction beam Ford front end that should be good for both crawling and prerunning. Maybe we could collaborate for a new URF product.

We could call it the URF Trail Tough TTB.

URFTTTTB?

 

[Matt S.]

Its funny you said TTB. There was a guy in Phx who ran a ranger with full width TTB. But, he made his own axle housing and all that jazz. Worked really well (from what people told me) He did alot of crawling and desert running supposedly.

BTW, that knuckle carnage sucks.

 

[Hickey]

So, what welder did you use and what settings?

 

[ECKSJAY]

So, what welder did you use

I'll guess arc.

and what settings?

The wrong ones.

:laugh3:

 

[Goatman]

Well, I was quick to blame my welding, and while that still had to be partially to blame, once I got the knuckle lined back up to where it was it was easier to see the actual break. The break was very jagged through the weld bead, not just a clean break at the knuckle, and there was clean freshly broken metal from the outside of the bead through to the tube, all the way around. Bottom line, I'm sure I didn't get good enough penetration into the cast knuckle, or it didn't cool properly, but it still looked like a pretty decent weld. I know I hit that corner pretty hard at an angle with 37's........

I welded that whole front end with a stick, set hot. That knuckle is going back on with the MIG, and the torch to pre-heat and post-heat it. It's also getting a gusset, and I'll also add a gusset to the other side. Oh, and a two month old ball joint was loose on that same side..........D60 outers with 37's anyone?

 

[CRASH]

Well, I was quick to blame my welding, and while that still had to be partially to blame, once I got the knuckle lined back up to where it was it was easier to see the actual break. The break was very jagged through the weld bead, not just a clean break at the knuckle, and there was clean freshly broken metal from the outside of the bead through to the tube, all the way around. Bottom line, I'm sure I didn't get good enough penetration into the cast knuckle, or it didn't cool properly, but it still looked like a pretty decent weld. I know I hit that corner pretty hard at an angle with 37's........

I welded that whole front end with a stick, set hot. That knuckle is going back on with the MIG, and the torch to pre-heat and post-heat it. It's also getting a gusset, and I'll also add a gusset to the other side. Oh, and a two month old ball joint was loose on that same side..........D60 outers with 37's anyone?

I read on the internet that you could run 37's on a 44 without any trouble. You must have gotten a bum 44.

Oh, and the TTB thing is in the works. Switching my F-250 from the crappy leafs to coils with radius arms. I'm keeping the TTB though. Design work is done, fab starts upon my return from vacation.

Scored some bling-bling H-2 rims and tires from SeanP for the tow rig.

CRASH

86 F-250 on dubs.

 

[4ward]

D60 outers with 37's anyone?

Sounds like that may be a good direction for you to head, but it's going to add considerably to your unsprung weight. Your shocks are revalvable right?

I think you'd be better off still welding them back on with the stick, you're pretty good with it. Just do the preheat and then a piece of insulation wrapped around it for cool down. Seems to me that if you broke part of the weld and part of the cast your HAZ wasn't large enough. Although it may not matter as I wouldn't think they'd use cast iron for knuckles, only cast steel. Anybody know the answer to that one? I'm sure there are others on here that now the welding process better, but that's my .02.

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure that gussets are mandatory when you start getting more than 6" of air.

 

[Goatman]

Sounds like that may be a good direction for you to head, but it's going to add considerably to your unsprung weight. Your shocks are revalvable right?

I think you'd be better off still welding them back on with the stick, you're pretty good with it. Just do the preheat and then a piece of insulation wrapped around it for cool down. Seems to me that if you broke part of the weld and part of the cast your HAZ wasn't large enough. Although it may not matter as I wouldn't think they'd use cast iron for knuckles, only cast steel. Anybody know the answer to that one? I'm sure there are others on here that now the welding process better, but that's my .02.

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure that gussets are mandatory when you start getting more than 6" of air.

So, is the HAZ just the part of the metal that melted, including the weld bead, or just the penetration into the base metal? If you make multiple passes is that all still part of the heat affected zone?? I'm not much up on welding terminology, and marginal on technique.

And yes, sometimes I do still think I'm a better welder with the stick than with the MIG. Of course, I've already welded the inner knuckle back on with the MIG, a somewhat frustrating experience position welding around the tube while trying to burn it in good on a high temp setting into 1/2" steel tube and a cast (steel, I'm sure) knuckle. It sure was easier the first time when the housing was on the bench and I could rotate it as I welded around the tune.

I've been nearly talking myself out of using the coilovers on the front, but I may do them so I can get good gussets on the top of the tube, otherwise any gusset on top would interfere with my shock bolts.


I'm getting to where I just want to go wheeling....... :rattle:

:repair:

 

[Jes]

I'm getting to where I just want to go wheeling....... :rattle:

:repair:

The reason that my 7100s for the rear are still sitting on my bedroom floor.

 

[CRASH]

"Just Wheeling" is quite a refreshing change from my past two summers! I like it!

CRASH