What settings to use on eastwood 175 mig welder

[T-Bucket Bob]

Hey Guys,

I want to re weld over some old welds on my 9" ford rear end. RR brackets, pan handle, and shock brackets. Can I grind down some of old welds and then re weld? What setting would I set my mig welder at?

Thanks, T-Bucket Bob

 

[choppinczech]

Are you using shielding gas or flux cored wire?

 

[tfeverfred]

Do you mean bad as in poor penetration or looks? If the old welds are poor penetration, I'd grind them GONE and do them over. If they just look ugly, I'd grind a bit and do another pass or two, depending on metal thickness.

 

[fluidfloyd]

T-Bucket Bob...Multiple passes on a rear axle housing tube can cause a lot of bending problems that could well cause axle bearing/seal issues down the road. Straightening a housing is a pain in the backside. Once welded you can pretty well bet the housing already is out of alignment. Re-welding it will only move it some more. I speak from years of doing nothing but fabbing 9" Ford housings for the racing industry. The narrower the housing is the more critical bearing alignment is correct. Take your time and seek help if you feel the need. Good luck with your project.

George

 

[409T]

If it is just cosmetic and you plan to paint, fill the welds with body filler and sand them into a smooth radius or transition.

 

[ChrisK]

When I weld shafts I pulse the mig. I just do a short 1/4" and stop and wait for the color to come back. And if all possible weld it vertical. But most importanly give it time to cool.

 

[2old2fast]

A thought about warping tubing , if you were to fab brackets that go all the way around the tube & were to weld them on in short stitches varying from spot to spot [front/rear/top/bottom] I wonder if the shrinking forces would cancel eachother out. That's the way I welded my front spring perch to the round crossmember & I didn't get any warpage. On the rear housing , I had trouble when welding only on 1/2 the tube circumference & had to straighten the housing. Just thinking out loud ...
dave

 

[tfeverfred]

When I weld shafts I pulse the mig. I just do a short 1/4" and stop and wait for the color to come back. And if all possible weld it vertical. But most importanly give it time to cool.

When I weld my brackets (soon I hope), I was going to alternate 1/2" sections. Left side rear, right side front, left side rear and so on. Allowing time between welds for cooling. I read some where that leaving the gear oil in the rear end can aid cooling, but I'm not sure that's correct. It makes sense, but in a way, it doesn't. Maybe someone can expand on that theory.

ChrisK's "pulsing" theory makes sense as well.

 

[meangreen]

If you want to see what happens to a rear axle housing that's been welded on, take a look at my thread over on Club Hotrod. The thread is called "Another Build Thread ? Yep, My Track-Style T" and the sequence dealing with the warped housing is on page 8. Here's a link: Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T - Page 8 . There are lots of pictures of the process over there.

The rear end in my Track-T is an 8-inch Ford that had already been welded on before. After I ground off the old welds I checked it with a straight-edge and discovered it was warped pretty badly. I corrected it by welding on the opposite sides until it was drawn back straight. Then I ground it smooth and added my own brackets. I control warp by fab'ing brackets and/or strap-gussets that go all the way around the housing and then weld like 2old2fast describes above. I've been doing the rear radius rod brackets this way since 1968 and have had no problems with warpage.

 

[T-Bucket Bob]

Hey guys, all I want to is clean my welds up a little bit and put a nice weld over them. I will try to post a picture or two.

 

[2old2fast]

A pretty weld is not always a good weld , an ugly weld is usually bad...
dave

 

[fluidfloyd]

Hey guys, all I want to is clean my welds up a little bit and put a nice weld over them. I will try to post a picture or two.

T-Bucket Bob.... The problem I see in that is if you have poor welds due to porosity or lack of penetration you will need to grind down deep into the weld bead and basically make new welds. So now you have welded the brackets twice and warped it twice. To just weld over the existing beads will only stack more filler road on top of the old weld. To run the amps high enough to burn deep into those original weld will likely warp the axle tube. It sure can't be good for the rear gear lube in the housing. If the weld are sound and you feel safe then I would just do a light grind and polish on the beads. Don't grind back to a sharp corner but blend the weld bead into the bracket and housing tube creating a nice radius or fillet. You can google welding info and find plenty of examples of how a correct bead should look. If you have a non articulating rear suspension such as a ladder bar or hairpin style system then your welds need to be the best you can produce. In this type of suspension the highest forces will be at those weld joints. Hope this gives you some insight to think about. Good luck with your project.
Welding Parameters - CLAMS, machine settings, torch manipulation and travel angle

George

 

[ChrisK]

Probably should mention a good scratching with the wire brush on the area to be welded helps too. Even if its fresh metal oxides form and can cause problems. Don't try to weld over rust, paint, sticker residue, or oil. You will be forced to use a lot of heat.

Also you can straighten tubing if it warps. I've used an indicator, a press and v blocks to do that many times.

As for the settings I would start with 145 amps and go from there.

 

[T-Bucket Bob]

I was gonna to use my 175 mig welder.