Cracked axle housing.

I always look for rust trails and grab with hand and try to move. I have never hit with hammer to test tightness.
Time to start. Thanks

 

I always preheat to get all the oil away from the cracks. I use a 7018 cause I'm comfortable with it. My son uses a mig cause he is comfortable with it. Some of his welds are couple years old and haven't given any trouble. Being clean is the key

 

7018 and mic are the same metal most of the time. Standard mug wire is er70s which is the same as 7018 stick. We usually weld the broken housing that come in with mig and they hold. But as mentioned earlier, most of them that we see cracked have loose u bolts that have caused the problem to start with.

 

Do you guys grind the weld flush and blend it when you're done or just leave it alone?

 

I want the brackets to be flush and or flat with the axle. If the dowl pin is sheared off I used to drive it into the housing and pluck it out of the axle hole. Now, after seeing someone else do this, I torque the U-bolts and weld the spring seat to the axle. No wimpy weld here! Do not over torque the u-bolts. I thank severally over tightened u-bolts can damage the housing. Do not weld the cracks with air on the housing and check for leaks before and after grinding.

 

I don't recommend welding this housing as I'm sure after you cut u bolts and raise axle seats off of housing you will find that the seats have worked back and forth resulting in significant wear on the front side of housing. If so and there is wear on top and back side, replacing the housing, axle spring top seats and possibly lower u bolt axle seats is the smartest bet. I've went thru many housings in wreck yards trying to find one without alot of wear on them. This crack goes around the top of housing which makes it nearly impossible to resolve the issue by welding. Once cast cracks around the square tube it is fruitless to try.

 

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