Re: Shortening a Ford axle

On 4/10/2024 4:16 PM, Snag wrote:

   I'm shortening an axle to replace a damaged one in a one-off Gold Wing powered FrankenTrike . The original axle assembly came from IIRC a Ford Pinto (or Maverick maybe) , modified for the trike . The owner's son got a little too heavy handed on the throttle and lost control , ended up in the woods and partially wrapped around a tree . Bent the axle flange and cracked the weld where they cut a piece out of the axle .
   So I've got the replacement cut down and almost ready to weld back together . I was going to MIG it with ER70S6 , but I'm wondering if I should TIG it with some ER309 or 308 . It's I think a carbon steel , it sparks orange with short forks - and it's hard . I started out with carbide cutters but it was pushing the axle out of alignment instead of cutting . Since axles apparently aren't exactly straight (!!) I decided to turn a couple of reference bands so I can check runout and have a concentric band to mount the steady rest , ended up using my Dremel as a toolpost grinder using reinforced cutoff discs . That worked out well . So now I need to decide which process and filler I need to use to glue this thing back into one piece .

Don't tell me you are going to piss off every wannabee Cha Cha Muldowney by destroying a Ford 9 inch rear end.
I think "most" full size vehicle axles are medium to medium hard steel. Maybe around .6 (+/-).  If its to hard/high it will snap or shatter, but its hardenable enough I've watched guys make knives out of them on Forge and Fire.  I know we have used old axles as tent stakes when putting up event shelters.  They will take a sledge hammer blow without shattering.
--
Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com