Welding Dana 80 axle tubes

J

jedeka

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I was wanting to get the axle tubes welded to the center section. Can this be done in the truck or do I need to strip the axle down to bare housing?
 
Can be done in the truck, I would jack the truck up right under the leaves.
Then stitch weld going back and forth. I even supported the pumpkin.
 
stitching the tubes to the pumpkin would pretty much be useless. the cast of the pumpkin needs a lot of heat to weld properly, and every start/stop point will most likely have some small cracks in them, so if you can't get it in a lathe and weld it one shot, this is how i do it.

i weld the tubes in 24 welds.

start with whatever side you want, ill say left

top 1/4 left tube
bottom 1/4 left tube
top 1/4 right tube
bottom 1/4 right tube
front 1/4 left tube
back 1/4 left tube
front 1/4 right tube
back 1/4 right tube

now you have both tubes fully welded one pass
you are going to repeat this twice more, the next two set you want to offset your 1/4's so the start and ends of the beads are in the middle of the first welds

the first set should weld JUST pumpkin to the first weld
the second set should weld JUST the tube to the first weld, but catch the 2nd weld slightly for appearance.
 
What does this help with? can the tube actually rotate under extreme loads? or does it seperate?
 
aas of right now there are only 2 plug welds holding tube to housing. they will break then separate and or bend, welding helps
 
9 LIVES said:
What does this help with? can the tube actually rotate under extreme loads? or does it seperate?
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Tubes wont normally move but ive seen plenty of center sections turn up and the pinion point to the bed floor:doh:
 
We are doing something a little different for the Dana80 on the truck we are building. My brother (an experianced welder, and a certified welding inspector) says there is no way you are going to get any hold on either the tube or the housing if it wants to twist with common welding practices. That being said, we have decieded to drill and tap the housing/tubes (4 per side) and loctite and install L9 bolts (stronger than grade8 bolts) this should take the possibility of twisting nearly impossible as the L9's have a sheer strength quite a bit greater than grade 8's

RyanB
 
bolts are what we have always done for exactly that reason - you can not successfully weld cast to mild steel under that kind of stress
 
RyanB said:
We are doing something a little different for the Dana80 on the truck we are building. My brother (an experianced welder, and a certified welding inspector) says there is no way you are going to get any hold on either the tube or the housing if it wants to twist with common welding practices. That being said, we have decieded to drill and tap the housing/tubes (4 per side) and loctite and install L9 bolts (stronger than grade8 bolts) this should take the possibility of twisting nearly impossible as the L9's have a sheer strength quite a bit greater than grade 8's

RyanB
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seeker1056 said:
bolts are what we have always done for exactly that reason - you can not successfully weld cast to mild steel under that kind of stress
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thats has to be the biggest bunch of bull **** ive ever heard.

the inner C's are cast, welded on to the tube. and hold all the front end breaking and steering forces.

ive welded 100s of center sections and c's on never had a single issue to date.

theres also HUGE differences in the quality and weldability of cast iron and cast steel.
 
I took mine to a welder at work. He has welded all of his life, and is one of the best welders int he area. So you guys can do what you want. He welded to the tube, then he welded to the housing, then he put a weld between the two. I guess stitch was the wrong answer. The 1/4, 1/4 was the way he did it. Basically don't just weld the crap out of it, as too much heat can cause it to distort.

I had thought about drilling the weld plugs out and putting in bolts, but I would have to pull the bolts back out to use the spreader I have.
 
Rollin Coal said:
thats has to be the biggest bunch of bull **** ive ever heard.

the inner C's are cast, welded on to the tube. and hold all the front end breaking and steering forces.

ive welded 100s of center sections and c's on never had a single issue to date.

theres also HUGE differences in the quality and weldability of cast iron and cast steel.
Click to expand...

X2!!!
 
Im curious what you guys are using for rod to weld the centersections?
 
cast STEEL can be welded with regular filler. I use stainless alot with the tig.

high nickle rod is PART of the process to weld cast IRON
 
Not to derail this thread....I just wanted to know if there was a market for a shortened dana 80 rear end. It has a welded open carrier.

Nothing wrong with it just to heavy for my setup & will be going with a ford 9"

If its even viable to sell it how much do you guys think I should ask for it?
17" was taken out total.
 
I have been welding for over 30 years and am certified mig tig and arc and have welded my own for years never had an issue but I don't have the power you guys do either.
 
9 LIVES said:
Not to derail this thread....I just wanted to know if there was a market for a shortened dana 80 rear end. It has a welded open carrier.

Nothing wrong with it just to heavy for my setup & will be going with a ford 9"

If its even viable to sell it how much do you guys think I should ask for it?
17" was taken out total.
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What axles does it have?
 
Just so you all know, rear end housings are Ductile Iron not cast. The tubes are pressed in and all the plug welds do is keep the tub from turning. I think that RyanB is on the right track but everybody has luck in there own way. Not saying one thing will work better than others.
 
01 smoke said:
Just so you all know, rear end housings are Ductile Iron not cast. The tubes are pressed in and all the plug welds do is keep the tub from turning. I think that RyanB is on the right track but everybody has luck in there own way. Not saying one thing will work better than others.
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Now that he mentions that, I believe the foundry in New Castle used to cast the D80 housings. It was a ductile Iron foundry.
 
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