Twisting Tubes

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MB43

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On my 8-1/4, one of the tubes is starting to twist, right where it goes into the center section. Could I weld it, or should I just junk it?
 
i have heard about people welding axeltubes to the centersektion but i dont know how since cast iron is difficult to weld, it may be end up more expensive than finding another 8 1/4" rear and put yor ring and pininon and diferential into, but i am not a profesional..
 
Sure, weld it. But "brace" it too, as long as you're at it. The reason they twist under hard work is not that the tubes aren't attached well enough in the first place. They are just not structuarlly beefy enough to hold up to big power. The flexing induced under load eventually makes it start to come apart - the "twist."

I'd hammer out four foot-long strips of 1/8 or 3/16 flat bar to fit across the tubes and halfway up the center, stitch them on a little at a time to avoid warpage, working around top-to-bottom, left-to-right.

Then the housing won't be the weak link, see how long the bearings hold up...
 
most rear end housings are cast steel, not cast iron, welding it should not be a problem,, you should be able to weld it with either mig or stick. just make sure it is clean and oil free. keep the heat buildup to a minimum by welding short sections, skip around and take your time
 
If you weld your housing up, make sure to take the twist back out of it or your spring perch will be out of alignment. You don't want the perches not to be parallel left to right. Just a thought.
 
Well, if I'm going to weld it, I'm going to have a guy who knows how to do it do the work, since I can't weld. He's told me a few times that he could do it, he would pull the rear out, straighten out the tube and then weld it so it won't twist again.

If I can save a few bucks by fixing this rear I can buy myself a set of heads. Maybe a bigger cam, too. ;-)
 
68gts340 said:
most rear end housings are cast steel, not cast iron, welding it should not be a problem,, you should be able to weld it with either mig or stick. just make sure it is clean and oil free. keep the heat buildup to a minimum by welding short sections, skip around and take your time
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ok i was wrong, but this is one of the good things about this site, there is always something i can learn:)

mikelbeck, sound like a good plan to get that rear fixed and then get som better heads and a bigger cam ;)
 
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