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The axle is painted and installed and the truck is on its own weight again! Don’t even ask for weld pics because they look like crap but are plenty strong, I used 3/32” 7018 rods and ran them at 90amps then went back with my little mig on full blast and cleaned up the corners that the stick welder kinda blew holes in but it’s alright thiccc black goop hides all. Once again I’m overly impressed by this Chassis saver product one pint covered the entire axle with two very thick coats and I had enough left over to start on the rear frame section of the truck.
Something kinda funny I noticed is that the bolts holding the leafs into the shackle actually rub the hanger. I installed these years ago in a tiny garage when I lived in Dallas and I remember struggling desperately at like 3am by myself trying to wrestle these ridiculously heavy springs into place and I got it with just enough time to get a two hour nap in before returning to work that morning. I specifically remember this as one of the most physically difficult things I’ve ever done to a vehicle. That was back when I was out of shape from eating airport food three times a day. Anyway, gotta put that on the todo list along with brakes starting with hardlines on the axle and along the frame I think they are getting kinda rusty and might need to be replaced.
It's rubbing because the nut goes on the outside. Of course that makes it tricky to get the bolt through from behind, but there must be a way since it's done like that from factory. (At least on my 3/4 ton truck that's how they are)
I find it funny I just noticed it after all these years. As soon as I released the ratchet straps holding the truck up I bounced it a few times with my body weight and was rewarded with an awful squeak from those bolts. Not sure how I never heard it before but it’s an easy fix I think I’ll actually just cut the extra threads off the bolt. Since the nuts are on they should clean up the threads whenever they need to be removed down the road.
The proper way to install is to bolt the shackle to the leaf spring first with bolt sticking outboard then put the shackle in the hanger. Since it is already installed, cutting the excess threads off will do but may make it difficult to resuse those nuts and bolts if you ever remove them.
Although pretty welds are nice, they don't necessarily dictate the quality of the weld. As long as they are not surface glob booger welds, you should be good. Since I only weld every 6mo to a year, the first welds on a project don't look as good at the last welds but all have good penetration and I have never had a structural weld fail. That is sometimes a detriment though as I tend to blow holes in thin stuff till I figure out the heat and wire speed.
I’ll end up cutting it and if I have to buy new ones then oh well they are kinda ugly anyway.
The welds ought to be plenty strong I used little backer plates on a Few spots where the fitment wasn’t great since they were cutoff a different axle. Overall I am pleased and once I get in the shop and actually start investing more time into it I’ll weld the ladder bar bracket on. I want to redesign the frame cross member it hands 2-3” below the frame which is unacceptable in my book.
12-27-2021, 12:10 AM
