Welding 10 bolt axle tubes?

[transampimp]

I just got done cleaning up my used 10 bolt. I'm having my buddy toss in a set of GM 4.10 gears in the next coming weeks. I'm not putting alot of money into this thing so I'm not to worried about it going boom on me. I do want to do all the cheap mods to make it strong. I want to weld the axle tubes to the pumpkin but I was told by some people thats a bad idea. Others say that its a good idea. When you have the tubes welded do you have to worry about warping the tubes from the housing?

I don't have a welder either. Anyone willing to weld the tubes for me? If its a big hassle to do I can work out a deal with ya for your time.

Hows a case of beer sound guys?

[transampimp]

Anyone ever do this?

[cjmatt]

its generally not a good idea to do it unless the axle is disassembled as the heat will ruin any seals in the vicinity. its also tough to weld cast steel so i would look for a pro to do it for you as it needs to be preheated first.

[WMCCjames]

I welded the tubes on my 10 bolt...isn't hard. You just need a good welder. Also you want to only weld about an inch at a time and move to a different spot as not to build up the heat too much in one area. Using this method you don't have to disassemble it. Also by not letting the heat build up you don't have to worry about warping the tubes. I would do it for you but I don't have a strong enough welder at home. I used a 440 Miller we had at the place I worked at the time.

[JoeliusZ28]

does this actually increase the strength any? im gonna be putting one together this pring, im open to trying ideas like this for making it stronger. hell ill weld some braces on it if it actually helps.

[1bad83ta]

It can't hurt. I did mine myself also. I heated the ends of the center section with a torch first.

[WMCCjames]

Yes it makes it marginally stronger. It prevents the tubes from spinning on the center section which happens from time to time.

[JoeliusZ28]

ok im definitely gonna do this then. is there anything else like this you can do to beef up a 10 bolt? Ive seen some interesting braces fabbed up before, but id be afraid of it clearancing stuff.

[WMCCjames]

The best thing you can do for a 10 bolt...beside throwing it in the nearest scrap bin is to run a cover girdle on it.

[1bad83ta]

just do that and get a cover that has the cap supports. yeah what he said.

[MattODoom]

C Clip elims?

[CollinsAutomotive]

I have never seen a set of axle tubes twist ever. The rear will break the pinion teeth long before that happens.

I just got done cleaning up my used 10 bolt. I'm having my buddy toss in a set of GM 4.10 gears in the next coming weeks. I'm not putting alot of money into this thing so I'm not to worried about it going boom on me. I do want to do all the cheap mods to make it strong. I want to weld the axle tubes to the pumpkin but I was told by some people thats a bad idea. Others say that its a good idea. When you have the tubes welded do you have to worry about warping the tubes from the housing?

I don't have a welder either. Anyone willing to weld the tubes for me? If its a big hassle to do I can work out a deal with ya for your time.

Hows a case of beer sound guys?

[WMCCjames]

I've seen it on one F-body but have heard of it happening more frequently in the rock crawling world.

[JoeliusZ28]

Ive got the TA cover already. What do c-clip elims do? I always hear about them so i should probably do those too.

[transampimp]

Not sure about C-clip eliminators but I think you need to upgrade the axles when installing them. If they are a cheap $10-30 upgrade I would consider it.

All I really want to do is get the tubes welded and a stud girdle installed. I noticed in the summit catalog they have a stud girdle brace that you can purchase that bolts to there girdle and axle tubes. They didn't have a pic of it. If I had to guess the sway bar doesn't fit behind it?

Anyone know of a shop where I might find someone capable of welding the tubes?

My last question is using a set of used 4.10 gears. My buddy works at a gear shop and he said they use used gears all the time. They have a set of 4.10 gears that are used. He said that they normally clean them up, and resurface the gear teeth? Do you guys think they would make noise if I had them installed on my 10 bolt? I can get them for $50. Not sure if its worth taking the chance of them being loud.