Another spindle failure...Backcountry DV

off the batteries

 

Feelings.... so many feelings.

 

readywelder, fixed the MonkeyCrawler a few years ago at The Hammers during KOH week..
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/long-travel-bs-thread.109317/page-2332#post-8960879

 

new guy's a strawberry, but not a 3rd gen owner..confused

 

I’m very confused of why you got so defensive about his question? Was it not valid? That is an educational opportunity, which is what you claim this thread is reguarding...

I get the annoyance if that topic has been covered in 15 threads prior but not everyone has the time/patience to read 40 pages of BS.

You don’t have to carry a welder into DV to make a trail welding repair. You don’t even have to be great at welding. Some jumper cables, welding rod, vise grips, and 2, preferably 3, batteries will suffice. Clean up the surfaces as best you can but it’s doable. Not a permanent fix unless you’re damn good though.

 

Oh, my bad. I thought you were a smart enough guy to put the conversation together and didn’t feel it necessary to quote the conversation. My bad, let me fix that.

Snarky response to a legitimate question.

Another snarky response to said legitimate possible solution.

Has nothing to do with a welding repair done on the trail. At this point, it’s already broken and you’re trying to get off the trail. If this is for educational purposes, why are you so defensive over a different approach?

Wait, don’t you know about this?

Read above...

Has this been discussed or is this thread 40 pages of testosterone and BS.

You might be onto something.

I hope this clarifies things for you. This is not a novel btw. You haven’t seen one of those yet.

I don’t dissagree with you. @tetten, although I have not met him, seems like a legit guy who is prepared to fix most situations. The point of having an educational thread is to help everyone prepare for future possible failures. Why do you want to throw shade at yet another new guy?

 

This is why we can't have nice things

 

To properly weld spindle gussets on, the spindle needs to be heated to the same temperature with a torch first. If not, stress is added to the spindle and can cause it to be brittle

 

Are most of these failures on spindles that have been gusseted? Any factory spindles failed in that location? Forgive me if this has been covered, while I perused the thread I didn't read all 41 pages.

 

The failures are on factory spindles too, reason why people started welding gussets to strengthen them. But some have still seen failures even on the gusseted ones and might be due to the way there being welded on.

 

Total hearsay from a friend who welds and could be wrong, but I think I’ve seen it mentioned that @glorifiedwelder does this and I trust him like @dtaco06 said.

 

@jberry813 is correct. Pre/post heating is not required. I do some pre/post heat due to a convo I had with someone in the “know” but prior to that I did not have a process for heating them. Hell the ones on my truck were not pre/post heated. I think the important take aways are:

• don’t run non-sway bar gussets unless you have a good reason. I don’t sell that style unless the customer gives me a good reason why he can’t run the newer sway bar version. Definitely don’t run the non-sway bar version without atleast an added tie rod gusset, that seems to greatly reduce the chances of the cracking.

• don’t buy spindles from someone learning to weld. A lot of guys have been trying to get into welding spindles lately. One guy was still learning to weld and hasn’t realized if your gonna tig weld spindles you gotta fit the gussets a lot better than the way they come from TC (and yes we could all see how fucked up the tie rod end gusset welding came out. Can’t fill 1/4” gaps tig welding) and if your gonna get them from someone mig welding them look at the welds. A lot of the mig welded ones are welded too cold. Look at the toes of the weld. If it wasn’t hot enough to tie in at the toes of the weld on the spindle material you most likely didn’t get good penetration.

• if you are running non-sway bar gussets without any added reinforcement then I’d check them ASAP and add gussets

• if your non-sway bar gussets are cracked I’d recommend replacing them since a crack may already be forming in the spindle itself, at the minimum drill a hole in the end of the crack prior to rewelding.

 

Thanks Jason!

 

Great info! I know this is a common debate, but I respect your opinion on the matter.

Are you an advocate for Tig welding the spindles over MiG or can it be done either way with the proper prep work? I have seen conversations on both but I don’t have enough knowledge to form an opinion on the topic.

 

I think your fine with either method of welding. I can tig weld them, but I will spend more time prepping them so the cost will atleast double. The weld is only gonna be as good as the prep. I’m just saying if someone pops up trying to push tig welded spindles for cheap I’d take a close look at if it was properly prepped and correct rod was used.

I’d say if you had two master welders tig would be better. But I’d take mig welded from a good welder over tig welded by a novice. Most guys learning to tig weld don’t add enough filler. They generally just lay wire which mostly turns into an autongenous (so) weld. Either way both processes are more than up to the task of gusseting spindles. It mostly comes down to esthetics.