What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Spindles are cast steel. You can see the seams and rough finish from the casting. Holy crap people are posting too fast to respond to.

You want to preheat the spindle to avoid residual stresses in the spindle after welding on it (or any cast part, like the center section of an axle). By adding a lot of heat to a small area, the more massive spindle will cool down quickly as the heat is dispersed throughout, while the gusset will cool down more slowly. The difference in thermal expansion will cause residual stress, which will lead to cracking and brittle fracture.

@koditten and @Blackdawg you are both basically correct. In fact, good practice would have you preheat anytime you are welding a small piece to a large piece. Also, it is quite possible that the spindles are heat treated to some degree after casting, to make them more malleable (which is why you can bend them back into place @koditten). However, by welding on them and re-introducing heat, you are effectively un-heat treating them, which makes them also more prone to brittle fracture.

 

What?

No..im not saying i am not sure. I have DONE this. I know its the correct way to do it.

I always thought that it was well know that that is the correct way to weld on spindle gussets. I've know about it for years before i even really starting moding my truck...

THANK YOU.

That is what i've been trying to say..

In fact..said it here...https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...e-backcountry-dv.473931/page-11#post-14349020

Thank you for explaining this better then me

 

After a year, I finally got past my fear of cutting a hole in my fender. Finally installed the snorkel.

 

Which snorkel?

 

I didn't post up in that thread, but I'm of the opinion that the most correct way to do gussets would be to preheat, weld, post heat, then re-heat treat. That way all residual stresses are removed and you have a part that is no more prone to fracture than the original, with the extra strength of the gusset.

 

Well that was one of the four I asked about so my thanks to drr for that info and thank you for reminding me. Tan4x4 was good enough to provide the other 3, which were different.

 

As a fabricator, welding sheet metal to a cast part(or cast steel) isn't going to add much heat to the total part. ( MIG) I guarantee if there is flex on that upper part of the spindle, the sheet steel will tip first.

I've enjoyed this debate, but am not entirely convinced and i hope others are not as well. Like i said. I want to be proven wrong.

BTW I'm not sure cast seams indicate cast parts all the time. Please educate me.

 

This one
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...hUKEwifqPjv-Y7TAhVV9mMKHb0nDvMQpysIjwE&adurl=
Bought it at least a year ago. Leaves a bit of gap at the very front which I already knew was gonna happen. But, I really didn't want to pay $450 for an arb. The compromise was worth it for me. Works great.

 

Much more wallet friendly! added to my watch list You can always add an ARB or Airflow sticker to it

 

If I get industrious again I was thinking I'd heat that area on the front and mold it to fit a little better. IF I get industrious. No hurry.

 

Well, there certainly aren't seams on forged parts
You're right, just the presence of seams doesn't necessarily indicate a casting. I'm going along with your theory that the spindle is designed as an expendable part to save other components (why else would it have that ridiculous 90 degree angle?) and is therefore a low cost, replaceable item.

Edit: also, those gussets aren't sheet metal, they are bent plates. A full seam weld would add a considerable amount of heat to the spindle.

 

I'm heading to bed. Let the discussion roll on. I want to learn.

 

many expo points added..level up!

Was an interesting thread..haha

Id agree with that technique.

Well..you forge steel..and i guess stamped steel other then cast..yes?

http://www.atcgroup.com.au/customcastingforging/thedifferencebetweencastingforging.aspx

Cast things are literally poured into..well a cast. Then the cast is split off the part. They will always leave a seam because of that.

Can it be shaved down? sure. But that's expensive and most things won't be done that way. Be better off just forging it.

 

Would some weather striping fill the gap or how bad is it? Pic?

 

Thx, the plan is save for a trip to WY (wife is from Cheyenne). They have a cabin in medicine bow area. Going there in August in the 4 runner. Wedding.

 

Last week I addressed some body damage I had incurred in an accident 3 years ago. I had been putting it off because I didn't want to pay the 1,200 quoted repair price. Figured I could buy the parts myself and do OK. The damaged area bent stuff behind the actual Bumper area, so when I put the light and everything back on it wouldn't fir right. I'm guessing glue is my best shot for the light, but it's better than it used to be, and for only $150 in parts and a day of learning from scratch.

 

Sheet steel and plate steel is just semantics. No difference.

Why would a fabricator make continuous welds? They already know about deformation. Normal procedure would be to go opposite sides, alternating top to bottom.

Maybe I shouldn't bother with this discussion,it's only raising my blood pressure.

 

Eh, maybe .5 inch at most. Not really 'bad'.

 

Weren't you going to bed?

 

I was wrong. This topic was annoying me enough to keep me up. Good call.

See, it's not that hard to admit i was wrong.

I'm married, i do it all the time.