14 Bolt welding tips/how to/dos & donts

[Craig_c]

Just picked up a 14 bolt from the junkyard this morn ($103 out the door complete with 1/4" drive snap on ratchet that was stuck to the brake bleeder)

I was searching and reading on Pirate and other places about welding on these things, and true to Pirate fashion, Im no where closer to any good advice than before I started.

First things first, this will be in my Ultra4 buggy with likely 40" tires being the biggest I'll ever run.

Welding axle tubes to the housing?? Should I? I have a good mig, and my boss man can tig weld. What should I do? What filler? Will the tubes warp? If so, how do you keep it from happening?

I will be building my own truss likely as I dont like how tall most store bought trusses sit. I will run the truss to the pinion support, and down to the tubes, and maybe even link it to the rear cover. If I do all that, would welding the tubes be nessasary?

Any other advice to give with these axles?

 

[TBItoy]

If it's a "real" ultra 4 buggy (i.e. You plan to be competitive)

I would consider retubing the axle altogether. 14 bolts have notoriously shitty tubes and will go smiley face on you. And put the truss and link tabs and all on when you do, that way the axle is straight from the get go.


For just welding the tubes to the center, regular er70 mild steel filler wire will be ok. Just pre heat the weld area. If you happen to have some high nickel welding rods or tig filler rods around, I'd use that ...

Really no reason to not to weld the tubes

 

[Craig_c]

Well Im no Shannon Campbell but I do plan to race east coast U4 and lots of trail riding. Re-tubing is not out of the question, but this is on a tight budget. Is this something a guy (pretty handy with a wrench) with basic fab tools can do? I have a smaller press. I guess this opens a whole new bag of questions.....can the spindles be cut out of the old axle and re-used or will I need new? Since Im starting from scratch (gears, spool, bearings, disc brakes, shave, etc) I have to weigh the costs of building a heavy and "cheap" 14 bolt vs going with a fabricated 9" that deals are popping up on alot now.

The truss I will build will be full length, and I might throw on a backbone from Artec. I will be running 4800 so that puts me on a 37' DOT tire, and will likely run some 40" sticky treps for trail riding. Alot less than 43" SX's blasting up crazy hills.

 

[LightBnDr]

I feel like a high quality full length truss anchored to the pinion carriage or diff cover will suffice. I think you have a laundry list of other things that will more highly impact your U4 finishes before a spun 14blt tube.

 

[TBItoy]

if budget is the name of the game, then yeah I'd just throw a truss and such on a stock 14b housing.

worst case is it bends up after a good beating and you replace it with something better/stronger

 

[Craig_c]

Good thing I guess about putting money into the 14B is if I do destroy the housing, it will be worth fixing. My rear 60 now just has a bent spindle, and even being loaded with good parts, I can't bring myself to spend any more money on a 60.

 

[alscott]

The tubes on the 14 bolt in the rear of my buggy are rough from where the u bolts was on it for so long and thats why i decided to go with a BTF truss and pinion support bridge. If it ever bends a tube then at that point ill have mine retubed. Way i seen it was use a small truss and possibly bend a tube or use a full length truss and bend a spindle then if it bent a spindle I would still be in same boat with a rusty rough tube. Hope that helps your decision.

 

[Craig_c]

So back to welding.....fully weld the tubes to the center section?

 

[jccarter1]

I would consider getting new spindles and retube both of my spindles are bent just sucks bc I have a Artex truss and I will have to start over bc no way in hell I am trying to cut that off and reuse it

 

[RustyC]

Weld the tubes to the housing as instructed above. Truss from spindle to spindle, tie in the pinion. If the day comes when you bend a spindle and plan to continue racing. Grab another 14b center re tube with unit bearing cups, big unit bearings and double splined shafts.

Where are the east coast races? I was planning to run the Dirt Riot series this year but there are only west cost races.

 

[Craig_c]

Hot Springs AR, Badlands IN, and Sturgis KY.

Sucks there won't be any Dirt Riot or ECORS this year.

 

[Puppy]

I welded the tubes on mine and did a modular truss with pinion tie in. Looks stout to me.

 

[Craig_c]

So weld it is.....how are you guys welding?? Mig with preheat seems to be the popular answer.

 

[mac5005]

Re:

Preheat, welded with er70s6 mig, wrapped with aluminum foil and fiberglass to slow cooling rate.

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