Bye bye air bags hello hendrickson walking beams

I bought an S-54 deluxe 4 roll wire feeder to use with my Trailblazer 55D. The Miller 50 series are some of the best wire feeders ever made. It looks like you have the wire run in control which is great. Slows wire speed on initial arc strike so you don't have whiskers all over. On thicker sections and certain alloys proper preheat and filler metal is crucial. I've seen Mig wire that is all wavy and also wire that it hooked on the spool when it's first wound that causes problems at the end of the spool. It's a good idea to blow your liner out from time to time and even soak it WD40 or solvent before blowing it out. Over time or if drive rolls are too tight they cause the copper coating on most Mig wire to flake off and can plug up the liner. Also make sure to have the right size liner. .045" will work fine in a larger liner but in a liner designed for .035" can cause problems. Have seen a couple times where someone went to a larger wire without considering the liner size.

Guy that did work on my land with a JD 850WLT had a broken C frame for the 6 way blade. It was broke when he bought it so got a good deal on it. It had been repaired before but cracked again. A guy helping me and myself are both licensed welders. We offered to weld it for him but he wanted to do his own welding. OK, we could have saved you a lot of trouble going home to get your welder and stuff. We suggesting preheating the frame to about 300 deg's. but his response was it would be preheated from grinding the V out. He did use 7018 and welded vertical up but his cap pass was about 2" wide using 1/8" rods. He said when he gets it home he will do a better repair and add some plate. I think metal fatigue will come into play at some point if he keeps welding on the same thing multiple times, especially if not following established welding procedures.

ok, book marking the thread

Truck Shop said:

I think over most any type of weld performed-on thick material preheating probably makes the biggest difference, JMO. I have stretched over 70 frames I use two passes all with wire and
depending on material thickness V to 1/2" or 9/16". I cut the rail at a straight 90* from edge as per KW. Most all rail in standard use trucks is grade 80-severe duty trucks grade 100 and
some use grade 120. But preheating makes all the difference on first trigger. I do the same for any cast steel to formed steel. But I'm not a welder nor a fabricator but for some reason
I do a allot of welding and fabricating.

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Yea I agree preheat does make a difference. Especially on mig. The first part of tne weld always seems a little cold and it takes the first inch to get things warmed up and flowing right. Pree heat sure helps that. Plus it also helps control warpage. I like you am not educated in welding fab. I also seem to do a bunch of it. Just a point of necessity i guess lol!

That owl looked like he was hiding his welding licence under his right wing. Lol.---I like owls.

DMiller said:

Did you get fixed or adjustable upper torque rods, and did you get the weld on brackets for them too? Careful of which rod goes to which axle. IIRC the front diff matches Trans angle base position and the Rear is actually tilted UP so joints are at opposite angles. Had a Premix truck drove us nuts on Vibration, they set the angles WRONG worse of rear axle when replaced torque rods.

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Thats a good question. Of course i had to cut the brackets for the lateral rods of the new axles. Obvioulsly they wouldnt work with torque rods. I purchased some new weld on bra kets from frontier truck parts. These things were not easy to find but frontier has them!


The old torque rods that came off the Hendrickson suspension are international style and are pretty big. One end has a bushing for a threaded pin straight through and tbe other end is the standard bolt on trunion. I should be able to have the bolt on bar style pressed in both ends. I do not know how thier length is going to work with these new weld on brackets. I am thinking i will get it on the frame and get the suspension bolted on before I can figure out and set all my driveline angles. Then i should know if my rods will work i think. If all else fails I can get the weld together style of rod where ya set it up and weld it together.

Here's a manual for newer CP200 but it explains the high and low stabilizer outputs. If you have the serial number you can tell the year and download the manual from Miller.

https://www.millerwelds.com/files/owners-manuals/o235f_mil.pdf

At least with the bolted ear version can shim if off a little on angles. I am guessing did not angle check the air ride prior to removal, any similar units waddling about that could be angle inspected to determine where need to be? I still have and use my Magnetic Angle gauge from time to time for setting engine, differential mount angles, use is also for setting my Lathe and Mill for level. Handy for leveling and squaring for welding too.

DMiller said:

At least with the bolted ear version can shim if off a little on angles. I am guessing did not angle check the air ride prior to removal, any similar units waddling about that could be angle inspected to determine where need to be? I still have and use my Magnetic Angle gauge from time to time for setting engine, differential mount angles, use is also for setting my Lathe and Mill for level. Handy for leveling and squaring for welding too.

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No i didnt take measurements. Total afterthought and part of the learning curve lol! I have a protactor I use to measure prop pitch. A little overkill for this but should work. I am thinking of setting all angles once its in the truck. Ride hieght will be a factor when measuring. I dont see how one can get that all equal till its all in the truck. I may be overthinking it.

just a thought about mig liners- I always use a wire wiper on the wire before it goes into the liner. it really helps to catch any contaminants on the wire before they end up in the liner. also I like to post-heat critical welds to help stress relieve them. multi-pass welds usually have less stress build-up than a large one pass weld. less heat inputs equals less distortion

More passes gives a finer grain structure and some alloys should be slow cooled. Wipers for Mig wire are a good idea but a lot of welders don't like the lubricated pads as they can attract dirt that you're trying to keep out. Some cut a slot in an ear plug to use as a wiper.

56wrench said:

.....also I like to post-heat critical welds to help stress relieve them. multi-pass welds usually have less stress build-up than a large one pass weld. less heat inputs equals less distortion

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A needle-peeing gun is a good stress-reliever - well it is so long as you have an assistant running it for you.

I usually take my liner out every so often soak it in solvent then flush it out with carberetor cleaner. To me its just one of those things ya got to do every once in a while like changing oil in your truck. Its like anything else. If you dont schedule preventative maintenance then the machine will schedule it for you! And always at the worst possible time!

Nige said:

A needle-peeing gun is a good stress-reliever - well it is so long as you have an assistant running it for you.

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Interesting note! The hendrickson welding procedure manual says needle scaler is not adequate for peening and a pneumatic peening hammer must be used! Its really pretty interesting material. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw1WtaFJjN2rTvk6kIi963Ce

56wrench said:

just a thought about mig liners- I always use a wire wiper on the wire before it goes into the liner. it really helps to catch any contaminants on the wire before they end up in the liner. also I like to post-heat critical welds to help stress relieve them. multi-pass welds usually have less stress build-up than a large one pass weld. less heat inputs equals less distortion

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I despise those wipers, they load up and suddenly release all the crap into the drive rolls and liner. I have much better luck just blowing out the cabinet every morning.
If a liner gives me problems, it's usually because somebody kinked it. I do blow back through the liner when I change spools.

workshoprat92 said:

Interesting note! The hendrickson welding procedure manual says needle scaler is not adequate for peening and a pneumatic peening hammer must be used! Its really pretty interesting material. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw1WtaFJjN2rTvk6kIi963Ce

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Those are very specific welding procedures that are definitely written for experienced welders. I think your welds are fine but the Mig welds were not done in spray arc transfer. They were done in short circuiting transfer. You need to use a higher concentration of argon in your shielding gas and turn the volts up a bunch to get spray transfer. I would suspect that the procedures are very specific for liability reasons. The procedures are similar to what critical structural welding would require.

Welder Dave said:

Those are very specific welding procedures that are definitely written for experienced welders. I think your welds are fine but the Mig welds were not done in spray arc transfer. They were done in short circuiting transfer. You need to use a higher concentration of argon in your shielding gas and turn the volts up a bunch to get spray transfer. I would suspect that the procedures are very specific for liability reasons. The procedures are similar to what critical structural welding would require.

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Your correct about the transfer. I havent really done anything in spray transfer and just am not real comfertable with it as i just dont have the experience with it. My thought is kinda stick with what ya know and I know I can make work. I can play with spray transfer at a later time when its something non critical like this. Besides in my mind the real meat of the situation is the 7018 root pass! To me thats where 80 percent of the strenth is. The other 20 percent is filler pass. But i could be wrong also lol!

workshoprat92 said:

Interesting note! The hendrickson welding procedure manual says needle scaler is not adequate for peening and a pneumatic peening hammer must be used! Its really pretty interesting material.

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Not knowing what the material is that you're working on that's entirely possible. As you know I mostly work with Cat stuff, one of their major plus points is that they don't use anything exotic in the way of steel (apart from one or two specific exceptions) and that everything is weldable using very straightforward techniques. Pretty well every procedure that has any sort of preheating recommended (usually any combination of thick sections, cast steel, or low ambient temperatures) includes something regarding stress-relieving after each pass with a needle gun but by that I don't mean tickling it, I mean beating the living bejasus out of it which is why the comment regarding having an assistant to run it for you.

Welder Dave - While we're on the proper welding techniques discussion - I have a question. Years ago on my cornfield Cadillac of a service truck I couldn't keep my drive springs tight - all the seats and top ubolt brackets and springs were worn pretty bad and it cracked the top face of the housing. I pulled the housing out, got all new seats and springs and v'ed out the cracks and filled them - even went to the effort of pressure testing and soap bubbling the welds - wasn't 100% confident on my abilities for a liquid tight weld. After all was sealed up I placed the spring seat on he top of the housing and 7018'ed it in place. After chipping slag and marveling at my welds they commenced to cracking right down the center as they cooled. What was the error of my ways ? To much heat ? didn't post heat ? And what is the proper way to prevent this in the future ? And BTW workshoprat92 - hell of a job your doing - looks awesome - keep up the good work.

Nige said:

Not knowing what the material is that you're working on that's entirely possible. As you know I mostly work with Cat stuff, one of their major plus points is that they don't use anything exotic in the way of steel (apart from one or two specific exceptions) and that everything is weldable using very straightforward techniques. Pretty well every procedure that has any sort of preheating recommended (usually any combination of thick sections, cast steel, or low ambient temperatures) includes something regarding stress-relieving after each pass with a needle gun but by that I don't mean tickling it, I mean beating the living bejasus out of it which is why the comment regarding having an assistant to run it for you.

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Reminds me of a repair done on a 988B boom. The center tube that joins the two arms on a few machines were developing a nice perfect "X" crack. A couple welders tried to just Vee out a bit and run a couple passes. You know how that worked! Finally a welding rod company rep came by and told one boss how to do it. Basically vee out to near bottom and weld one pass peen till it was cool enough to hold hand on and repeat till groove as full to the top. May not be the exact instruction but guy told the boss to not get upset if the two guys doing the job seemed to be spending too much time drinking coffee. In the end at least two machines that I knew of directly were done with the weld peen and weld process were done and the repairs lasted till machines were sold years latter.

Different materials can react different ways. On some alloys preheat, inter-pass and post weld temperatures have to be closely monitored and maintained to prevent cracking. Sometimes doing a little at a time is required. Stainless steels generally need to welded at lower amps than mild steel to limit heat input. Sometimes multiple passes and too much heat causes excessive shrinkage on cooling that can cause cracks. Not preheating thick sections causes a quenching effect. Thick section cools the concentrated heat from welding too fast resulting in cracks. Hollow sections can be troublesome when welded closed. The pressure built up inside from the heat can crack the weld on cooling. Drilling a hole in a non stressful location to relieve internal pressure or leaving a small section un-welded until the pressure releases and then going back to weld it after it cools are a couple remedies. I welded a crack on a hollow section ripper tube and thought it was large enough not to have too much internal pressure. On cooling it split right down the middle of the weld. Welding restrained sections can also cause cracking. You have to allow the weld and the material you're welding to expand and contract. When I welded the 1-1/2" thick lower swing mount (that was bent) on my backhoe, I talked to some much more experienced people on the best way to weld it successfully. Had I just tacked braces to hold it exactly in place it would have been a prime candidate for internal weld stress from so many weld passes. I V'd it out from the top leaving about a 1/8" and then bent it down about 30 deg's. to allow the weld to contract on cooling and pull the plate up close to position. I had braces ready to tack on when it got close on cooling. I tacked the braces on and then ground into it about 1/4" from the backside and did a couple passes to insure I had 100% penetration. On final assembly had to heat it up with a rosebud to get perfect alignment with the top mount but it was close. Heating it with the rosebud likely relieved some stress as well. Don't think I could have just heated it and got it straight unless it was in a big press. I did it on the machine.