Moving Dana 60 Axle perches....

[morrow_jacob]

I bought a 1970 B body Dana 60 for my 68 Charger, and I have sold my 8 3/4 (to be delivered next week). The Dana 60 had the perches moved for its application and now I need them back in the stock location.

The best way I can figure to get them back in the right spot, was to put the original axle level at its perches and then measure the pinion angle with the flat part of the pinion up and my angle finder on top. It looks as though its right at 7 degrees. Then I'm going to put the dana at 7 degrees and level the new perches and put them at 44''.....

Does this sound like the right way to go? I've never moved perches before....

Also, I am more experienced with my mig than my tig, should I still give it a try with my tig? 115v mig 220v tig btw

Thanks in advance.

(I dont know how to get rid of the attached image)

 

[miller]

Either welder will do the job...depends on the hand. Tig would give better control, if your used to it.

Don't know on the degrees, but sounds like your going about it right. Suggest coming up with some kind of jig, to line both perches in place/angle. Might find data in the service book?

 

[747mopar]

I don't really like to weld anything much thicker than 3/16 with my 110V Mig but it should work. The biggest thing I see being a problem is warping, I've had jigs setup in a rear while I welded perches on and trust me the tubes move quite a bit from welding those on. The question is how far off can they be before it's creates a problem. In my case I used the torches to heat the reverse side and pulled it them back to true. Good luck,

 

[Seventy]

I never got too crazy about measuring, lol. The rear ends I have welded were all customs, never put in the position to put one back, lol... I think you are on the right track, tack them in and then put it in place, if its right weld it up strong.

I prefer tig, and 11 mig vs tig I would say do some test welds get used to it and go at it, the work is right in front of you so that is a plus for tig, mig is better blind imo, but tig is a better weld...

 

[Cranky]

Practice with the TIG if you need to but use it instead of the 110V Mig. If you're still not comfortable with the TIG, get a couple of pieces of stock that's the same size as the pieces you will be welding and do a test. If you can't break the welds, then you can probably use it.

 

[morrow_jacob]

Thanks everyone. I will use the TIG as well, have to learn sometime... I will give yall some pics tomorrow. Cheers!

 

[morrow_jacob]

Tried the tig on a scrap piece and the perches I cut off, here is the results....



All in all, a little undercutting a bit of porosity at the end, but I'm pretty happy with it, thanks for the confidence building!

 

[miller]

Left half looks good, but think a bit too hot, too fast. Be sure your surfaces are clean.

Back in the late 60s (Dallas), ran into a one-man shop one day. All I could do is say wow! I've done my share of welding, both mig and tig, so not new to me. This guy, don't recall his name, was well-known, and he strictly welded up fuel dragster frames, all from scratch.
Each one of his tig welds looked like they could have been rubber stamped, all same strokes, blended in perfect. Was something to look at.

Cool down the tig just a little...it will give you better control of the flow, and the bead. Go for it!

 

[morrow_jacob]

Left half looks good, but think a bit too hot, too fast. Be sure your surfaces are clean.

Back in the late 60s (Dallas), ran into a one-man shop one day. All I could do is say wow! I've done my share of welding, both mig and tig, so not new to me. This guy, don't recall his name, was well-known, and he strictly welded up fuel dragster frames, all from scratch.
Each one of his tig welds looked like they could have been rubber stamped, all same strokes, blended in perfect. Was something to look at.

Cool down the tig just a little...it will give you better control of the flow, and the bead. Go for it!

I appreciate the feedback! I wanted to know how I can tell when Its been too hot? I wire brushed off the traces of heated metal. I thought the undercutting might have been from my torch being angled incorrectly. Also, what is the tell for too fast? Thanks for your help!

I tried to only do a little at a time like everyone was saying, as to not warp the tube, so the right side weld was separate from the left, and it looks like I went a little higher up too

 

[furyus]

I put a rear on jack stands, and set the degrees down, then welded it. Put it in the car, and it vibrated.did this twice, until I figured out that I didn't consider the arc of the springs. Also degrees are in relation to the car/ drive shaft, not the ground. The point is, make sure you do your research before you weld the perches on.

 

[morrow_jacob]

I put a rear on jack stands, and set the degrees down, then welded it. Put it in the car, and it vibrated.did this twice, until I figured out that I didn't consider the arc of the springs. Also degrees are in relation to the car/ drive shaft, not the ground. The point is, make sure you do your research before you weld the perches on.

Were you trying for a custom setup?

Because I am basically trying to go back to stock, I will eventually buy the RMS Street Lynx rear which uses the stock setup. I like the thought of also stripping the RMS and going to leaf springs if I want to as well.

It looks as though my cheap angle finder was off, and the stock perches are at 5* (From ground) and 44 inches apart, I figure if I am dead on that should hopefully reduce the possible issues.

Thanks for your time!

 

[miller]

I appreciate the feedback! I wanted to know how I can tell when Its been too hot? I wire brushed off the traces of heated metal. I thought the undercutting might have been from my torch being angled incorrectly. Also, what is the tell for too fast? Thanks for your help!

I tried to only do a little at a time like everyone was saying, as to not warp the tube, so the right side weld was separate from the left, and it looks like I went a little higher up too

Didn't say it was too hot...just saying to try turning heat adjustment on welder down a notch, and try it.
Been many years ago, but using a tig, practice is to 'pool' both base metals, a drop of rod metal into the pool, then next loop. Once the weld is started, probably a second of time on each loop, to burn it in, each loop spaced the same. Won't help, but most of mine was on stainless and aluminum.

Heck, don't worry about it, either way. Just trying to give you leads. Welding with a tig takes alot of practice.