welding cast aluminum

RufusTheRam

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Mar 21, 2005
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Raleigh
possible to do with any amount of strength? the bellhousing on my ram has a nice crack in it. rather not spend the ~75 bucks on a junkyard one, but i'd really rather not have to pull it out again when the weld fails in a few miles:flipoff2: i would have a shop do it, even if my machine was set up to do aluminum i have very limited experience welding it.
 
Yeah, a lot of people use modified bellhousings with pieces welded in, so I can't see strength being a problem. Warpage is a possibilty though.
 
Ive tried welding cast with my MIG, and I might as well have used tape. It worked fine until you put any pressure on it. It was a friends gearshifter on his motorcycle. He took it to a guy with a TIG, the guy welded it back together, and now hes still riding it. That was last spring.
 
cool. so with the proper equipment and operator sounds like it shouldn't be a problem...
 
Damn, did you actually work on your truck? What was up with your clutch? Did that cause the crack, or was it torque through the drivetrain?

Just take it to Hamilton and forget about.
 
When you weld aluminum I would suggest tig. And you need a pedal to control your heat. When you tig aluminum you have to vary the heat because aluminum decipates heat very fast.
 
strenght shouldn't be a problem if done properly.

I had a crack in my T176 case that was welded with mig by a shop and it lasted a couple years, then it cracked again, so I removed the previous weld with a grinder, put a nice V groove in there and TIG welded the AL case. It held for a few years until I got rid of it.

I would recommend TIG weld for the crack, but you might could use a stick welder if ya had one, either way, IMO it will be stronger than MIG.

Rob
 
yep, I busted the ear on my bell housing off that the Clutch linkage mounts too. took it to my buddies shop, and cleaned it REALLY WELL! and he tigged it back together. that was about 3 years ago, and it's still fine.
 
rockcity said:
strenght shouldn't be a problem if done properly.

I would recommend TIG weld for the crack, but you might could use a stick welder if ya had one, either way, IMO it will be stronger than MIG.

Rob
Click to expand...

Someone that knows what he's doing with a spoolgun could make a good repair too. Much more is al mig'd than most think...boats, semi trailers, etc. But how exactly do you stick weld aluminum?:flipoff2:
 
braxton357 said:
But how exactly do you stick weld aluminum?:flipoff2:
Click to expand...

It requires a certain rod (forgive me I cant quote a number) but can be done and actually works pretty damn well. plenty strong and can be made to look *OK* in the right hands of course
 
Braxton, you must not be a welder:flipoff2:

MIG weld is by far the weakest weld of all, generally speaking. It does just fine for MOST applications that we need, but in some circumstances welding with stick or TIG is required for strength in critical parts. (steel construction industry)

Stick welding AL is not hard, just use an AL rod and you'll be fine. Just don't try it with a 6011 or 7018:flipoff2:
 
when I busted mine and took it to the shop they said not a good idea. Mine did break big and not just crack. The problem with even tig welding a bellhousing is how brittle it makes it. The thin aluminum get's hard around the weld and causes a stress riser. not a HUGE deal unless it's something like my case where all the weight/torque is placed on the weld. If it's a crack like the second picture, have it tigged up and go.

bellhousing1.jpg

bell2.jpg
 
it's a hairline crack that runs about halfway down (front to rear) the driver side of it.
 
Tips for welding cast aluminum.

Clean all the oil and dirt off with presure washer
Clean Crack with a SS brush
Grind out a nice V-notch in thick stuff
Heat crack with propane torch while using the SS brush some more (this will help get all the oil out of the cast metal)

If you get any black stuff in your weld it wasn't clean.
 
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