rubican!

I am looking into gettign these welded on and this is what the welder told me about these.

well, heres my problem with these..the knuckles are cased metal.. they need to be pre-heated to get the weld to burn into it really well, then the upper ball-joints are not goin to be any good.. even if someone trys to weld them on its still goin to affect the ball joints due to heat transfer..

Is this true? amd i going to have to replace the ball joints when put these on. Its looking mroe and more like i should jsut get a whole new front axle.

backwoodjk

I have had no issues with my ball joints after welding the gussets on. I did small welds and alternated top and lower gussets, and cooled them with wet rags.

The welds have held up great, and I used only a 110v Lincoln mig.

It took me about 2 hours per side for the install, which included prepping the axle, cooling time, and some rattle can painting.

yellow08rubicon

Never had a problem with my ball joint after mine were done. I watched the welder and he just did it quickly and then poured water on it after to cool it down quick and I never had any problems. I would say maybe try a different welder, some people don't like doing small jobs like that so they will tell you a bunch of stuff so you won't want to do it.

woodweavil

He either just didnt wanna do the job or doesnt know wtf he is talking about. my guess is he didnt wanna do the job. Im a 11000 miles on mine and not one single problem......

Wings fan

I did the same also with no problems. All though it took me a little longer this was my first major welding project so I had a few welds that needed to be ground off and done again.

One thing to point out IMO on the gussets is you don't need to have perfect welds top and bottom in order for the gussets to be effective. There are alot of people out here that have welded them on with 110 Flux core and are doing just fine with no issues and not heating the crap out of the axels. As long as you have one good weld top and bottom to hold them in place the gussets will do their job.

rubican!

yeah maybe so. I need to get it done though.

wiredawg_mg

He is not completely wrong. If you call EVO I believe they now recommend that you drop the balljoints to be safe. If you get them to hot without taking precautions and your time you will damage them. As the others have said you need to quench often. As bad as the balljoints on jeeps are anyway you may already need to replace them

Wings fan

EVO writes that in their instructions because if the Ball joint is removed you can't damage it. However ask Mel how he welds them on.

If you stitch it in 1 inch or less with a wet rag on the joint there was never a time when I couldn't touch the rubber on the ball joint with my bare finger. I'm not trying to be argumentative but this is a ture statement.

Rubican! if I were you I would get the advice of another welder. There is a guy in PA that is doing these for $100. To tell you the truth if I would have been able to pay someone $100 I wouldn't have done it myself. The job is a PITA

Rubidonn

I had mine welded in and ball joints replaced at the same time. The stock is crap!

rubican!

sp maybe i should grab the crown ball joints for a 100 bones let the weld on the gussets and then replace the balljoints right after with the crowns? I have a guy who is a great welder and i admire him for his honesty on the project. what do youguys thing? caus eif i replace the ball joints then there is nothing to worry about right?

Actually what if i got the whole kit, magnum 44's new ball joints CA skids c gussets??? If im going to replace the ball joints then im gonna replace the axles seals and all while i have it apart! right?

P.S. Does anyone know if ORE includes instructions for everything?