Brief Description: Welding Left LG, managing distortion
Started welding the left LG legs at axle and attach bushings. Tacked tops and axle tubing in several places. Welds too critical to weld out of position to decided to remove left LG leg to weld out. Used 1/2" square tubing cut 1/8" longer than actual measurement to allow for welding contraction.
A lot of folks before me have had some issues with the axles geting out of alignment during the weld process. They were gas welding and I'm tig. I decided the long V weld of the two joining tubes at the axle was contribiting the most to the distortion. I decided to weld the tops at the bushings and the long V weld. I skip welded, alternating sides to help minimize the distortion of long welds. Even with the square tubing there was a lot of contraction at the top bushings. Legs could be spread but were tight. Re-installed legs and clamped axle in correct position. Stress relieved weld of V inside and outside and let that cool normally. Then applied heat to front tube leading edge and back tube trailing edge till red. When that cooled, legs fit just right. Axle alignment TBD.
Started welding of left LG axle, skip welding to minimize distortion.
