The weld that attached the flange to the axle tube failed. The wheel assembly up to the axle flange fell off as shown in Picture 1. Picture 2 shows a close up of the failed weld on axle tube. I believe that the bottom portion of weld failed first because it was rusty as shown in picture 3. The top part is crushed so if you put the pieces back together there is now a crack as shown in picture 4 on the top. This indicates that the top portion of the weld acted like a hinge and was last part of the weld to let go. To me it looked like the spindle was a press or shrink fit in the axle flange. Picture 5 is a close up of the interface between the flange and the spindle. I don't see any upset metal at the interface between the spindle and the flange, which would be indicative of a friction weld. There is some blue color on the top of the spindle indicating that it was heated at some point. Perhaps they heated the hub of the flange before they installed the spindle as a shrink fit. It is possible that they welded the flange to the axle tube after the spindle was press fit into the flange and the blue color was from the heat due to welding. Picture 6 shows the whole flange spindle assembly and picture 7 shows the spindle side of the connection between the spindle and the flange.
I was concerned that if I welded the flange back to the axle tube, that the process of welding would stress relieve the hub of the flange and diminish the press or shrink fit. I told my customer that he should replace the axle, which he did.
• Do you agree with my recommendation to replace the axle or would you have just welded it?
I was concerned that if I welded the flange back to the axle tube, that the process of welding would stress relieve the hub of the flange and diminish the press or shrink fit. I told my customer that he should replace the axle, which he did.
• Do you agree with my recommendation to replace the axle or would you have just welded it?
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