Welding to cast steel

[DaveB]

I know you can't just weld to cast iron but I have read that cast steel can be welded just fine. Does anyone know if welding to cast steel will make it more brittle ? I am trying to make some ubolt brackets, so that I can flip my cj ubolts, and have some wagoneer cast steel ubolt plates that would need some metal welded to them to fit over the round axle tube. Or should I just make some plates out of 1/2 inch plate steel and not worry about welding to the cast steel ? Any thoughts ?

 

[Herzog]

The cast steel will dissipate heat faster, which causes it to cool faster and crack away from the weld. The best method I have found is to pre heat and post heat the cast to keep this from happening as much as possible.

 

[bobdog]

Just make some out of mild steel. Cast steel should be pre heated postheated and finally stress relieved to be sure. Most likely there is nothing to worry about, but I might be a little bit nervous if it was an application that could mean death if it failed.

 

[Hickey]

Just make some out of mild steel. Cast steel should be pre heated postheated and finally stress relieved to be sure. Most likely there is nothing to worry about, but I might be a little bit nervous if it was an application that could mean death if it failed.

I could not have said it better.

 

[DaveB]

The cast steel will dissipate heat faster, which causes it to cool faster and crack away from the weld. The best method I have found is to pre heat and post heat the cast to keep this from happening as much as possible.

Thanks guys, that was what I was worried about. I went out to the pick n pull today and found a perfect set of ubolt plates for my rear dana 44 off of a 70 Dodge pickup with a dana 44 front. I even found a rear ubolt plate from a 74 Dodge rear that will work on the drivers side of my dana 44 front but I will have to make a custom one for the pumpkin side where the spring perch is cast into the differential housing. I rounded up some 1/2 inch plate for the custom front plate, it should be thick enough.