Any welders here?

[gmcman]

Here's is my shortened driveshaft to work with the SS axle. Given my work schedule I picked up the shaft long after the shop closed, there is a designated area to pick up merchandise and is somewhat secluded which is nice.

I checked it out before I left and I was concerned about the re-weld. Not much I can do until Monday but the axle is going in tomorrow and I'm confident there won't be any issues. This is a shop that does hundreds if not thousands of driveshafts a year whether it's just building, welding, u-joint change...whatever.

Granted I'm not a welder, but the few times I have used them....the beads have been somewhat neat, not concourse quality but decent. My gut tells me to raise an eyebrow but again....this is not my area of expertise.

I need some opinions from others that have welded for awhile, what is your opinion of this re-weld? Almost reminds me of a cold solder joint.

I can't tell if the "V" is deep or not or if that's just a pile of excess that doesn't add or take away strength. Either way I agree it was either cold or dirty.

Naturally the factory weld is on the bottom.

 

[Hypnotoad]

Looks like bad penetration to me. I wouldn't install it til it gets sorted out.

 

[deekster_caddy]

If you can spare the time, I would ask them to review it. Maybe somebody new welded that. Doesnt look normal to me. I am an ametuer welder, mostly sheetmetal/bodywork, but that doesnt look like a good weld.

 

[bravad'oh]

That looks like crap! Your new weld should be smooth like the old one. It does not look like there was enough heat altough I don't weld aluminum I have seen lots that others have done. I'd take it back cuz you don't want that flipping out from under your truck on the highway

 

[eutechnyx]

Maybe im used to seeing quality welds but these look bad. Honestly a weld doesnt have to look good to be a good penetrating weld but I wouldnt trust this with MY life.

 

[NewfieEnvoy]

That's a crap weld! Doubt it has very good penetration. Welded a fair bit of steel, stick and mig. I haven't done any aluminum, I have a guy that does all of our aluminum tig for work. He can lay a stack of nickels across any seam. Aluminum is a lot harder then steel, it doesn't heat up and turn red like steel it just heats up and falls away. So its very intimidating if you're not really use to it.

 

[tblazerdude]

I've welded a few times, and mine look worse. lol. It should not look anything similar to the factory weld, since that was done by a machine, not a human. I will say when I had my resonator cut off and muffler installed, the welds they did on the exhaust look better then that. Again, Aluminum is much harder to weld. Maybe take it to the shop owner and ask him, "Would you install this on your truck?"

 

[CaptainXL]

Looks like the used jb weld and called it a day.lol but yeah it looks like cold dirty weld. I've seen similar when using no flux repairing PCB's

 

[gmcman]

Left message with shop in hopes they check the machine on weekends and I actually received a call this afternoon.

The welder assured me the shaft is GTG and they have not had any failures to date. I was told it was a double-weld and the flow, deep in the "V" groove, was good and the weld closer to the surface was cooling too rapidly to flow over. He also stated that it is an ugly looking surface weld but not to worry that it will hold.

I couldn't let one leave looking like that either but hopefully all is good.

 

[Hypnotoad]

Doesn't anyone take pride in their work anymore?

 

[blazinlow89]

I've welded a few times, and mine look worse. lol. It should not look anything similar to the factory weld, since that was done by a machine, not a human. I will say when I had my resonator cut off and muffler installed, the welds they did on the exhaust look better then that. Again, Aluminum is much harder to weld. Maybe take it to the shop owner and ask him, "Would you install this on your truck?"

Machines do little aluminum welding, most good welders can lay a bead like that factory weld if not better. Honestly take t to a machine shop if you can, I call BS on the cold weld. It looks like he had the nozzle like 3 inches away and was just shooting it with molten metal.

 

[Hypnotoad]

I've got a friend that's a welder, and I've seen a lot of
his work. His aluminum welds look like the factory weld in the last picture.

 

[Mooseman]

From what I can tell, most of the yoke was not welded. Because the yoke is solid, the weld didn't get hot enough to penetrate it. It may have penetrated the tube but it just mottled on top of the yoke. It's more difficult to weld a thin piece to a thick one because one will heat faster than the other. Looks like he adjusted his weld only for the thinner material.

 

[northcreek]

Left message with shop in hopes they check the machine on weekends and I actually received a call this afternoon.

The welder assured me the shaft is GTG and they have not had any failures to date. I was told it was a double-weld and the flow, deep in the "V" groove, was good and the weld closer to the surface was cooling too rapidly to flow over. He also stated that it is an ugly looking surface weld but not to worry that it will hold.

I couldn't let one leave looking like that either but hopefully all is good.

I would not have faith in a weld that looks like a booger fest.I would ask the shop to give me something in writing saying that says that they will cover any cost incured should the weld fail,if he is that sure of that weld he should have no problem signing it.You might also go to another weld shop and ask for a second opinion....Mike.
ps maybe installing a driveshaft loop would ease your worries

View attachment 23879

 

[NewfieEnvoy]

I'm really surprised after laying down such an ugly weld that he didn't dress it and try to atleast clean it up a bit. Nothing looks better than a nice stack of nickels but I'd have to grind that flat and clean it up. There's no strength in that lumpy crap anyway.