Well, it is a little chilly here but the leaves are gorgeous. Do you remember what leaves are JohnnyB? Yah I know, I'll have to rake them soon but I won't be sweating walking to the shed to find the rake.
Anyway... we took the axle too the local community college last night, one my pals is a dealer tech trainer for the largest earthmoving company in the world.
He took a look at it and said that we could weld it up "No Problem".
So, my buddy wheels over the hoist sets it up on jack stands and begins grinding it clean. When we had it all cleaned up we found the crack followed the parting lines and that it was most likely an incomplete initial weld. We of course discussed it for a while and came to the conclusion that the robot welder used to weld it initially was off registration - both welds, the left and the right were similarly biased so the edge of the part was not hit with the weld on both, the left a little worse that the right.
Well he welded it up, wish I would have done the welding myself actually, and we should be back in business. We tested the new weld and found no signs of porosity - no leaks. The other weld we left alone (don't fix it if it ain't broke philosophy).
One interesting thing that you might be interested in, my buddy before welding it, got a tank of nitrogen out and put the hose into the drain plug on the diff and turned it on just enough to feel it come out of the tube end. He said this is common practice when working on the big stuff. What it does is stops any oil inside from catching on fire, as well as help to keep any rubber or plastic cool while welding (seals). He said that you could use CO2 as well.
As for pictures, I asked my son for his pictures of the crack, he said "uhhhhh", well if we find any I will post them. When I get home tonight I will take some of the fix.
Well, I guess I'd best get going, I have to find my ice skate <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />
P.S. Thanks for all of the feedback. You guys(that's male and female) are great. Happy wheelin