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Welding Spring Steel??
RPS - 19/7/06 at 07:22 AM

Does anyone know if/how you can weld spring teel. I have a leaf spring broken on my off-road buggy and in my experience, once welded, spring steel breaks again quite quickly right next to the repair.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks.

RPS


JAG - 19/7/06 at 07:34 AM

It'll happen exactly as you say.

Welding spring steel will remove the springyness.

Being more technical; the heat required to weld the steel will locally anneal it hence reducing any 'strain recovery' behaviour and f@*king it up good and proper.

Buy a new one unless you have the facilities to weld and then re-heat treat. Although it would probably still break right next to the weld even then.


David Jenkins - 19/7/06 at 07:39 AM

Any welding will muck up the steel's temper - and even if you heat-treat it, the weld is unlikely to be carbon steel so won't take tempering.

Most spring repair shops just replace the broken piece - take some stock material of the right width & thickness, cut it to length and shape it, then re-temper.

It's worth asking the cost, as it may be cheaper than you think.

The alternative is to find another spring that you can canibalise for a new leaf.

David