Anybody on here had any issues with the Nitro sleeves install after you've already had C Gussets welded for a few months? I saw a couple posts on other forums where some (FYI not everyone was agreeing) were saying always sleeve the axle before you weld gussets due to the welding causing a slight bend in the area of the attached gusset. I can't imagine this happening unless the tube itself was extremely hot and possibly warped inside to begin with, but I'm not a welder so that's kinda why I'm asking...sleeves are here and in the floor until I get a day or two to figure it out and get the time from work to knock them in. I trust this forum more than any of the rest and I'm sure there's an experienced welder somewhere out there that's done this surely....

 

just about any time you weld on thinner metals and get good penetration its gonna cause a little variation and with something that fits as tight as sleves do even a little change can be enough to make the install a pain in the ass.

 

Okay that makes sense so let's say I hit a snag...wire wheel and some elbow grease to knock the burr or bumps out of the way I suppose? This of course after a good initial clean out of the tubes...

 

Wire Wheel and elbow grease before you start. Once you hit a snag its not coming back out. I welded some washers together to make a driver for them, larger washers on the outside and smaller on the inside so they were snug with the end cap and inner diameter. I then used an air hammer to drive them in & even at 100K miles they went in like butter. Its all about the prep & freezing in dry ice actually helps quite a bit.

 

If you weld on any pipe, you get some shrinkage. It will take more than a wire brush to remove the I.D. shrinkage if it is enough to interfere with the sleeve O.D.

I work at a steam electric power plant, any time a sockolet is tapped into a pipe, you can visually see the shrinkage around the socket weld. I don't think it would act any different on your pipe.

 

As a welder good penetration is key to a strong weld. If your too cold it could look like a stack of dimes but be very weak. Depending if the area was pre heated with an ascetline torch before the C's were welded on will depend if there was shrinkage. It's a fine line in that area too much pre heating will kill your ball joints. I would have sleeved before C's in my opinion. I'm sure you can get them in with some prep work.

 

X2 on the cryogenics as well. It works well on sleeves and installing bearings on stuff.