I'm a newb at this welding game so please be understanding

Anyways, how strong are welds in general? The reason I ask is because I need to fabricate my own endlink for my car since it's bent. I drive a Lexus GS400 and if you ever saw the Front endlinks on this car, you'll die laughin because it's so POS. lol.

Here is what it' suppose to look like



Here is what I'm experiencing (not my car, but i have the same problem):



See how it's bent? My idea is to cut off that toothpick rod and weld a bigger rod, or possibl an H-beam rod (better?) to replace the toothpick rod. I think the stock rod is about 1/4" in diameter.

If I go with an H-beam rod, I'll have more weld contact area than using a circular rod. My question is, will the welds hold up to the pressure, assuming the welds aren't done by joe smoe with no experience. I'm just paranoid that the weld will break before the h-beam bents. Not a good situation to be in while driving.

There are no aftermarket endlinks for my car so custom fabrication is the only way to go. Please help me.

 

The first thing I ever welded was a broken endlink for my Civic with a flux cored wire. I only welded half of it so I could see the penetration, and then never finished around it. The weld is still holding up today. Not sure if that type of info is really what you're looking for though.

 

The stock rod on the endlink is welded to the two circular metal rings. The rod bent but the welds are ok if that gives you any idea. Looks like some sort of friction stir welding, but still.

 

End Links are engineered to be a specific size for a reason If you are breaking them, there may be a problem else where. If you have upgraded to a stiffer roll bar then you should look at upgrading the rest of the hardware

 

a properly done weld will be as strong as or stronger than the surrounding material. usually when i see a weld "fail," it's not the weld, but the material around it.

what i'd be worried about in your situation would be overheating and cooking the link ends, particularly the grease inside them. it'd be a real bitch to have somebody weld up a set of links, only to have the ball jointed ends sieze up.

i'm wondering if it wouldn't be worth fabbing a beefier set of links with heim joint ends.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ekasey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">End Links are engineered to be a specific size for a reason If you are breaking them, there may be a problem else where. If you have upgraded to a stiffer roll bar then you should look at upgrading the rest of the hardware</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's the problem right now. I have stiffer sway bar and the weaklink right now are the endlinks. My car is very limited in aftermarket parts and no one wants to make endlinks for my car

Every other component is good though

 

I wish I could do fab a heim joint, but I dont have the skill to do anything really.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jhota &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
i'm wondering if it wouldn't be worth fabbing a beefier set of links with heim joint ends.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Heim joints for sure. Easy, cheap, and strong.

&gt;&gt;&gt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

 

Yeah I would have a new set of end links fabbed, look for a local fab shop spend the money and do it right, or if you look around on the net enough there may be a pre fabbed set that will work

 

http://www.aurorabearing.com/