Rod suggestion for welding on rim

dhermesc

Well-known Member
I am patching a set of rims on my son's D17 with my old Lincoln stick welder. The plan is I will make the patch, cut everything to fit, tack weld it in place then find someone with a wire welder to finish the welding job. This is 12 guage(?) or so metal. If I were to try to weld this myself what would you suggest for a rod and heat setting on the old Lincoln?
 
First things first. The tire is not on the rim right? Otherwize, big explosion.

If you are going to take it elsewhere to have someone finish welding anyway, I would leave the patch off and take it with you. The person you have weld up the rest would like to do test fits, adjustments etc. This is a lot easier than having to weld over another persons tack welds.

Larry
 
Tire is off the rim - welding in a patch about half the width of the rim 40" long.


The point is I'd like to avoid taking it somewhere else because my options are very limited.
 

Why not just use 6011 or 6013? Clean it up good - and lay a good smooth bead in there.

Smooth it down with a right angle grinder & brush, and I'll bet it will be fine. As many rims as I've seen widened or repaired over the years, it is not that hard...



Howard
 
I have welded up a good many rims over the years and I always use 7014 or 7018. I do use an angle grinder to get it nice and clean or as clean as can be and then weld them up and then use the grinder again to make sure there are not sharp spots in the weld then I spray pickup truck bed line spray on the rim so as to make sure it does not rust out in my life time
 
6011, 6013, or 7018 if you have a dc welder. Rims are just mild steel so use what you like best.
 
I never use the 6011 rod for anything. Been welding for 40 plus years and NEVER have used it and the people who helped me learn t weld NEVER used that rod either. I'll stick with what I use. One of the guys who helped me learn was a oil filed pipe line welder instructor and I am sure he did not come close to teaching me all he knew
 
The rims are just soft steel like the others pointed out. Just have everything real clean and weld it with whatever rod you can run good beads with. Just about any of the common welding rods will work fine for this application. I would use 6013 because you will get a smoother weld and as thin as the rim material is you will have less chance of burning through with a 6013. If your like me your going to grind them back smooth anyway.
 
I don't weld much but 30 years ago 7014 was what I used in high school welding class and really liked using it - problem is I haven't seen it in any of the common (TSC, Orschlens) supply places.
 
I plan on leaving the bead on the inside (light grinding) and use a section of tube as a boot between the rim the tube. Burning holes is my primary fear with this.
 
6011 is my choice as I use them all the time. Good if there is any rust. 1/8 inch at 90 -100 amps. Good at filling gaps too.
 
My local Orscheln's has 7014 as does the local hardware store and even O'Reilly's. O also have a hardware store that has the Foney (sp) brand of 7018AC that works very well
 
Ah but the 7014 and 7018 is 10,000 pound stronger then the 6011 and when I weld I like things to be strong and on a rim that is even more important
 
6013 on most chart is listed as " mild penetration" . That feature will help prevent burn through. I would actually turn up the amperage and move the rod very quickly. Just slow enough to flatten down the bead.
 
70XX may be "10,000 pounds stronger" but even 6011/6013 is going to be stronger than the metal around it on a tractor rim.

Personally on 6011, I would run a 3/32" rod at 60-75A to prevent burn-through on thin metal like that. If you're good you can run 1/8" rod at 90-100A but you have to be right on top of things.
 

If the weld metal is too dissimilar to the base metal in tensile strength and ductility . Stress risers will occur between the weld and base metal.
 
I keep 7014-1/16 inch rod around for welding on rims. I have a rim off my Oliver S88 that I need to weld up one of those days just another one of those things I have not around to yet
 
7014 has been my favorite for the last 40 years. I find a second damaged rim, just like mine, that has enough to cut a patch out of. That way, the metals involved and the shape are the same. Then weld it up with your favorite welding rod, grind it flat if you want to, paint it and call it good. So, I agree with Old's approach.
 

I have repaired at least two with my old Lincoln. I can't remember the amps. I expect that your area to be patched is 4 inches and not 40 inches long. I used 6013- plenty strong enough. Just as important as the rod and amperage is getting a patch cut close to the hole dimensions. I have a suggestion. Most of your patch will be nearly flat, however you will have to replace the curved parts as well. If you have a donor rim that will work nicely but not likely that you do. I found some steel stock at my local hardware that comes as two foot long bar stock, approx 1/8 thick that has a curved cross section. The curve matches that of the rim nicely.
 

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