Stainless for link material?

[ct67_72]

Any one ever seen this? I am aquiring what is supposed to be 2" OD 1/4" wall 304L tubing.

[Zullock Holmes]

Ehhhh. I'm not 100% sure about this but...

I believe it's significantly weaker than regular mild steel like 1018 or 1020, it's also more brittle, and alot more tricky in terms of welding. I've never welded stainless but i am pretty sure you'd need to find threaded inserts that were made from stainless as well. Like i said though, not 100% on the stainless facts.

IMO go with some A500, 2x2 .250 wall box tubing. Strong, cheap, easy to weld, reliable.

Square tube also provides more surface area contact when you land on the link, so it won't dent as easily as round tube will, also the shape allows for the transfer of energy better and it can divert alot of the force through a larger portion of the steel, lessening the load on a specific area.

[Buffalo Phil]

I believe it's significantly weaker than regular mild steel like 1018 or 1020, it's also more brittle, and alot more tricky in terms of welding. I've never welded stainless but i am pretty sure you'd need to find threaded inserts that were made from stainless as well. Like i said though, not 100% on the stainless facts.

You cannot weld stainless to mild steel and expect a good joint, they are two completely different metals. You need to make or buy your inserts out of stainless and convert your welder to weld stainless which simply involves you buying wire that's designed to weld stainless.

Stainless can also be a pain to machine.

Stainless steel is not any stronger or any weaker than regular steel, it still rusts, so don't expect shiny links for very long.

[crosbike]

304

Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi 73,200
Yield Strength, psi 31,200
Elongation 70%
Rockwell Hardness B70


1018 mild steel

Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi 63,800
Yield Strength, psi 53,700
Elongation 15.0%
Rockwell Hardness B71

4130

Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi 97,200
Yield Strength, psi 63,100
Elongation 25.5%
Rockwell Hardness B92

[ct67_72]

I already made my links, was thinking of a new upper maybe.
I would find or make some ss inserts and tig them. You can rig stainless to mild with the right rod, but I wouldn't trust the joint in a suspension link.
Hmmm, what else can I do with it.
Any good ideas what to use it for?

[customcreationsllc]

You can weld stainless to mild steel.
I was taught to use Stainless wire when you have two different dissimilar steels.

But stainless oxidizes a lot faster at high temps so welding and getting it to look good is tricky. You usually get a dark sugary look instead of the nice shinny weld.
You need to weld quick a lot of argon usually back purging and heat sinks to suck the heat out fast.
Heat sink like a large chunk of aluminum or copper resting against what you weld.

Stainless is generally a lot more expensive, and besides looks not worth it.

matweb.com has a lot of material properties.
There is so many different grades of metals and different heat treats.
And actually in the same material group like 304 the spec is very wide, no for something like this but at work we need to restrict the spec even further.


If you want the ultimate link you go with chrome molly like 4130. You can weld that to stainless the extra carbon in the 4130 will go into the mild steel when welding.
Chrome Molly is recommended to get heat treated after weld I don't know how necessary that truly is but I'm not a metallurgist



I just welded up my hubs to redrill from 8 lug to 5 lug.
I used mild steel rod something 80 and something 70 both sucked all the carbon out of the cast hubs and makes the weld material F'n hard so I tried 316 stainless rod still very hard I needed a carbide endmill to cut it.

[customcreationsllc]

Depends a lot on heat treat. Plus welding changes the heat treat in the weld area.
Yield is the important number that determines when it will stay bent.
Aluminum links get away because there modulus of elasticity is 1/3 of steel so it can bend 3 times further for the same stress but the yield is lower. So it is a touch balance. And the high strength aluminum is not weldable.
I would always recommend steel.

304

Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi 73,200
Yield Strength, psi 31,200
Elongation 70%
Rockwell Hardness B70


1018 mild steel

Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi 63,800
Yield Strength, psi 53,700
Elongation 15.0%
Rockwell Hardness B71

4130

Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi 97,200
Yield Strength, psi 63,100
Elongation 25.5%
Rockwell Hardness B92

[ct67_72]

Ive welded a good amount of stainless. Some mild to stainless. I do usually use a stainless rod also. Just trying to think of what to do with it. Shouldnt have to back gas it either I think with an insert because it will be taking up the space behind the tube.
I had built a lot of intercooler piping with stainless, and you really had to backgas, or use that paste, but when we ordered it the first time, we didnt realize you had to mix it with methanol lol. Fortunately we had a jug from the race car. But backgassing works better.

[ct67_72]

What do you guys think about a track bar, or steering out of it? I own the tube, and at this point it would be cheaper to buy new inserts than to buy the 1.5" DOM I planned to run

[ct67_72]

Nevermind, my father is apparently blind. It's actually 2.5" .188 wall. I have no idea what to do with this shit.

[customcreationsllc]

Nevermind, my father is apparently blind. It's actually 2.5" .188 wall. I have no idea what to do with this shit.

Nothing for a Jeep I can think of.

[ct67_72]

Nothing for a Jeep I can think of.

haha me either. I hate to junk it but that may be what happens