Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

I have had one Crankshaft place tell me it is fine to
weld the thrust on a 360 Cast Crank. Another place
told me NOT to do it. I have quite a bit of money in
the crank and hate to discard it.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

Welded cranks never lasted in my experience.

A local shop with a very experienced guy did them once in a while and usually they failed.

That was usually a steel crank.

I know we had some thrusts welded but again it was a steel crank....

Welding and cast iron are two words that don't go together to me..

I'm sure there will be those that say otherwise though.....

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

I assume the cast crank is " "Cast Steel" and not any type of "Iron " casting.
Welding cranks is a lost technical skills. It requires a skilled welder, following proper weld procedures.
Meaning, bake it first to get out all the oil in the casting. Pre heat and holding it during welding. Use proper filler rod, post weld stress relieving and then straighten it afterwards.
May require regrinding the mains and rods depending on the crank casting level, as it was originally manufactured.
A lot of work to do it " Right ".

Hope this helps......

Steve Teeter Stk/SS 620

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

I would call shafttech in Ohio. They do alot of race crankshaft, and should be able to give you sound advice on if it's repairable.

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

John,

I use Performance Crankshaft in Michigan for all my crankshaft welding, both cast and forged.
Ask for the owner, Adney Brown. He has been doing crankshafts all his life and an expert on crankshaft machining.

(586) 549-7557

https://performancecrankshaft.com/

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

These are the folks that Bryant Racing recommends for crankshaft repair. I would check with them.

http://www.marinecrankshaftinc.com/

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

Any chance you could find a bearing with a wider thrust dimension ?

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

Good Idea and I know it works and is available on some GM stuff
but I have not been able to find anything for my Mopar Stuff.

It seems like we have had a lot of problems since we started
leaving two steps. Plus my son is a serial gas whomper near
the finish!

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

Don't know how worn it is, but the King bearing I use for my small block ford application is always too tight and needs to be sanded down. Just used a King bearing on a friend's small block ford engine that was over .018, and the King bearing out of the box worked well.

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

I had a period of time when I kept hurting thrust bearings
Had it happen 3 times on different engines and transmissions and even in 2 different cars.

BB Chevy engines, OEM steel cranks.

Had cranks weld repaired and they held up ok

I got in the habit of checking the engine every week with a big screwdriver.

At one point I pulled the oil pan and pulled the rear main bearing out and the main journal was not hurt. Put a new bearing in there and it had probably .030" of thrust movement.....crank thrust flange was worn....I ran it like that and it never was a problem and I eventually fixed it....

I tried every trick I knew.....Drilled the block and the bearing for direct pressurized oil to the thrust from the rear main oil feed hole....did not stop the problem....

For me the only thing that stopped the problem was not using a solid type flex plate....

Never had the thrust issues again...

I still won't use a solid wheel......and the thrust issues I had were from many years ago.....

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

Some of the reasons you get Thrust bearing wear or failure is due to Converter ballooning . Two things to check ,one is the pull up on the converter and two, the maximum line pressure the transmission makes . If the converter does not have enough pull up and the shell balloons , the converter neck can bottom out on the pump gears and force the crank forward . Also if the converter charge pressure is high , this causes a force at the converter neck , the bigger diameter the neck is the greater the force .

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

Yes, cranks can be welded on. As noted here, it is an involved process and thus expensive. Billet or cast it can be done, but metallurgy understanding and process QC are critical. It would leave you with a set thrust washer height too which may be good or bad in your application. Thrust washers can be bought in all dimensions, ID, OD and thickness. Whether listed specifically for Dodge, Ford, or GM or from a bearing company for industrial use. Material, heat treat and thus load handling are the issues to watch for. Oversize height thrust washers can be sanded down to proper thickness or taken to a machine shop with a surface grinder. All that being said, the welding on of a thrust washer may be treating the symptom and not the causing issue.

Can't say without being there nor do I claim to be an expert on race engine & trans systems. I do work as a gear design engineer and have held quality jobs and running a prototype machine shop in the past. NOT claiming to be an expert on that either, just giving my background to put my response in context.I would be curious to see what you end up doing and if it solves the issue(s) you are having.

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

We were going through 360 thrust bearings every 10 passes.
Like you, had a small investment in the crank.
Sent it to Ohio Crankshaft & had it repaired.
Killed it in 10 passes.
Wasn't a concern with the crank repair.
Found the convertor snout was bottoming out in the crankshaft.
The mounting lugs were .015 away from the flex plate.
Changed convertors & never had the problem again.

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

I have been through exactly those issues before as well.

I try to maintain at least 060 on flexplate to pads.
i really think the two steps on the start are not helping matters!

Re: Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?
 

The new car we just bought has a 2 step.
My Son doesn't like it, so he doesn't use it.