Joining alloy to steel

[Justengt4]

i dont do that and have not tried it but when working in meatal fab i was told how to do it

why not ask justengt4 to show pics of his mags

Will do once it stops pissing rain outside.

I did have another look at them to refresh my memory...and not mad

Steel rim (chromed and magnetic) and alloy centre (oxidised and non magnetic). A bit like Superlights in style but two piece obviously. There are lugs in the alloy with a thick bead of weld (ferrous clearly as it's rusty) between them that fixes the steel rim to the alloy centre. The weld covers what's going on, but either it's some weird welding rod they have used or there are ferrous 'tabs' cast into the alloy centre and they weld to that?

I took them in to 'world of wheels' in Qbn years back as they were the steel rim gurus at the time (Neal wheels if you remember them?) to see if they could do wider steel rims for me....they took one look and didn't want a bar of them

Anyways, pics for pointless debate by non metalurgists tomoz

[Momus]

I'm not posting pictures but you can achieve a very crude and semi functional junction between steel and aluminium tube. It is not a proper technique but I have seen an exhaust shop guy join an aluminium motorcyle cannon mufflers to a tailpipe with a MIG.

To the topic. I wouldn't be cutting the subframe on anything on a foolish quest for lightness unless I knew exactly what was going on.
Aeroplanes are made from ally sheet and there are a many ways to effectively join it to steel. A lap joint and good pop rivets are the easiest.

[Eurorogerrevolution]

Thanks for all the constructive replies .
I actually meant the floorpan halves and the rear wheel well not the subframe sorry .
I know on the air cooled cars you can buy them in halves and bolt them on , got my mind working and thought it might be a cheap way to get rid of a little bit of weight . Will do other stuff first but its definately on the cards . Next thing is I need to find an aluminium supplier that sells alloy sheets

[Justengt4]

Pics of ally centered wheels with steel rim. 2 piece rims without a bolt in sight?

Wheel style



the 'weld'???



close up...you can just see where the heat has altered the alloy



A style of 2 piece wheel i have not seen before or since?

[bigmuz]

I have seen that once before and, as you mentioned, I think they are a cast in steel insert that is welded the the rim.

It is not common and I can't think of an application where it makes a lot of sense.

[Gammaboy]

Alloy spoke/steel rim was reasonable common once upon a time - the old set of Hustlers I had at one point had an alloy centre/cosmetic outer rim with steel main rim... I think the weld bead is more to act as a hot rivet in a number of spots.

[Justengt4]

This alloy centre isn't cosmetic though? It's THE centre.

[Gammaboy]

The hustler spokes/hub were the same - it just had a cosmetic lip that made them look one piece.

[Ben.]

that 'alloy' looks pretty rusty... unless my eyes are playing tricks with me

[Justengt4]

that 'alloy' looks pretty rusty... unless my eyes are playing tricks with me

yeah your eyes are a bit farked

Just grime on the non polished back...trust me, it's an aluminium centre

[PHULL]

I have had a pair of them before. Sold them on Ebay to a tard who throught you could weld alloy to steel. I was going to call him out by I wanted to seem him dig himself a hole


Big muzz the only other situation I have seen something like this done is in factory mazda rotary housings. But they have a shit load of small webs around the housing that is cast into the alloy cooling jacket.

[Momus]

Check that steel insert wheel with the tyre off.

A good chance it will have a button head cap screw going into the centre. The old 'Skog' mags were assembled this way.

If not, a good bit of innovation that steel insert though since the idea didn't catch on it probably suffered from predictable problems.

[dynoryder]

let me just rectifie what i meant i meant alloy can be welded to steel but as for any use other then say a alloy exaust being joined to a steel one i cant think of any thing else

with the wheels i have no idea i have never seen that before and dont know much about it

[bigmuz]

i dont know much

Fixed that for you.

You can not weld steel to aluminium. Ever. This is not open for discussion you fucking nincompoop.

Anyone joining steel and aluminium with a welder is either performing some sort of braze or a mechanical joint.

[Sucker]

If you hit a tree fast enough you can weld them together.

[dynoryder]

If you hit a tree fast enough you can weld them together.

i might have to try this as i always try new things

[Fondles]

Fixed that for you.

You can not weld steel to aluminium. Ever.

Anyone joining steel and aluminium with a welder is either performing some sort of braze

Iam confused, is that a yes or no ?

Coating The Dissimilar Material Prior To Welding:
A coating can be applied to steel to facilitate its arc welding to aluminum. One method is to coat the steel with aluminum. This is sometimes achieved by dip coating (hot dip aluminizing), or brazing the aluminum to the surface of the steel. Once coated, the steel member can be arc welded to the aluminum member, if care is taken to prevent the arc from impinging on the steel. A technique must be used during welding to direct the arc onto the aluminum member and allow the molten aluminum from the weld pool to flow onto the aluminum coated steel. Another method of joining aluminum to steel involves coating the steel surface with silver solder. The joint is then welded using aluminum filler alloy, taking care not to burn through the barrier layer of silver solder. Neither of these coating type joint methods are typically depended upon for full mechanical strength and are usually used for sealing purposes only.
http://www.esabna.com/us/en/educatio...m-to-Steel.cfm

[takai]

Iam confused, is that a yes or no ?

Thats not welding the materials. That is welding to a coating/donor material which is bonded to the parent in the coating process.

You can merge aluminium and steel via various means, most of which involve lots of heat and force.

[Fondles]

Thats not welding the materials. That is welding to a coating/donor material which is bonded to the parent in the coating process.

You can merge aluminium and steel via various means, most of which involve lots of heat and force.

My bad, I thought brazing was a form of welding.

[Glenno]

Brazing and soldering are actually considered a gluing process.