Vintage axle advice needed

[utahredrock]

My '62 Safari had its torsion axle welded on, which was apparently the practice that year.

Of course Airstream soon switched to bolting axles on sometime shortly after '62.

The guys at my shop felt like it made more sense to weld the new one on, since they'd have to cut into the frame to bolt it on . . .

Now I've just read in Rich Luhr's Airstream maintenance guide to "never allow heat (from a torch or welder for example) to be applied to the axle." This is because it can damage the inner rubber cords.

So what should I tell the guys in the shop. They welded the axle on this past Friday . . .

Here's a photo of it before it was welded on.

[utahredrock]

I found a few other threads including this one. Andy from Inland RV said this:

If welding your axle in place damaged the rubber rods, then why do you think it lasted so long?

Weldindg the axle in place cause ZERO damage to those rods.

On the other hand tordion axles only last ball park 25 years.

Or even less if parked and not used for a couple of years or so.

Many of out customers have welded the axles in place, with ZERO problems.

Andy

Here's the thread: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f437...es-126029.html

And this one:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f460...xle-32808.html

I'll talk to the guys at my shop tomorrow, but it looks like I should be OK . . .

[Action]

It depends on the skill of the welder and the type of weld.

Stick and regular gas .... no.

wire feed yes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Action