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Metal on metal question

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HumboldtBlazer

HumboldtBlazer

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Hello,
I have heard that when putting aluminum and titanium togther it has the potential to "weld" togther. On my T-maxx I have the aluminum Traxxas chasis braces and last night I just installed my F/R Hardcore Racaing Ti skids along with the tranny cover. Is this weld thing true? If so is there something I can do to prevent it like maybe put a thin layer of grease or something between them? I would just hate to rune that Hardcore stuff as I paid mucho denaro for them. Any help would be much appreciated.
 
You bring up a good question, anytime you put dissimilar metals together, they can cold weld themselves together, this happens often in the Marine industry. Most people will tell you to use never-sieze (sp) But I use a product called Tef-gel, it is specificly designed for this purpose. I am sure if you do a search you could find a distributor fairly easy.
 
I had never heard of that. Thats good to know. I have the racers edge chassis braces which are aluminum, and I just got racers edge titanium skids I would not want them to cold weld together either. Good question Humbold!
 
It's not really welding, it is more of a coorosion. I work in the aircraft industry and we use both Alum and Ti. What we do is put a layer of heavy tape between the two different metals. This problem will only occur if the two metals are touching. There is special tape we use, but any good thick clear tape should do the trick.

It is not generally a big concern, because it usually takes years for two pieces to "Weld" togather.
 
Originally posted by Fett
It's not really welding, it is more of a coorosion. I work in the aircraft industry and we use both Alum and Ti. What we do is put a layer of heavy tape between the two different metals. This problem will only occur if the two metals are touching. There is special tape we use, but any good thick clear tape should do the trick.

It is not generally a big concern, because it usually takes years for two pieces to "Weld" togather.
Click to expand...

Your right, it is corrosion, but on boats, it happens within weeks because of the high salt content in the air, thats why we use the tef-gel. I have never heard of the tape method, that is very interesting, do you use it on very small fasteners as well? I would think that the fastener would cut through the tape upon tightening, do you allow for room? Is the tape very thin?
Sounds very interesting:cheerful:
 
We run into this in truck wheels at Les Schwab. They take and put a very thin plastic ring between the alum and metal wheels. I would use tape clear masking tape then trim the edges with a razor blade. That might work.

Just a thought.
 
Clear tape or anti seize should do it for ya also any kind of grease if your cheep ..course you could remove the parts every few months to check ... who doesn't take there maxx apart every few months anyways :naughty: Something about up grades
 
Originally posted by M@xximillion


Your right, it is corrosion, but on boats, it happens within weeks because of the high salt content in the air, thats why we use the tef-gel.
Click to expand...

I can see where you would have more issues on a boat. If one of our planes ends up floating in saltwater, the corrosion is probably the least of your worries!

I have never heard of the tape method, that is very interesting, do you use it on very small fasteners as well? I would think that the fastener would cut through the tape upon tightening, do you allow for room? Is the tape very thin?
Sounds very interesting:cheerful: [/B]
Click to expand...


I talked to our Dis-Similar metal DER here and he says that you really shouldn't have much of a problem with Ti and Aluminum. They are similar molecularly. Where you really run into trouble is with aluminum (or Ti) and steel. What we do here useually, would be to cad plate, prime and paint the steel part. As far as tape goes, (even with small fasteners) it is sometimes used and you would want a medium weight Mylar tape.
 
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don't worry about it.. it is ture that metals and alloys can weld onto one another but our cars just get bounced, hit, moved, cleaned, and oiled up from the exhaust too much for it to be a problem. I've been running aluminum, against Ti, against steel, on my maxx for years. No problems at all.
 
What is cad plate? I'm interested. Is it a simple process that I could do at home if I had the proper equipment and teaching????
 
Cad Plating is short for Cadinuim Plating. It is applied via an electrical charge. It is not something you can do at home without great expense. It's sort of like chrome plating, just uses a different compound.
 
Yea, very expensive. We're talking thousands of dollars. Then you have the EPA conciderations. It is not something you want to get into for a few parts. If you just want some parts coated, let me know and I can give you the names of some of the places we use that can probably do them for you.
 
Thanks for the info Fett. PM me if you dont mind. I have a couple parts I'm interested in getting done. How is the pricing on getting it done by them?
 

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