Crack check! (Cryogenic?)

[preddy08]

For all you hard riders out there I would take a second to look over your frame for cracks! Less than a week before my race I found a crack right below where the rear fender support attaches to the main frame. I was able to have a guy here weld it and patch it before the race to get me by. I just cleaned up the bike and noticed it cracked again OVER the patch!!!! The guy that TIG welded it for me took state in welding in high school and has his own welding and fab shop. So he know how to weld.

So now I am going to take it all the way down to the frame and have him gusset it up. I was also thinking about having it "Cryo'ed". They freeze the frame to -300 degrees for a day or two and slowly bring it up to temp. This is suppose to hardens the frame. Just wondering if anyone eles has played with cryo'ing? Some predator guys are having really good luck with it in their trannys. He said that he could do my hole frame for about 250 bucks. I was talking with him about doing this to a frame and he said that he does dies for companys that usually see about 400 stamps out of a set up dies, he'll treat them and they will see over 120,000 stamps.

Cryogenic hardening is a heat treatment in which the material is cooled to cryogenic temperatures to the order of -185 °C, usually using liquid nitrogen. It can have a profound effect on the mechanical properties of certain steels, provided their composition and prior heat treatment are such that they retain some austenite at room temperature. It is designed to increase the amount of martensite in the steel's crystal structure, increasing its strength and hardness, sometimes at the cost of toughness. Presently this treatment is being practiced over tool steels, high-carbon, and high-chromium steels to obtain excellent wear resistance. Recent research shows that there is precipitation of fine carbides (eta carbides) in the matrix during this treatment which imparts very high wear resistance to the steels.

Chitty cell phone pics.

[Danny T]

it sounds like it would help, but wouldn't you rather get a brand new frame than do that, since this one is already cracked and prone to being weak in that certain point where its been welded.

[Krandall]

I've heard of the cryo'ing metal. There's a guy at work that swears upon it.

My only thing is.. It's an aluminum frame already. Can it get "much" stronger w/out going the gusset direction?

[Warren]

being a welder myself i can honestly say (no offense) those welds look like crap.  i agree with dmx434343 i would just get a whole new frame if i were you. because were that guy welded at is going to be the weaker of the frame now. even if you hardened it. it's still going to be the weak spot. just my 2 cents. take it or leave it.

[preddy08]

I was not impressed with his welding, but we were short on time and it was really hard to get in a good position to weld it. I'm taking it down to the bare frame and gusseting the chit out of it.

[Warren]

damn how much more room would that guy need to get in there. from the pic i could tell you there is plent of room to get a TIG torch around in there with a buttom cap on it. where i work we have to weld 7/8" piping airtight with only about 1" or so inbetween each tube. trust me there is plenty of room for a welder that is worth a shit to get in there. lol


but i guess if it was a time pressed issue maybe that guy just let it go looking like shit. i hope.

[socalrappy700]

No one rides harder then you and agree that maybe a new frame would be the way to go.  I'm no welder but I would have to say that does look like crap and I have a feeling no matter what the guy does its not going to be what you want, plus you'll be able to break it anyway.  See what you can find for a frame with the title. 

[Krandall]

I think we can ALL agree.. it doesn't really matte what the welds look like...

T-dubs looked good

[preddy08]

damn how much more room would that guy need to get in there. from the pic i could tell you there is plent of room to get a TIG torch around in there with a buttom cap on it. where i work we have to weld 7/8" piping airtight with only about 1" or so inbetween each tube. trust me there is plenty of room for a welder that is worth a shit to get in there. lol


but i guess if it was a time pressed issue maybe that guy just let it go looking like shit. i hope.

I forgot to mention that the crack goes around the frame and continues all the way to the sand casting hole. We were'nt able to reach the back side to weld the rest of the crack. So Im sure that was the culprit.

[preddy08]

Also forgot to mention that a new frame is over a grand!!!!

[Colorado700R]

Shawn, before you order a new frame, check with the builders/sponsors.  Sometimes they have Frames and such laying around from there bullet bike builds.  Just a thought 

[RaptorRandy]

For what it's worth if it were me, there's no way in hell I would spend a grand on a new frame when I could  (or have someone) groove the crack out all the way around, weld it up, fish plate over it and then gusset it like you can see on pics of the frame Bo repaired. If you break that your going to have much bigger problems than needing a new frame IMHO. If done right it can be safely and successfully repaired, again IMHO.



Randy

[Warren]

after hearing what a new frame costs. if you can't find one for cheaper i agree with raptorrandy. if it's done right it will be ok. but if you get some crap back like that guy layed down before i'd be iffy about it.

[preddy08]

For what it's worth if it were me, there's no way in hell I would spend a grand on a new frame when I could  (or have someone) groove the crack out all the way around, weld it up, fish plate over it and then gusset it like you can see on pics of the frame Bo repaired. If you break that your going to have much bigger problems than needing a new frame IMHO. If done right it can be safely and successfully repaired, again IMHO.



Randy

Thats just what I'm going to do