Fuse Stainless bolt to aluminum rod?

hotrdd

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I was out for a ride last weekend when my shifter (aluminum Forward Control) sheered the pin connecting it to the rod and I had to reach down and suicide shift my way home. Obviously there is a lot of torque being transferred from the shift arm, along the shaft and then back up the other shift arm. So I bought a small piece of aluminum to fix things up and then bought a stainless bolt to pull everything together. The aluminum I can weld together but is there a way to fuse the aluminum bolt and aluminum rod together?
 
First you said stainless bolt, then aluminum. Aluminum to aluminum, sure. Stainless to aluminum, although it can be done, it is difficult to find anyone with the proper equipment, and would be more expensive than it's worth.

DLD1
 
I work at a National Laboratory, and we have an explosive process that will fuse dissimilar metals like stainless and aluminum., but like I said before, it's not easy to find, and if you do, it's really expensive. Better to find another way to do the job.

Good luck,

DLD1
 
Sigh... Your correct it would have been so much easier if I had some pictures to share. Let me try again.

The aluminum shift arm will be welded to an aluminum rod that is hollow with another aluminum arm at the end. To hold everything together I am going to put a tight fitting stainless bolt through the center of the aluminum pole with a lock nut and washer on the end. I thought instead of applying all of the rotational torque to just the aluminum rod I would try and glue the stainless bolt inside of the aluminum rod to help transfer the energy. The surface have a very tight tolerance so I'm looking for a glue or something that might help?

Did that make any more sense? :confused:
 
You really should try and post some photos. Your description is better, but still a bit vague. You could try epoxy, but I doubt that it would make much difference, unless you can find a way to rough up the inside of the tube. It doesn't stick to smooth surfaces very well. There are some really strong structural adhesives, but they generally are of the "contact" type, not suitable for inserting a rod into a tube.

DLD1
 
HYSOL 9394. Sticks like nothing else. Does need some texture to maintain film thickness, but peel and shear strength are incredible, and it's good to 450 degrees.

Here's one place that has it, but in minimum quantities. You can read the tech sheet from here though.
http://www.chemcenters.com/178475
 
As others have said, rough up the surface of the bolt and indise the tube, get really clean and spend about $5 for JB Weld. Mix it up apply to the inside of tube and bolt. Put it together and clean of all the JB Weld that gets squeezed out. Let set over night and it will be as stong as it can get.
Just get everything clean.
Leo
 
The bike has been sitting in the shop for over a week now with no time to look at it. At least not if I want a few hours of sleep and want to stay out of the dog house. I’ll just say “It’s a wife thing” if you are married I don’t have to say anything more. I also have some new pod filters that I am going to try in the hope that I can get the jetting right and the bike not surging through the 3500-5000 rpm range. It’s scary trying to hold a corner with the bike surging.
 
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