Axle tube cracks!

[Dad's55]

Well, today I decided to see what was up with the slow seeping leak I've had coming from the right side of my axle housing for the last 15 or 20 years. I could see a small crack along the spring seat weld, and suspected that was the root of the problem. So, I cut off the old spring seat with a blowtorch & angle grinder. Sure enough, there were a couple hairline cracks - maybe 2" long total. So I got out the MIG welder to fill 'em in. But after my first weld, I could see that there was a LOT of cracking - all around the spring seat area! I'd already started, so I just kept on welding - see the picture.
My plan is to grind all these welds flat, then weld on a new spring seat. But I'm worried!
Has anyone tried to weld up axle tube cracks like this? Do you think I'm crazy to keep running this old axle, or should I give up & get a new one?
Any advice appreciated!

[Kiwi56]

Well....you got this far so you might as well finish it off !
hey, worst case scenario is you have to replace it but
If you don't have to then My vote is use what ya got .

Interesting.....never seen one crack there :confused0006:
Has it been hit before ?

[Dad's55]

No, it's never been hit, but I've been known to carry way more in the truck than is reasonable - I once tipped the scale at the local dump at 7100 pounds!
Actually, this is the second axle for the truck - we replaced the original in the early 80's after it broke DISASTROUSLY in the same place while carrying a camper around. (This truck has been a worker most of it's life!)
I guess I'll try it out, but I'd sure like to hear from someone who's done this before...

[Rick_L]

The problem with trying to weld it up is the oil in the original cracks. You may just be covering them up.

[Old Buzzard]

The problem with trying to weld it up is the oil in the original cracks. You may just be covering them up.

And, did you vee the cracks prior to welding?

[MRWRENCHMAN]

Be careful not to weld to much at one time . You can warp the axle housing tube with to much heat on one side. Don

[Dad's55]

Thanks for the inputs...
- Yep, there's no way to get the oil out of the cracks. I used flux-core MIG wire, and tried to get good penetration. Of course, this makes for a LOT of heat. I welded just an inch or so at a time, waiting 30 minutes or so between welds.
- When I first got the old spring seat off, I could see just a couple hairline cracks, but as soon as things got hot with the first weld, the whole network of cracks was visible. I think they were there the whole time, just hard to see.
I looked closely at the axle this morning in better light, and I can see that the tube is bent upward a bit (toward the weld side). A bubble level on the wheel shows about a half-bubble out of vertical. (Interestingly, the other side also was about a quarter-bubble out of square - maybe I need to look at the other side too!). And I haven't even welded the new spring seat on yet - it's likely to get worse!
Any thoughts on the impact of running with this much warp in an axle tube? Maybe I should try to warp it back by heating up the other side with a blowtorch?