D4 hitch - I think - lugs broke off

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Originally Posted by Fatso

Was interested as there are different types of cast iron , if in fact the centre part of the tow hitch reciever is cast iron , if it is the generic grey cast then that would not be a good type of cast for a hitch reciever etc or hooking chains too .

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Tap it with a spanner. Cast iron sounds dead, cast steel has a ring to it. Not much is made from cast iron for automotive parts these days, but I'm open to being surprised.

It takes a fair bit of investigation to find out exactly how it broke and how much it yielded. The original photos aren't enough to make that call.

Can cast iron be welded to steel?? The cast housing is welded to the rear cross member.

Garry

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Originally Posted by garrycol

Can cast iron be welded to steel?? The cast housing is welded to the rear cross member.

Garry

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Yes it can, but it's not often done. I expect it to be cast steel, not cast iron.

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Originally Posted by Dougal

Tap it with a spanner. Cast iron sounds dead, cast steel has a ring to it. Not much is made from cast iron for automotive parts these days, but I'm open to being surprised.

It takes a fair bit of investigation to find out exactly how it broke and how much it yielded. The original photos aren't enough to make that call.

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Chaps, I've just taken a spanner to the casting and I'd say its a 'ring' more than 'dead'! Although the box section chassis has rather good acoustics and could probably make Soap 'ring' like steel

Actually it is most likely a forged fitting, at least the receiver section would be forged into a cast steel blank. Still any of the casting mechanisms wont take lightly to shock loads and fracture where rolled steel will have plastic deformation before an eventual failure.