Hello All, Need advice from expert Welder and/or Heatreater.

Aluminum Tombstone + sign

I'm building a new tombstone for a Toyoda FH550S, Made from 4 components; Material is 6061-T651; After Welding it will be heat treated back to T6 condition.

Step 1 Before machining Anneal components to T4 Condition, This is mainly to remove the 51 condition, I didn’t think the shrinkage would be good for the weld..

Step 2 Machine components.

Step 3 Bolt components together and Weld all seams/joints.
What is the best weld filler rod for this application???

I hear 4043 is better because it is not susceptible to cracking, But 5356 may crack after Heat-Treatment.

All Weld joints are .40” by 45 Degrees.

Remove Bolts!

Step 4 Precipitation Heat-Treat at 350Degrees for 8 hours to regain T6 condition and stress relive the material.

Step 5 Finish machine all faces & Pin/Bolt patterns.


See attached file.

What is the best weld filler rod for welding this type process/application???

Is it going to be anodized? If so you have to use 5356. 4043 has silicon in it which will spoil any anodizing.

But I cant expect a tombstone to be anodized. Might help with corrosion resistance from coolant though.

How thick are the plates?

I would still use 5356 and mig it. You will probably need preheat if its a decent size tombstone. Get some tempstiks and heat to around 500F. I would chamfer the plates to be welded.

Edit: Looked at it again. That thing is pretty big. You must chamfer, definite preheat and running at least 1/16" wire. This will be a big machine to run it. ~600 amp. Something like a Miller Deltaweld, Dimension, or a Lincoln DC600. Consider sending it out. This is not something that can be done on a 250-300 amp machine.

It will have to be machines after heat treat. This thing is going to move big time.

Hi Macona,

Nope, it will not be anodized, It will be composed of four main components. Base is 2" thick, the risers are approximately 6" thick.

I appreciate your comments!

Yeah, thats pretty thick!

.4" fillet is tiny. I dont even weld 1/2" plate with a fillet that small.

Why not just pin and bolt it together? Welding is going to be a big hassle if you can do it right. It would almost be easier to mill it out of a solid chunk of aluminum on the Toyoda.

What machines do you have available?

I appreciate for your thoughts,

Milling on the Toyoda out of solid plate/billet material would be grossly expensive, and I would not be able to achieve the desired geometry configuration near the base, it would look a little funny.

My main concern is cracking after Step 4.) Heat-Treat operation. or perhaps cracking a year or two down the road. I will most likely reattach the bolts after Heat-treat for added strength. “Well”! reattaching the bolts may not do diddly squat in reinforcing any strength., so I would just like to rely on a good weld.

From what I've been told the 4043 would be better because it holds up the the heat-treat better than the 5356 weld rod.

I will finish the Bolt patterns at Step 5.)


Do you think the weld-joint should be opened up bigger? What size should it be?

I think a proper configuration of bolts and dowel pins would be just as strong as the weld you would get with this. Even with preheat it is going to take a massive machine to get any decent penetration.

If I were to hazard a guess on fillet I would say at least 3/4".

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