There's always one extreme or the other when this comes up. I, for one, struggle to see why people get so unsettled when discussing welding on steering.

So it's not okay to weld on the column, but joe welder can fabricate my Hotchkis control arms and nobody bats an eye? My brake caliper brackets from Wilwood? Yea, those are welded too, are those not important? The rear diff is held in the car by welded spring perches, can that not send me flying off the highway?

At what point is it not okay? There are plenty of welded parts on the car that see significantly higher loads than what a driver can put into a steering box [usually a powered one].


I suppose I trust it because my entire Jeep was held together with my welds, and I am by far not a certified welder. Tie rod, welded. Drag link, welded. Control arms [8], welded. Track bar mounts, welded. Axle C's to the housing, welded. I drove 50,000 miles on those welds, heavily off-roaded it and it turned 150# 37" wheel assemblies. Zero failures.