welding up diffs... Ghetto locker

[Joe J-Truck]

Hey all,
I've got an extra set of axles to play with. Nobody wants to buy 'em so I was thinking of experimenting around and welding up the diffs to make lincoln lockers.
I've never done this shady operation and I'd like to hear from someone who has and any tips or pointers to pass along.

[Crazy_Jeepman]

I welded the spider gears to the sidegears. Just be sure you weld it good, you do not want it to come loose on the trail. ;)

[scotty]

its prolly not needed,but i usually go a step further and weld the side gears to the case.

i like it make it one big solid piece so that theres no chance in heck anything in htere cann ever move again smile.gif

some people just weld the gears,so that they can replace the gears and make it open again,but i dont see much point in that. its easy to find the 2.73 to 3.73 carriers. i like overkill :D

[jeepbob]

I have seen the spider gear only welds break, I like Scotty weld the side gears to the case. Use 7014 rod and a lot of heat. Be sure to get all the slag out if you weld the gears in the housing.

[GLADIADOR64]

i have a question can i weld a timken 53, im are loking for a positrack for my j200 but i can't find anyone, i have a one extra carrier whit the sidegear broken it can be welded? and how much can resist for a dayli drive?

[jeepers]

Hey Jeepbob wouldn't you run into probs with welding the cast on the carrier?I had spiders welded to case and all welds cracked.How much heat are we talking?

[nxcj]

I hesitated to weld to the cast carrier in my CJ (Wag 44). I just welded the spiders to the side gears...a lot. I put so much metal in there that you can hardly see any teeth. Melted everything together and it lasted a season of pretty hard wheeling .......so far :D ....

Nick

[scotty]

we have welded several carriers to the case,and have not had any welds crack yet. i even had a welded amc 20 with my 38s and it didt break.if i drove it alot on the street,it prolly would have evntually broke axleshafts,but i wasnt worried about the carrier.cept for maybe breaking the whole thing in half tongue.gif

[Hump]

What kind of street manners does a welded diff have? Any difference between a welded diff and a spool? I'd do either in a second if I knew that there wouldn't be much difference in handling between that and a locker.

[jeepbob]

I cranked the welder up to 175 amps using 3/16th's rod. I was also doing this on the HD 10 bolt outside in the snow at about 20* ambient temp. I have never had a carrier break at the welds. The D60 that is in my wag now was used for several years in a bog truck.

[scotty]

hump,no difference between a welded diff and a spool.well,cept that weldig is much cheaper. a spool is considered the way to do it "right",and is prolly stronger,but ive never seen anyone break a welded carrier.im sure it possible,but have run welded in diffs in 35s,44s,and an amc 20,and an axleshaft always breaks first.

both will have very poor street maners.no differentiation can cause fishtailing in snow/ice,and will bark tires while turing on a high traction surface. this will add lots of stress to other driveline parts in a largely street driven rig.

lots of people do prefer a spool over a locker,cause,tho they dont differentiate,their behavior is at least consistent. lockers can sometimes cause strange handling quirks as they lock and unlock.

all the ones we have welded have been done with a mig welder.

[BigSHO]

I was thinking of just welding up the front differential and leaving the back open for street use. I have locking hubs so I will be in two wheel drive on hard surfaces. Would the street manors be affected?

[trickc]

Originally posted by BigSHO:
I was thinking of just welding up the front differential and leaving the back open for street use. I have locking hubs so I will be in two wheel drive on hard surfaces. Would the street manors be affected?with the hubs unlocked I wouldn't think so, I think I'm gonna use joe j trucks "poor mans part time kit" :D with my QT and put my mini-spool in the front so I can still street drive without all the quirks.

[River Beast]

I saw an article on just tack-welding just 4 points on each spider gear... that way you can revert back to the open diff without destroying the case entirely...I'll look for it... pretty clean looking, too.

[scotty]

you can prolly get away with that on a diff with 4 spider gears,like a 14 bolt or d70,but the 44s litle bitty spiders will prolly break from the shockloads of being able to move alittle bit...

matter of fact,i think there was someone on here that had tried it,and said his spiders shattered on the first hill he hit :eek:

[tuck]

plus carriers for amc20's and dana44's are a dime a dozen, weld the whole thing... 14 bolts on the other hand.. the carriers are more than the entire assembly complete :rolleyes:

ditto to everything scotty said :D

[River Beast]

Originally posted by scotty:
you can prolly get away with that on a diff with 4 spider gears,like a 14 bolt or d70,but the 44s litle bitty spiders will prolly break from the shockloads of being able to move alittle bit...

matter of fact,i think there was someone on here that had tried it,and said his spiders shattered on the first hill he hit :eek: Good point Scotty.....

[porkchop]

Very good point. I still plan on welding mine when I get where I am going. I wonder how it will hold up with a 500 caddy :D .

[KYJ10]

Ive had my front welded for a while now and have no problems. We welded all the way across the spider gears on both sides. No movement at all. Also did this on my MJ and several years ago and it still OK. I have lock out hubs, and when your not locked, there is no affect at all on steering, and unlike my MJ, the driveshaft does'nt turn. MJ had the axle disco, so one side always was locked causing the drive shaft to spin. But it did'nt bother anything either, just had more stuff for my little 6 banger to turn all the time. But with the lock outs, it will be fine.

[GruntDoc]

i have a detroit in my (sorry both the refrences are little vehicles) cj-5 and ha a lifted Sami that i welded the spiders . in short wheelbase vehicles it makes a big Great Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley Moogley diffrence between the 2 the welded or spool will chirp tires in tight turns but my locker will do it sometimes also.the locker will click like a mad man in tight turns under slight power. the big diffrence other than price is on the highway the welded was predictable were my locker will do funky Great Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley Moogley when under power . With longer vehicles this is much less noticed
my 2cents for a daily driver i would get a selectable locker but those are $$$$ but i am a cheap bastard so i would weld it and deal with the tire chirping, if i was doing a gear change i would spool it just to make it all pretty inside.
now if i had money i would have ARB's or silmilar just so i could have a street vehicle with good manners.
weld everything to a big hunk and clean out the housing realy good :D