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Welded Differentials?

also referred to as a Lincoln Locker or Redneck Locker, it is simply welding the spider gears together, effectively creating a mini-spool. People do it all the time. In fact, I'll prob. be doing it on my 98 XJ soon. Don't worry about breaking the axle driving to the trail as the previous post says. People wheel like that and beat the heck out of them all the time. Now, if it's a daily driver don't do it as it'll eat your tires up and cause undue stress on your drivetrain because it won't allow your wheels to move at different speeds while turning.

It is true the the Dana 30/35 axles and even the Chrysler 8.25 that I have are not the strongest in the world, but as long as you're not running humongous tires and beating the heck out of it, you should be fine.
 
If this isnt your DD then welding your spiders shouldnt be a problem as long as its done properly...

If it is your DD or you do drive it on the street some what, do not weld your spiders, you will chew up your tires, have very poor gas mileage, and If you weld the fronts, you will not be able to turn for shit.

HTH
 
swbooking said:
If this isnt your DD then welding your spiders shouldnt be a problem as long as its done properly...

If it is your DD or you do drive it on the street some what, do not weld your spiders, you will chew up your tires, have very poor gas mileage, and If you weld the fronts, you will not be able to turn for shit.

HTH
Click to expand...


lol at gas milage
 
Note the *very*. I know its almost moot point (gas mileage and Jeeps dont go hand in hand) but none the less, it will be affected.
 
Welding up the rear worked just fine in my '93 Toyota. Maybe cause it was so damn light. Not sure about an XJ. I'd just save up and get a lock rite or something. They're pretty affordable.
 
swbooking said:
If this isnt your DD then welding your spiders shouldnt be a problem as long as its done properly...

If it is your DD or you do drive it on the street some what, do not weld your spiders, you will chew up your tires, have very poor gas mileage, and If you weld the fronts, you will not be able to turn for shit.

HTH
Click to expand...


I welded my rear and didnt notice ANY change in mileage. It drives straight, is predictable in any weather situation(except ice, but open is unpredictable too in ice) I love the welded rear and the only bad thing about it is the tire wear.


also when i welded I did not only weld the spiders I made them disappear, I welded the spider gears to the carrier too and its just a gob of metal in there.lol. so its now a full spool :rof:
 
ChrisRFewell said:
I welded my rear and didnt notice ANY change in mileage. It drives straight, is predictable in any weather situation(except ice, but open is unpredictable too in ice) I love the welded rear and the only bad thing about it is the tire wear.


also when i welded I did not only weld the spiders I made them disappear, I welded the spider gears to the carrier too and its just a gob of metal in there.lol. so its now a full spool :rof:
Click to expand...

Meh... to each his own, but again I would advise against it.
 
ChrisRFewell said:
I welded my rear and didnt notice ANY change in mileage. It drives straight, is predictable in any weather situation(except ice, but open is unpredictable too in ice) I love the welded rear and the only bad thing about it is the tire wear.


also when i welded I did not only weld the spiders I made them disappear, I welded the spider gears to the carrier too and its just a gob of metal in there.lol. so its now a full spool :rof:
Click to expand...
You are so full of "it",ran a welded for barely 6 months,tore it out(a saving money thing),there were stress cracks all over the thing.My son and I are professional welders(in case that comes up).It ate tires like nothing else.
 
i have run a spool in the back for the past 3 years on 2 xj's

gas milage doesn't suck

but every other aspect of spools suck
 
buddy runs welded diffs FRONT and rear(d30/8.25) in his beater with 35" krawlers and BEATS on it..rear holds up like new...but front is prone to spitting caps and breaking joints

also a tip for carrier strength would be if its a non clip then weld some bolts in there across the carrier to strengthen it up a bit
 
256offroad said:
buddy runs welded diffs FRONT and rear(d30/8.25) in his beater with 35" krawlers and BEATS on it..rear holds up like new...but front is prone to spitting caps and breaking joints
Click to expand...
motivator7245666.jpg
 
RCP Phx said:
You are so full of "it",ran a welded for barely 6 months,tore it out(a saving money thing),there were stress cracks all over the thing.My son and I are professional welders(in case that comes up).It ate tires like nothing else.
Click to expand...


i agree that it eats tires but if there are stress cracks in your welds maybe you and your son should go back to welding school or maybe you should look further into the response. the typical question of "what is your wheeling style" comes into play here as the harder you are on your rig the more stress you have...I run 37" mtrs here in fl and have already twisted the splines on my rear 44 shafts(lime rock mine pit) but there are NO cracks in the welds on the carrier at all. How much weld did you put in there? As I said I pretty much made the spider gears blend into the carrier with so much weld. I also had a welded dana 35 that i ran for a few months and had no stress cracks. I also did NOT preheat the carrier like I should have, so It SHould have cracked by now...but it hasnt.


I am not a professional welder I have NOT taken any classes except what a friend as taught me but before you act like an ass maybe you should take a trip to FL and look at my carrier. there are no cracks and it is welded.

im not trying to talk down on you but I dont think you looked into the situation before you responded.
 
I welded up my 35 and put some 36" swampers on it. Works like a charm in the mud holes, just tears the goop up. Ive ran it in an old rock quarry in north florida as well and my tcase broke before the rear axle did. I was suprised at that one.
Definately agree that it depends on the terrain you will be wheeling and how hard you wheel will severly have an effect on welding the gears.
I did it for a couple reasons; it was easier to weld the spiders then take the whole carrier out and install a lunchbox locker, I am soon upgrading the axles so I did it the cheapest way, and because I had just got my welder so I needed to learn somewhere.
 
haha, that guy likes to party. I just welded mine up. i love sounding like a seal when I pull into work everyone looks at me like :huh:

I pulled my shafts.
Clean the crap out of it with non chlorinated brake clean or burn it off with a torch. grab a can of primer and spray paint the pinion and around the inside of the carrier so the boogers wont stick as much.
Preheated spiders with a torch. doesnt take long to heat em up. watch out for the bearing races. Dont weld for longer than 4-5 seconds tack them all first. and weld. . drink beer. weld all the contact points on the spiders. I wouldnt advise welding the spiders to the carrier. or putting bolts/plates and shit in there. I dont think its necessary but do what you want. its more about the quality of the weld. if it looks like bird shit its prob gunna be bird shit... I think its all a personal opinion. slowly cool it down with the torch. wrap it. blow it out and chip off all the goobers. I did have some pinion and ring gear binding i had to work out... I filled mine up and ran it for a couple minutes and changed the oil just to be safe.

If your picky dont weld it. just pull the spiders and buy an 80 dollar mini spool...


Shoot I used a 210 handler mig on gas... who cares. As long as you can get some good penetration. a 110 mig prob would work better on your muffler... Cleaned up all the goobers. shes good to go. And if I drop the spiders Hopefully it will be after I save up for a full spool and gears. My buddies all run welded up 44's. and 8.8's on 33's 34's and 35's. One guy has blown up 3 8.8 carriers. and another buddy has ran a dd rig welded up for 2 years on the street. I think it has to do with tire size. and skinny pedal.

good luck..
 
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