i have welded three without removing the gears, drove on the road and the trail, never had a problem

 

I have to agree with blacksmith. I have owned a few locked vehicles and driven a few with spools or welded diffs. The only difference i can tell with a spool or lincoln locker is the turning radius. Tight turns kinda suck. If i was on a budget i wouldnt think twice about it. Id take a welded diff over an open one anyday, on or off road, daily driver or dedicated trail rig.

 

I don't know where or what it was in when I did the research this year. I'll be doing it in my 8.25 since I don't believe there are any spools for the 8.25.
When I get the 8.8 I'll be in great shape and very happy for the level of wheeling I do... maybe a nice true track if I feel I really need it.

Thanks for all the wisdom here...
P.S. that 'wrong weld' picture.... is OUT of the carrier so no way could it be for real... ha ha good one thou!!

 

I've run plenty of welded diffs. It can get old, if you have worn out tires it seems worse, backwards from what youd think. I just got rid of a daily'd xj on 31s that is still being driven daily, welded diff. only sucks when turning around sharp corners, parking spots.

If you weld it, check your u bolts more often, then shaking around from tight turning with the wheels trying to both turn can eventually loosen/stretch them if your running blocks or something.

if you wana go wheelin, weld it. You can go a lot of places with a good ol lincoln locker

 

Ok gotta question. How exactly should I weld it. Steps maybe?

 

Was discussed earlier in this thrrad and others, as well as many different methods (and a joke). Essentially the most secure method for C clip rear ends discussed involved welding the side spider gears to the carrier, and the small upper and lower spiders to the side spiders. Most prefer to do this out of the housing to keep from having spalling and slag floating around in the housing.

Read this thread from the beginning, should answer all your questions, at least enough so that you can make a desision on if you want to or.not.

 

A tip i want to share with anyone thinking of welding up the gears... Double check ur backlash before or after u weld. Mine was larger then it should have been by a bit, so with the added stress it broke all the teeth of the pinion and a couple off the ring gear. Fryed the gears! Just a tip. I learned the amhard way. Should have spent the 4-5 min to check and addjest. I thought it was a bit much in backlash but never adjested or gauge checked it. Learn from mistakes i guess.

 

Thats odd the backlash if it changed should of been less then more. When I did mine I had to loosen the backlash a little. Did you weld your carrier in the jeep? and did you let it cool off between each beed you welded? I know if you weld constantly on a carrier with the gears still on it will fatigue the gears and the carrier.


On a side note I took mine out this past saturday and it worked awsome I made it 3/4 of the way up this hill climb in 2 wheel before I needed 4hi and before I needed 4hi thw whole way up. I had so much more fun that I ordered a locker for the front

 

No it wasnt the welding that bad the back lash more. It was like that before i welded it. But yes the traction gain is insane! U can go soo much farther then an open diff. Im not saying not to weld. Just that its very important to check back lash. Mine was bad before i welded it, by welding it i simply put alot more stress on the problem which caused it to fail. My mistake on not adressing the problem when i saw it. LIVE to learn, LEARN to live.

 

you sure it was backlash and not a piece of slag or broken weld?

ive never heard or seen welding spiders affect backlash like that.BUT, i have seen leftover junk from welding destroy a diff like you are describing.

 

Ok i dont know how to word this. My back lash was horrable BEFORE i welded it. I had about an 1/4-1/2 inch of play atleast!

I never fixed it, then i welded it. By having THAT bad of backlash, it put to much stress on the very end of the ring teeth on a corner and chiped them off. I was kinda asking for it to happen running 33x12.5 tires on a welded dif on dry pavement with backlash THAT BAD.

Sry if that comes off rude but my welds held and i complety cleaned the hole case. After welding. It was the added stress on the end of the teeth on a horrable backlash that caused it to fail. Would of or could of happened even without a welded dif. Just the added stressed caused it to happen sooner.

 

Im running the dana 44 in the rear and took out my carrier and welded all the spider gears together, including putting 1/4in plate on both sides. Running 35's, does amazing off-road. On the street, eh you get used to it. would I do it again? probably not, having the luxury of a selectable makes it worth while. On a budget? defiantly worth it, cost welding wire.. and gear oil to refill the diff.

 

ping pong your jeep is sick from the one pic you have do you have a build thread