Alright, i have a 2wd ranger and one of my friends welded the rear end on his dodge diesel pick up and said that it chirps and jumps quite a bit goin around corners.. is this true with rangers too because i cant afford posi and a detroit locker seems like a good idea.. input?

 

If you weld the axles together on any vehicle this will happen. When making a turn the outside wheel rotates more than the inside one but, since they are now one the inside one must spin or jump because it needs to rotate more than it needs to. Some times when you weld the two axles together the axle will break after a period of time. My advise is not to weld them together, because it can cause the vehicle to be unstable ie. the vehicle wants to go in a straight line on a road with curves.

 

Welding the spider gears on an open diff is a really bad idea, because the spider gears aren't designed to take the load that is generated when you are turning with the gears welded together - so the diff has a tendency to grenade before too long. As grumman says, its also a challenge to drive on ice/snow/slippery with the diff welded up.

 

Complete Ranger rearends with traction-lock can be found for less than $100 if you look hard enough. You can even look for one with better gears than you currently have and make two improvements.

Greg

 

You can't afford a posi, but a detroit locker seems like a good idea ? A detroit locker cost more than a posi, a welded locker isn't a detroit locker. Detroit is a name brand locker that will allow you to turn corners. It will make a racheting sound as you do so as the locker disengages to allow for different wheel speeds. Welded lockers are only good for going straight at best, like straight line mud drags and I wouldn't even do it for that.