i think if you just tacked the top of the gears , maybe, but you most likely would have to take something apart to clean up the gears.
being a welder you know the heat stress of welding may make the metal brittle.
i wander how much a mini spool would cost to have put in.
im no mechanic by any means but did buy gears for both toyotas. i went from factory 411 to 529 in one and 411 to 488 in the other.
got gearsfrom motive gear for like 400$ for front and back.
they had good instructions and i took my time and got them set up good.
i ran them both for 4 or 5 years then sold the trucks.
on the other hand a friend bought the same 529 gears and set them up his self,
in about a week you could hear a bad noise.
we pulled the cover off and the gears were wore to the point you could cut your self on them. total loss in 6 or 7 days.
he had to buy new gears and take it to a local shop.
ditto on hating the wire gun, i drug up a job that was welding 20" olets on 36" pipe with wire guns, you could stand there and burn your eyes out of your hear and still have miles of wire left on the spool .lol

 

Welded spiders is one of the most dangerous things you can run on the street. Lockers and true-tracs both put traction to both wheels but the the locker has a more positive engagement. The true-trac is a better set up for a street driven vehicle as it works from the resistance of the helical gears trying to turn inside. Go to Eatons web site and you can see videos of how they both work.

 

All automatic lockers lock and unlock. This is allows the wheels to turn and different speeds when turning. This locking/unlocking can be, and often is a pretty violent action. I think the size and weight of a SD should dampen some of the effect and the thick housing may muffle the sound.

Spools are the only thing that are 100% locked 100% of the time.

 

The welded diffs I have seen fail all shattered the gears and/or exploded the carrier.

 

I have had many types of lockers and LSD diffs and have broken most all of them.
Detroit locker, truetrac, Elec-trac, Welded, Spool, minispool, auburn locker, quaif, powertrax, arb airlocker. And I'm sure others.
All were in a variety of street cars, race cars, trucks, offroad trucks, and performance trucks.
I gotta say that if you tow heavy loads like me, you won't like the Detroit or powertrax or welded. They will not disengage or allow the inside tire to turn slower around the corner. The way they work requires an unloaded state to unlock. So if you are under power when you getto the turn and continue to power around it, it will not unlock.
A welded or spOol or minispool won't break axles just normal driving. I've never broke one in my work truck towing a 16000lb tractor around.

The welded diff is tricky. You need to do it right or else you will reduce the strength of the carrier. And then it does kinda put some extra stress on the spider pin because it's not dividing the load anymore.

Personally I'd go with a helical diff. The truetrac is a very nice example. It will power both tires in and out of the corners much better then the locker. Much easier on equipment when towing and will not screw you like a clutch type LSD on ice.

 

Why would you want to Micky-Mouse your nice truck?

Do it right the first time. It's cheaper. Really.

Pop

 

Pop.... Your right... Your all right. I should have done this in the first place and explained what I use the truck for and what I want a locker for. Most of my driving is done on the road unloaded, I tow but not enough to even have a tow tune, I just put it in stock and have at it. I use it for work to carry my wide variety of tools driving between 30-150 miles a day (I get sent to different places all over the place). Now where the locker comes in at... On the weekends I use the truck for what Ive built it for... Mud, dirt, sand pulling dead trees out of my back yard to cut up, racing, looking good, showing off in general... you guys get the point, its my weekend warrior that gets a change of attitude come Monday morning right back to being my DD. Like Ive said in another thread I could get by with a half ton truck but I got this truck because its a diesel, reliable, and can do all things I ask of it and never give me any crap a gasser cant do that Ive tried

 

I forgot to add the fact that I also put snow tires on my truck during the winter at first snow fall. I have a set on Yokohama geolandar I/Ts 315/75... I figured I should add that reading the other rear end thread thats going on tonight because I live in Michigan where it snows.....

 

For what your doing and where you live, you will probably be happier open. The only thing I would recommend if really think you need to locked is a selectable locker. Being locked in snow is really as bad as people say.

 

Anyone want to buy a Detroit locker lol. So in all of your opinions should I get the tru track? The L/S isn't worth a dog turd in my truck

 

Keep the Detroit. It's a great piece. Just be careful going around icy or dirty corners and rolling coal. It will spin one tire, lock the other and make one hell of a clunk. It can take it... I've abused a Detroit in a d60 rear for 15 years now and it's great. I've snapped both axles off before, but other then that, no issues.