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Has anyone tried welding there spider gears together to make a locker in there rear end. I saw a shade tree mechanic doing it to his jeep. Doesn't look like a good idea, but just curious if anyone hear has tried it.
We used to do that on destruction derby cars. Moving the cars around on pavement was an experiance since one tire had to slip and slide around corners.
Lots of people try it. It's not recommened unless you seriously limit the amount of pavement the truck sees. For an off-road only rig, I think it's a great (and cheap) way to put a locker in.
If you decide to go that way, you should roll the carrier over and weld the other side as well.
alot of people do this....I do not recommend it at all
the heat from the welding process crystalizes the cast iron in the diff./carrier and weakens the assembly, we do this on our derby and figure eight cars, and have blown more than one diff apart due to the weakened parts.....if you are looking for a cheap method of locking up those axles......look into a spool....same effect for around a hundred bucks, and much more reliable.....just make sure you've got decent axles
my .02
-max
what does a spool do exactly? I hear people talk about them alot, but then there is always someone that chimes in and says to just spend the extra money for a detroit or some other cable, air, or elec. locker. I'm not really looking to tear my truck up by I'm also not going to spend 500 bucks for a detroit, I just won't go in that deep of mud if that's the case.
My factory LS unit isn't there anymore, I changed the fluids out with ampsoil about 25k ago, it seemed to help for about 3k but I think my cluthes are just worn out with 100k on it now. If a cheap alternative is a spool, I could use some pointers...
DON'T use a spool on a street vehicle or on any high traction suface only
for drag racing and mud are spools acceptable, and welding spider gears is just like a spool only weaker so you best bet would be to buy a qiuk lock or lock rite there
cheap and strong
Welding is an option, but only good if you're cheap, don't mind having a higher chance of breaking down and don't spend a lot of time making tight turns on pavement.
The best way to weld them is to pre-heat, weld, then allow to cool slowly. Many guys don't do this and end up with weaker units than if it were done right.
I'm running a broken (welded up) detroit locker in a POS Dana 35 in my Jeep Cherokee. So far so good, but I don't drive on the pavement much. Chances are I'll snap an axle before breaking the diff.