[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by Jason M

I will say when I do them I dont pull every thing ( bearings, and ring gear ) off when its for a 60 front. I heat it up a little make a pass then let it cool, then repeat that till its welded shut.
Ive even welded some 1/4" flat stock in there to make a bridge from side gear to side gear and then welded that to the spiders.

For a rear 14 bolt ( or HO axle ) its even easyer. I just remove the carrier, spit it apart and weld the spiders and side gears into a ball, then drop it back into the carrier set the carrier back in the axle and adjust the ring.

Its cheap traction, and with full hydro or even hydro assest turning is easy. If you phase the front U-joint in the axle it even makes turning easyer, its like building a drive shaft you would not build it out of phase.

Yes spools are cheaper and lockers are better but this is free and with a little time and effort a welded diff is just as good.

Jason.

This is the dangerous line of thinking that I am completely against.
It is half-a**ed at best...and potentially deadly at worst.
You really need to remove the bearings and ring gear to be able to preheat the carrier enough to do this. If you left them in place they would be damged by the heat....and if they weren't, it wasn't hot enough.

I am still not in favor of the "right way", feeling that it is more work than necessary, when a proper spool is better anyway....but the shakey mess version, No way



BTW, the point of "hard to steer" is not about turning the steering wheel. It is about making the truck actually turn. A spool has a tendancy to "push" the vehicle in a straight line. Spools or even lockers in the front can be a real hand-full...litterally.