For those with welded rear diffs

[jabtronic]

I'm about to weld my rear diff, but from looking at the guide in the faq (here) They havn't completely welded the side gears closed, to allow differentiation between the wheels. Is this recommended or should I just weld the whole thing closed?

In the guide it mentions 3 ways of welding the diff:
Welding the side gears to the spider gears
Filling the side gears with welds
Weld the whole thing together (side gears, spider gears, and then to the diff case)

What option is the most commonly used? And are there any major disadvantages or advantages anyone could tell me about?

[Barathrum]

weld the whole lot solid.
my diff was originally welded to allow some movement. i belive that this movement contributed to a shock load being placed upon the carrier whenever the diff finally loaded up. it resulted in the carrier breaking.

[christover1]

my original was welded with some slack. It lasted 4 years of hard work before it blew up. (just happened).
I believe the knocking back and forth broke half the weld, then the extra slapping about loosened the side cover bolts and they all fell out.. just a theory, tho.
I have now put in a mates welded diff, his was completely filled with weld, with no slack at all, and it drives fine on the road, and looks like it won't ever bust...tho time will tell of course.
christover

[Barathrum]

i'm unsure how long mine lasted for. it was in for about 8months. it was still in and functioning up untill i pulled it out. it all looked really good untill i actually pulled it down complety. then it just fell apart in my hands.

[built4thrashing]

had some one tell me another way but im not sure if it a great idea. he said to fill the gears completey with molten lead. good or bad idea?

[MY45]

Cut out a rectange of steel and put it in the middle between the gears then weld all of the gears to the steel plate...should last for ages.

[Tim D]

buy lockers, they are designed not to brake.

[Guy]

weld it solid .. weld everything to everything ..

[mugginsmoo]

i've got another way.

i heated up the diff carryer with the oxy till it had burnt out all the oil, pulled one of the short pins out,pushed the axle's in to there limit. then filled the whole thing with lead, turn an axle so there are no air bubbles and let it cool. WARNING if ther is any trace of oil, when you pour in the lead you could get an explotion, not to dissimilar to putting water in molten lead!. VARY DANGEROUS

the lead will lock your diff without destroying it, the lead will flog out if you over load the diff, leaving you with an open diff to still drive home on. however after driving on one of these diffs for mor than a year on the road and hard-core off roading i never had to reset the diff, even though it had a little play when i sold that zook. and the diff hadn't been redone for about 4 years.

[tinyterror]

I was thinkin of another way to weld it but im not exactly sure how strong it would be and you would have to be bloody accurate when building it. I was thinkin of getting some tick wall pipe, the OD being just smaller than the diameter of the flat face of a side gear . Cutting the pipe to fit between the two side gears perfectly so the top of the carrier can still be put on properly. Drilling four holes in the side of the pipe ( really accurately) for the spider gear shafts to slide through where they oringinal sit . Then weld the side gears to the pipe ends. This way its like a solid axle. The hardest part would be getting the two side gears directly in line and square when welding, but u could probably build a jig to hold it in place.

Then its just a matter of pissing the spider gears off altogether and putting the "solid axle" in with the four shafts to hold it in the centre.

Doing it this way would mean there would be no slop in the centre because when the side gears turn it puts force on the shafts which will push straight onto hardedned carrier.

I hope someone understands what i mean, if not i'll try and draw it and put some pics up one day. Im still not sure if it will work becuase i don't fully understand diffs. I'm really intereseted to know if someone has done something similar. But for now i'll have to stick with my bolts in the side gear trick becuase i'm not pulling it out for a third time until it blows up. [/b]

[SiKiD_01]

there is an easier alternative to the way mentioned above, as it is exactly what you describe.

it is a mini spool.

get one from the states, they are $99 USD, and would pay off in the long run, as this is not a permanent locker as welding would be. if you decide to sell the zook, you can take it out, and put it in your next one.

[-Mick-]

there is an easier alternative to the way mentioned above, as it is exactly what you describe.

it is a mini spool.

get one from the states, they are $99 USD, and would pay off in the long run, as this is not a permanent locker as welding would be. if you decide to sell the zook, you can take it out, and put it in your next one.

for US 99 + post you're not too far away from a lockwrong though. Better off importing one of those at cost.

Welded doesn't cost anything that's whay people do it

[tinyterror]

far enough. How strong is a minispool say in comparsion with an autolocker? Do the make any noises like an auto locker? and last do you know of anyone who has fitted one and are they happy with the setup?