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hi all,ive had a couple of zooks now for bout 2 and ahalf years with welded rear diffs at times(if they arent broken,or rego )neither one has been a DD and normally only has a quick drive to the bush on weekends
my question is are they any worse off driving up the highway than around town as i have never ventured maybe more than 70kms from town in the little toy but am hoping to do a few camping trips soon further away from home.
does heat become a big issue or anything else or would town and cornering,parking be more of a hassle.If anyone could let me know that would be great thanks
sierra truggy,37 sticky treps,propane,6.5s and disconnect,lux diffs with spools,16" fox shox,hydro steer.
Driving up the highway with a welded diff is the same as an open one, it is when you go around corners that the welded differential can not differentiate you will "chirp" the tyres a bit going around roundabouts and "chirp" a lot in car parks with shiny smooth concrete , the only issue you will have is in the wet but if you have already been driving one you know what i mean welded rears rock.
Peter.
Cable bracing is the way of the future!
v840 said "That sounds like a booty fab, hack job piece of shit no offence."
my vitara 94 is my daliy driver, had a welded diff in for over 2 years now, went great, great fun in the wet.. i am from sydney, done 3 trips to qld(one to fraser) car went great..
only problem is you dont want to go with tryes that are too big, only started having problems when i put 31x10.5's and aired down to around 5psi kept snapping passengers side rear axels-2 in one weekend!!
so i had to choose put 29's back on with wedled diff or 31's with open
i chose 31's with open centres(its actually more fun off road because u cant just drive straight up things u really need to think and pick your lines)
fixing that prob and putting landcruiser 60's seried diffs under it soon:) prob going 35's
I found I twisted axles (same size as Sierra) and broke x-fer mounts and that's with a 2 stroke motor. I thought it drove okay though, about 350 km bitumen run to LCMP and back.
both my zuks that have had these welded diffs when i have taken them out the axles have always been perfect,no twists or anything,spline is fine and that with alot of town driving and bush bashing but its something to keep an eye on
sierra truggy,37 sticky treps,propane,6.5s and disconnect,lux diffs with spools,16" fox shox,hydro steer.
Mine used to be a DD incuding 100km per day on the motorway
Wet roads are not too good and more care needs to be taken.
And be prepared for everybody at service stations to stare at you. Tyres squeal when you drive on concrete or tight turns at slow speed
[url=http://www.4x4masters.com.au/]Australian 4X4 Masters Series website[/url]
non illegitimi carborundum!
[url=http://www.suzuki4wd.com.au/forum/]Suzuki 4wd Club of NSW forum[/url]
when i had my welded diff i did 140km/hr average and a small burst of 160km/hr along a stretch of road, lots of mud/rock/gravel driving, heaps of sideways in the wet and dry on and offroad, and a lot of quick gearbox thrashing gear changes, all be it running 215/75r15 HT tyres - but i never had an issue - looking back on some of that stuff it was outright mental to be doing, but none the less i never had any issues (other than a speeding fine and loss of 6 points =)
alien wrote: heaps of sideways in the wet and dry on and offroad, and a lot of quick gearbox thrashing gear changes, all be it running 215/75r15 HT tyres - but i never had an issue - looking back on some of that stuff it was outright mental to be doing, but none the less i never had any issues (other than a speeding fine and loss of 6 points =)
Have been driving now for about 2 months with a rear welded diff.
That includes 5 days a week of a 20km return journey to work. And off-road about 3-4 times.
On road - it is un-noticable above 20 km/h.
At slow speed the turning circle is a bit bigger, and during tight parking you can hear the inner wheel slipping. Its really not that bad at all. My tyres dont squeal, or skip/bounce like some people experience with theirs.
As for wet roundabouts and corners, a lot of people say the car will drift very very easily. I've found this not to be 100% true (maybe those people have crap tyres and/or poor suspension and steering set-ups). In normal driving it wont slide, it only will if i purposely try. Either by going too fast into the turn, or by purposely revving mid turn. In other words, it wont slide unless i want it to.
My response to this is, if you purposely try to drift a lifted, mud tyred, short wheelbased 4x4 you honestly deserve a kick to the groin.
Offroad - Big increase in traction in all conditions. Simple.
Makes tracks which you previously struggled to do, easy.
As for bad side effects, on slippery gravel roads in 2wd the car is more 'tail happy'. Sticking it into 4wd usually stops this, although in 2wd it still feels very controllable.
Mines a 90 WT Sierra. Lifted approx 6". 33" s/stone Xtremes. I run 30 psi in rear tyres since welding diff.
well mate looks like you will probably want to kick a lot of us in the groin then plenty of rainy nights have been spent out lapping roundabouts getting our drift on haha.good fun
sierra truggy,37 sticky treps,propane,6.5s and disconnect,lux diffs with spools,16" fox shox,hydro steer.
It seems the bigger and more agressive the rubber the more transparent the welded rear becomes.
I noticed this when I was running an auto locker (then welded) rear in mine, swapping from 35 claws to 31 MT's the locker was far more intrusive in every day driving.
" If governments are involved in the covering up the knowledge of aliens, Then they are doing a much better job of it than they do of everything else "
interesting to note the tyre thing- now with the arb locker i've experimented on wet roads and with my muddies it really is less like its locked, however the snapping point is really fine as before between a controlled corner to suddenly facing 90 degrees where you'd intended to be... but, as mike_nofx said, it required throttle at just the wrong (right) moment... a controlled, subtle pedal movement produces a slow subtle slide, no movement produces nothing at all if not bordering on understeer - although it doesnt seem to eventuate.
)neither one has been a DD and normally only has a quick drive to the bush on weekends
you will "chirp" the tyres a bit going around roundabouts and "chirp" a lot in car parks with shiny smooth concrete , the only issue you will have is in the wet but if you have already been driving one you know what i mean 
welded rears rock.
