weld it!

Hey man

U from ottawa?

I can not wait to try it out lol in the ice ill probly hit another ditch lol.

weld it!

yep, redliners represent!

LOL nice the more the marryer

yep, redliners represent!

Alright, can anyone start throwing the pros and cons of either a weld job or some rear lockers?

steveo

Don't foget a mini spool!  

I think Heather is running one.

Cwkick

Pros

ur truck is a 3 wheel drive not a 4x2 lol in the snow or deep mud
ive noticed  better traction off road

Cons

CLicks around turns and maybe more tire wear

I would never weld a rear diff unless its for off road only also when u weld hardened gears u weaking them. Proven fact

Ive ran a lock rite in the rear and a detroit ez locker in the front for years. The rear took less than a week of driving to get use to, and like mentioned above, now open diff vehicles feel wierd to drive. The lockers have held up great through years of abuse. The only welded diff vehicle I have ever driven pushed through corners and felt wierd for me to drive (forgranted it was a jeep on 35's). As for the snow, etc... Yes the vehicle will slide out easier if you get on it in slick situations. But if you travel slow and steady, you'll find yourself going alot futher in bad situations than the open diffed vehicles.

I personally would make lockers my first upgrade if I was building another vehicle, I would not want to wheel without them.

HTH,
Zig

pro's: it's dirt cheap, (50 bucks if you don't already have a welder),



no clicking, the traction is always there( i hate when a locker engages,  BAAM! that can't be good)



con's: hardened steel and welding is a no-no ( yet I never broke a weld yet!)



on road manners suck



my current locker is a fozzy style locker, I filled in every second tooth in the side gears with blobs of weld so there is a bit of differential action going on but not much, alot of loading and unloading on the trail causing  lots of wear on the spider gears,



the only reason I did it this way is cuz I got alot of spare kick sidegears kickin around and is cheaper to replace than a whole carrier that has been welded to the gears.  hasn't failed me yet, but I bring a spare 3rd when I'm on the trail

I hear many complaints from people with lockers.  
Old age, developing funky habbits locking somthimes in corners and not other times, act crazy once the housing gets distorted, bad / weak springs, pins, ect.  

I have not heard anyone complain who has welded their Diff .   Most of the bad press is from people who have not done it (Haters).  Yes the facts about heat hardening, slag contamination, & tire wear are true.  But I've wheeld 4 FREE welded diffs with no breakage, and no damage or wear issues.  My truck respons the same way in every corner and the time it takes to learn the respoonse of a welded rear v/s locker on the road is the same.  Once you weld it you learn to drive it a little different.    

Don't foget a mini spool!  

I think Heather is running one.

Cwkick

NOPE NOT NO MORE. SHE TWISTED AN AXLE & TOOK IT OUT.

i don't ahve over 500 miles on my tracker with a welded diff and i had to change axle shafts.  still have them for trail spares but the are like 1.5 splines off :-/ the bottom line, if your tracker is you DD, DON'T DO IT

stu

I saw Stu's axles shafts, the welded diff didn't like pulling out the Full size blazer!!  

I saw Stu's axles shafts, the welded diff didn't like pulling out the Full size blazer!!  

 what are you talking about?   i've never pulled fullsize trucks out of any ponds with it.

stu  

yah yah....