Topic: welded diffs

[baldwookie]

ok ive searched high an low havent come up with the answer to my concerns on this one......

ive read how to weld the rear diff, but none have really said how this works on a dd.... is it odd driving? wear tires?

my truck is just a stock 86' 31" a/t tires,  its either i weld the rear or go aussie.... but if i can save 230$ an spend it on another upgrade be all the better....    any help would be greatly appreciated

[Skinny_Pedal]

yeah it sucks. tire wear you notice, rain and snow your all over the road....on turns i mean. it gets dam annoying. i had a welded rear in the back of my current truck and it just broke, i couldnt be happier, now i can put a open unit back there. and if your gonna weld dont do it like the guy who previously owned my truck did it, that happened on the street

[crawlerdan]

i did it to my daily driver and its great, i got a 37 inch tire though, you will wear tires more agressivly, and chirp in parking lots...but my truck handles the same...doesnt get scary in snow-ice -or rain-and hasnt worn the tires at all in 6 months of day to day driving. tyhe larger the tire you have the less you will notice a welded diff on the road or its problems

[Skinny_Pedal]

i run 32's on my dd. i was heading over the pass and my ass end decided it should be up front. taking corners wasn't fun...im so happy its out of there, and if your gonna run 31's id say flop it.

[TopStreet]

Welded Rear Here!

Love it! You learn to steer with the gas more than with a LSD or alike due to the back kickin around. Very, Very predictable. Example: if you are in a muddy or snowy condition and have one tire way off the ground... You can really rely on that other tire getting the exact same amount of force as the other. This really makes it smooth and steady when you are off road.

BTW: I am on 37" MTRs. You did notice it a lot more when I had the 31"s but still would do it again without another thought.

Just my

[S-10 Stewy]

Mine are welded up as well and I wish it weren't (this is why I am about 2 weeks away from installing my E-loc).   It pushes the front end around something terrible. Corners suck at high speeds, kind of gets a little squirrelly.  I am guessing my short 102" wheelbase adds to the overall crappy handling.

Others may not have problems with larger tires but my little 36" TSL bicycle tires don't like it.   For an 80% wheeler 20% street rig: absolutely!

[CTENG in KS]

Mines welded, makes my 35 boggers scrub a bit, but on the road I don't even notice.  So it turns a wee bit wider, I do no care...weld is all I will ever do in the rear of a rig...spend the $$ on the front.

[skid]

Weld it up.  If you don't like it, save for a locker.   Seems like you will either love it or hate it.   Drive mine dailey with out a complaint.  Squeals on concrete and hops once in a while on sharp corners.

[CTENG in KS]

Weld it up.  If you don't like it, save for a locker.   Seems like you will either love it or hate it.   Drive mine dailey with out a complaint.  Squeals on concrete and hops once in a while on sharp corners.

Spoken like a zen master...I concur!

[baldwookie [OP]]

thnx guys,  tink im gonna try it... save that 230 for sas/dual cases/  something else to add to my wheelin fun

[Rocksurfer]

Ran a welded diff in my 84 with 33's, weld that sucker, I'm going to get a spool myself. But it isn't my DD, I do drive it to the trail and flat-tow.

[S-10 Stewy]

I had originally welded mine not to save a few bucks but because I had plans to up grade to a 9 inch Ford so dropping the $$$ for the Detroit did not make sense.  My junk sees 75% of its use off of the street so the welded diff is tolerable, just a pain is all.  Oh yeah, the tire wear is somewhat noticeable, the nice sharp edges on those TSL's are all rounded off.

[Hyena]

I use to dd mine all the time.  37's and a welded rear weren't bad at all.  It was actually kinda fun.  Although my engine has no power so that could help.

[whiteman]

Weld it, in the rear at least.
I would not recomend welding the front.


If you weld it right it wont break.  Take your time and don't over heat the carrier because you can roast your bearings.

My 4-Runner had a welded rear, and it made a huge difference off road.  I had 32" M/T's.
If you have problems with losing your ass end , I suggest you learn how to drive, there is a sport called drifting and it is not that hard.

I will be using the same rear end out of my runner in my 85 pick-up with 35" boggers.  No worries here.


Do it!

[John Dibble]

i welded my diffs and i have never had any problem the only thing you might have a problem is that it your rig has alot of mills on it your pinion bearings will get allot of slop in them. this happened to a friend of mine and he had to replace the bearings because they wear to sloppy

[yotaboy79]

do it ive ran mine for ruffly a year daily driving it with out any problems just dont get the carrier to hot let it cool between each weld my first one i didnt and just weldid it all at the same time and i didnt realize it at the time but it warped my carrier and caused the r&p to break just weld the spiders togeather i dont recommend welding them to the case cuz thats where your going to start warping stuff