Welded Diff's

[FieroJones]

Ok, I know all about them. The good, the bad, the ugly... And I liked them. My CJ had them, and i liked having 4wd mean 4wd. Does anyone know of how to do this ( i had the CJ's done ) or have some good step by step, idiot-proof, directions with pictures of where to weld? Thanks so much guys!!

-Karl

 

[spencurai]

here is what the resident expert on zuks has to say about welding. this is glenn wakefield and he runs rocky road outfitters. when this guy has something to say about thing to not do, you listen. and i quote;

Welding your diff is no way to save money.

You would not believe the amount of calls we get from guys looking for
complete diffs because they completely grenaded theirs by welding. Of course
there's always that guy somewhere out there on the internet talking about
how okay it is to do because his hasn't blown up..... yet.

It does happen though, alot! Then you gotta take 'doing it right' money and
go back to square 1 by sporting for a new diff and/or gears. Just be smart
doing it right from the get-go and be 1 step ahead of the game in the long
run.


To answer the question in the subject header. On my vehicles, its front
locker first. Reason is that no matter how much I'd like to have the extra
benefit of the locker in back, we really do love to drive ours around town,
the highway, on a daily basis. A rear locker can be a pain for a daily
driver. With the front locker, good driving will still get you thru most
trails and you don't know its there the other 99.97% of the time you're
driving your Samurai.

Glenn Wakefield
www.rocky-road.com
Rocky Road Outfitters -- Top 10 "All Star Manufacturers" in the U.S. -- Four
Wheeler Magazine.

to sum it up, dont weld gears on a zuk. on other vehicles it might be ok but we are dealing with "cute" little parts and very tight tolerances. i have had to replace my rear diff just because it was hammered from over 130000 miles of use. it cost me 150$. that is a lot of money for me right now. when i got the new rear diff, i put in a locker and it cost me 189$. i did it because i was already in there. having the ability to let thet locker let loose in a parking lot is so fricking nice. you will kick yourself when it comes time to replace that rear diff because it was welded. dont do it!!!

but then again if you are feeling brave and if you still had your spare zuk with lost o spare parts, i would say you have nothing to lose.


BTW

when are we gonna do a spring over on that zuk. lets get down to business and get it done. i have another guy who is getting his done too. if you wanted to, we could knock em both out in no time. let me know

801-514-5407
spence clements
IrOnWoRkS 4X4

i was the guy whose brother bought your spare zuk and i am the that was going to make you zome kick ass bumpers but you never called me back

 

[goin4xn]

If you realy want a solidly connected rear end just buy a spool. It's relatively cheap and you know it's SOLID. Welding the spider gears (aka lincoln locker) will just cause you grief when the welds let go and you end up blowing your whole rear end.

My suggestion is to spend a little money now and do it right with either a spool or a locker (lockrites are great and cheap).
Scott

 

[Skyetone]

I welded up a toy. it cracked and kinda broke. Used a hot stick too. Then I got the torch out and heated up the coating on the spiders and got em glowing hot. Then hit em again with the HOT stick. It looked really killer to me but my buddie whines of clanking. So I dunno. I have heard a few places that you need to heat up the spiders to glowing temp that you can see under the helmet then weldem. As many places as possible. Plus a few hav put in some 1/4 plat that just fits inside the spiders so that you can do a seam weld to the entire spider, as apposed to the corners. HTH

 

[spencurai]

lockright for samurai - 200$ max
new diff and gears if you screw up welding it, 250$ min

you do the math.

 

[bb88]

I agree w/ Spence, welding the diffs is not a good idea, I have seen lots of welded diffs let go in different applications.

 

[spencurai]

hey brett, i saw your kick at sky's while it was being worked on, i tried to talk the wife into a solid axled kick but i couldn't get the words out through the drool!!! it turned out bad ass, way better idea than the junk-yard dog zuks!!! i cant wait to see it in action with some gears !!!

 

[Ant]

5 years and many trails (rubicon, fordyce, sledgehammer, jackhammer, wreckingball, etc... 50+ trips) later my welded front and rear are both holding up fine. I think you guys might not know how to weld properly. I do have to say tho I broke more than my share of front shafts, and steering a welded front is nearly impossible. I'll never weld a front again.

How to:
Weld everything.... EVERYTHING. Weld all 4 gears to the case and weld all 4 gears to each other. Weld all the way around each gear. To much heat can warp the diff so be carfull.

Ant

 

[Ryan]

Originally posted by Ant
steering a welded front is nearly impossible. I'll never weld a front again.

How to:
Weld everything.... EVERYTHING. Weld all 4 gears to the case and weld all 4 gears to each other. Weld all the way around each gear. To much heat can warp the diff so be carfull.

Ant

Ditto. On both points.

Hey Ant, just read the Carnage on the Con article in 4WDSU. Good stuff.