Welded Spider Gears

[007]

What's the desired effect when one welds their spider gears?

Is this a good or dumb idea?

I'm not planning on doing it just curious.


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[Torxhead]

I knew a couple of guys that did that with flat fenders. They said it worked pretty good in the dirt but was a bit much going around corners on the street. I would think on heavier CJ with large tires the welds would break though, even on the rocks. I did know a fellow hot rodder that did it on a heavier vehicle and he did break his on the street. They are better known as a "Lincoln Locker".

 

[gutthans]

Welded spiders mimic a locker or spool. This will be a very bad idea on the street. Close examination of the spiders will show porous casting and even external pits/flaws...not the best recipe for a 'No-Give' carrier setup. You can get away with it for awhile, maybe even until you sell it...but if you are one of the unfortunates who blows one out, you'll really regret not springing for at least a lunchbox locker in the first place. You can score a new Lock-Right on ebay for less than $160.

 

[007]

Well I was looking a complete 3.55 Dana 30 /AMC20 combo to swap out (if I decide I need to) and they have an Aussie in the Dana 30 and welded spiders in the AMC20 which I assumed would be a bad plan.

Is it easy enough to pull out the welded spiders and throw in a reasonably priced locker and go?

 

[Torxhead]

I would say not nesscesarily "Go", you might want to check the housing for bends and the wheel bearings. This would be a good time to weld in some bracing to toughen the housing up.

 

[Posi]

Stay away from welded gears for your intended use. I've welded gears before and their best for offroad use only or a drag strip. If you feel a need for more traction offroad a simple luchbox locker is an easy install while installing new gears.

To give you an idea on how easy it is below is a spartan I installed for a front 44

This is an alternative to the Lockright and Aussie. It’s made of 9310 steel and doesn’t use OEM thrust washers. Their typically going for $247 but I found this one for $205. All the warranty work is handled by Randy’s Ring and Pinion.



The driver on the left has the springs already installed in the pins. Once the pins are pushed in I locked them in with the supplied retainer wire.



With the side couplers, spacers, and drivers installed I just pulled out the retainer wires to complete the job.

 

[007]

Stay away from welded gears for your intended use. I've welded gears before and their best for offroad use only or a drag strip. If you feel a need for more traction offroad a simple luchbox locker is an easy install while installing new gears.

To give you an idea on how easy it is below is a spartan I installed for a front 44

This is an alternative to the Lockright and Aussie. It’s made of 9310 steel and doesn’t use OEM thrust washers. Their typically going for $247 but I found this one for $205. All the warranty work is handled by Randy’s Ring and Pinion.

With the side couplers, spacers, and drivers installed I just pulled out the retainer wires to complete the job.

That's nice Posi. Yeah, I had no intention of keeping that in the rear. As you and I have discussed, I'm not sure I need gears period nor am I sure I need lockers - but it's a good education nonetheless.

 

[Old Dog]

007, since I know you do a lot of street driving, I would say to do selectable lockers if you want lockers. ARB, OX or Eaton ELockers would all be good choices..

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Find anydangthing other than a 20.
LG

 

[Petescj]

This just popped up on the Scramber forum today as well. Thought it may fit here.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K4JhruinbWc

 

[IOPort51]

the only thought I have to offer is to give your axles a lot of thought because you are going to drop a bundle of dollars just about any way you go. be sure you know what you want cause you don't want to do it twice.