to weld or not to weld my 8.8 spider gears

[kdm73091]

i have a ranger with the explorer rearend, i am running a link system and i was debating on welding my spider gears together to make it a posi. i dont know if i should because it is my dailly. will it turn my diff into a complete locker? or a posi? or almost a spool? help me out guys.

 

[Captain Air Time]

when you weld it, the differential action is eliminated, making a spool. I wouldn't recommend it for DD. Not that it can't be done - I did for years. Its just that its a pain in the ass, and I wouldn't do it again. Save up the coin for a True Trac or ARB, or search for a junk yard 2000-09 Ranger FX4 with the Torsen(true trac) 4.10 rear end that bolts right in for a few hundred bucks.

 

[DSRacing]

Don't do it. Guaranteed the rear end will come apart and probably cost more to repair the damage than just to do it correctly the first time. Save your money and do it right. Spools themselves are not that expensive to begin with.

 

[cancinoj]

the posi slip found on those 8.8 is good already for off road, why do you want to make it 100% posi if it is your daily, we use that same diff in our racetruck and it works ok,

so, dont doit, it will break

 

[Wendell #527]

There is a correct process of welding them together that makes that part fairly strong. Even if you did it right, though, it would probably break something else in your rear end. Also it will function like a spool and road driving will be sketchy. Don't try it in the rain if you have anybody in the car you care about. I bet you'd spend more money on tires in a few thousand miles than you would have if you'd just got a good TAD or locker to begin with. Anyway that's my 2 cents---don't do it on a DD.

 

[JEFFRPM]

I call welding the diff a "LINCOLN LOCKER" the only time they work Is in a demo derby car and then they only last a short time before an axel snaps off at the spline or the case explodes don't do it

 

[Dezertpilot]

T Also it will function like a spool and road driving will be sketchy. Don't try it in the rain if you have anybody in the car you care about. I bet you'd spend more money on tires in a few thousand miles than you would have if you'd just got a good TAD or locker to begin with.

Road driving is perfectly fine. I DD a spool for at least a year, better have a tire sponsor! In the rain it actually makes it BETTER, you dont get the squealing and the tires slip very nice and controllable. But you can stab the throttle and have fun with it also In short if your drive the vehicle every day it can be annoying, I got some dirty looks from women in the super market parking lots!

 

[loufish]

Road driving is perfectly fine. I DD a spool for at least a year, better have a tire sponsor! In the rain it actually makes it BETTER, you dont get the squealing and the tires slip very nice and controllable. But you can stab the throttle and have fun with it also In short if your drive the vehicle every day it can be annoying, I got some dirty looks from women in the super market parking lots!

I kind of dis-agree with the road manners, you get a lot of push from a street spool...and I'm still a street squirrel in the rain, my last truck(Ranger) had a clutch LSD w/4.10 gears and could be a lot of fun in the rain....but not everybody "adapts" well to that...

My truck before that had a Detroit Locker, 4.10 gears and not much wheelbase....oh and a built 460 B/block....WICKED in the rain...

I know the Ranger is pretty light, but spools(welded) are hard on axle shafts...and tires!