Do you have to remove the carrier to weld the spiders on a Dana 30? From what I understand you just have to clean it up real good, protect the ring gear and weld the spiders together? I really don't see a need to pull the axles and pull out the carrier? Am I wrong? BTW:flipoff2: I know its not a 60 but hopefully there will be one soon:D

What vehicle is this going under? I hope its not a yj or tj. If the axle is not full floating, truning in 4-lo while on slickrock (or anything that gives you no slip) would be a nightmare because of that :rainbow: vacuum disconnect thingie. But anyways, I know of people that welded their 30 with the carrier in the housing. Just be VERY careful. Don't weld the spiders to the carrier, and dont spray brake cleaner in the diff and strike an arc just afterward... BOOM!! My buddy that welded his 30 made several "passes" on each weld, letting them cool a little between. Good Luck.

Well, Its under my YJ but I do have that posi-lock thing so I can disengage the passenger side axle. I was planning of using brake-kleen but making sure it was all evaporated first, does this sound ok:question:

I welded mine in the diff, with no problems. Just weld the shit out of the spider gears and call it good. With the posi loc you will love the new locker. I ran the same setup for 2 years and it worked great.

Hey 1trickYJ, Did you upgrade to 297x joints or stick with the 260's? What size tires and gears did you have? What type of wheeling did you do? I am wondering if my 260 joints are going to sound like rice krispies:eek: I am running 33" BFG Mt's SOA and Mainly go rockcrawling, and we got some serious rocks here in AZ.:D

Originally posted by Scott Maiden
Hey 1trickYJ, Did you upgrade to 297x joints or stick with the 260's? What size tires and gears did you have? What type of wheeling did you do? I am wondering if my 260 joints are going to sound like rice krispies:eek: I am running 33" BFG Mt's SOA and Mainly go rockcrawling, and we got some serious rocks here in AZ.:D My jeep already has the 297 u-joints i was running 33" TSL and then 35" SX. Most of my wheelin is rock crawlin but as I'm sure you know our rocks are normally covered in water and mud so there is very little traction.

Scott, i'm considering the same mod on my D30. TWo things I need to consider before doing this mod are the strength of my welds and the strength of the 260 U-joints and stock axles. What kind of amps you welding with and will you upgrade the axle/U's?
Randy's www.ring-pinion.com now makes chromemoly axles for the D30. The $$ saved on a locker might need to be spent on axles