Merry Christmas All

Does a welded rear diff make much difference to the handling chanacteristics of a 40 at highway speeds? I know a locker is best, but I cant get the coin for it. I need to drive for about half an hour from my house to get off road.

Cheers

Ben

Should be fine, i think. lockers originated for drag cars, and they all use spools now, cause you go staight. thats what there there for, that and good burnouts. so unless your talking WINDY ass highway, i think it SHOULD be great.... but thats just what i THINK... :D Matt

Works better than a damn LockRight D:
It will drive straight with no snap,bang or pops and wont give you the unexpected lane change if your not carefull with the throttle.

My .02
rich

Originally posted by MetalMender
Works better than a damn LockRight D:
It will drive straight with no snap,bang or pops and wont give you the unexpected lane change if your not carefull with the throttle.

My .02
rich

Ditto. Do it, you will LOVE it :smokin:

Agreed...I ran an EZ-lock for a couple years, and highway handling could get interesting when that thing would change lanes for me. The welded diff is not noticable at highway speeds, only at low speeds when one tire chirps on a corner. IMO, welded is much nicer.

What they said, I have driven my buds at 65mph+ and it isn't noticeable. The only time you will notice anything is when you turn on asphalt you'll get a little tire squeal.
:D

This is probably different to hear, but I have an EZ in the back of my 55 and I haven't even noticed it on the road.

Maybe the pig is too damn heavy =)

Coming from an open diff I have to say that I am just floored with the increase in offroad performance a rear locker can give.

Good Luck!

I know several people who run welded difs, they all drive the highway to the trail. I've never heard a complaint, and on the trail they are awesome ! Besides you can't beat the price of a Lincoln Locker !

As soon as I find the time I'm going to pull my locker, sell it on Ebay and reinstall my old spiders and weld-em- up !

I don't know that I agree with welding the rear diff. I am kinda knew at this stuff, but what happens if you break an axel shaft? I was on the fordyce trail when I broke one. I had a lockright, which I thought worked great, but was broken beyond repair. I ended up welding the diff to get home to Yuba City. I agree it drove fine on the highway. However, I did experiance a lot of body roll when making the slightest turn. It was really noticiable. Also I have alluminum rims. I don't know if the lug nuts came loose from wheeling or if it was caused by the whhels not being able to slip at all, but I lost one. Pretty scary. I do normally tighten them after I am done wheeling.

Originally posted by DanKunz
This is probably different to hear, but I have an EZ in the back of my 55 and I haven't even noticed it on the road.

Maybe the pig is too damn heavy =)

Coming from an open diff I have to say that I am just floored with the increase in offroad performance a rear locker can give.

Good Luck!
My guess is you have an automatic. I took my locker out and welded it just like the other guys. A locker will be more noticeable when running a real tranny. (manual):p

Originally posted by creatine
I don't know that I agree with welding the rear diff. I am kinda knew at this stuff, but what happens if you break an axel shaft? I was on the fordyce trail when I broke one. I had a lockright, which I thought worked great, but was broken beyond repair. I ended up welding the diff to get home to Yuba City. I agree it drove fine on the highway. However, I did experiance a lot of body roll when making the slightest turn. It was really noticiable. Also I have alluminum rims. I don't know if the lug nuts came loose from wheeling or if it was caused by the whhels not being able to slip at all, but I lost one. Pretty scary. I do normally tighten them after I am done wheeling.

An axel is easier to change with the welded diff than with the lockright as you don't have to fight with the springs and pins to get the drivers out just so you can get to the axel clips to get them out :(

As for more body roll I never noticed a difference and remember that a lockright locks as long as power is tranmitted to it and unlocks when you coast or that damn lane change thing happens :flipoff2:

I never had a wheel come loose but then again I run steel wheels


rich

Originally posted by MetalMender


An axel is easier to change with the welded diff than with the lockright as you don't have to fight with the springs and pins to get the drivers out just so you can get to the axel clips to get them out :(

rich

Well that certainly makes sense to me. I had a hell of a time trying to remove that damn C-clip. And that was from the side of the locker that had a groove for removing it (short side) I don't know what I would of done if it would have been from the long side. Nobody seemed to know how to get that thing apart.

So does anyone know what is the best/easisest locker to put in without the wleding. I am still not sure I like the idea of welding.

I would say just weld the thing, or have someone who knows what they are doing weld it. I think mine actually drives better with the welded diff than it did open. I can let go of the steering wheel at any speed and the thing goes straight, it has no choice. It also stops straighter than ever.

I have a power trax no-slip that was way easy to install. it handles great! It's real quiet. Santa brought me air lockers! I got a guy from portland thats going to buy the lockright i had installed in my front diff. If anyone is intrested in the no-slip, its up for grabs! Its less then a year old, and great shape! $350:eek:

Thanks for the advice everyone.

All I can say is......Psshh Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! That's the sound of a Licoln Locker engaging.;)

Cheers

Ben