Okay darnit, where the heck is it? It showed the side gears welded to the spiders only where they touch, and no welding to the case at all....

That is the absolute strongest way, right?

only pic i got is of it welded to the carrier as well

I saw a writeup like that on that Colorado K5 webpage...

Good luck,
CJ

:D
http://www.coloradok5.com/main/spidermain.jpg

Originally posted by Drew Persson
Okay darnit, where the heck is it? It showed the side gears welded to the spiders only where they touch, and no welding to the case at all....

That is the absolute strongest way, right?

No, IMO this is not the strongest way. Welding the spiders like they talk about in the article and then welding the spiders to the sides and the welding the sides to the carrier would be the strongest.

Also, they say the reason to do this would be that if you wanted to convert back to open, all you would have to do is replace the spiders you welded on. It seems to me that this way would also destroy the side gears over time because of the play. It might even go so far as to start breaking teeth on the side gears. So you would have to buy side gears too, and by the time you bought all that, a new carrier would be the same price. It it seems to me that most wheeler would only convert to a locker and not go back open so either the carrier would be scrapped anyways or you would have to buy a new one to throw a locker inside of. Anyone following my thinking on this?

Originally posted by 44Runner


No, IMO this is not the strongest way. Welding the spiders like they talk about in the article and then welding the spiders to the sides and the welding the sides to the carrier would be the strongest.

Also, they say the reason to do this would be that if you wanted to convert back to open, all you would have to do is replace the spiders you welded on. It seems to me that this way would also destroy the side gears over time because of the play. It might even go so far as to start breaking teeth on the side gears. So you would have to buy side gears too, and by the time you bought all that, a new carrier would be the same price. It it seems to me that most wheeler would only convert to a locker and not go back open so either the carrier would be scrapped anyways or you would have to buy a new one to throw a locker inside of. Anyone following my thinking on this?

I agree!

And here's the link w/ more pics: http://www.coloradok5.com/welded14bolt.shtml

Yeah, it's on the main page right now, I think the person that wrote that wanted a "something for right now" kind of thing, I'm not real sure about welding a 14-bolt though, a Detroit is only 300. for them and you wouldn't have to worry about welds breaking loose and destroying everything else.

I'm not sure if you guys realize but a New Dana 60 carrier is approx $60 and a New 14 bolt one is approx $250. Since some people weld their gears until they can afford a locker, it makes sense as to why they don't want to weld the spiders to the case.;)

I had this pic, don't know what site it came off though.

http://pages.prodigy.net/mattw23/locker4.jpg

do a search in the land cruiser section. nolen has posted the pic you are talking about. i weld the spiders and the side gears to the case myself.

The strongest way I've ever seen (IMHO) was done in a Toy 4cyl. diff. It was like you posted, but he also added a 1/4" metal plate (blue line) and burned that to the spider and side gears.

But that only works in a 2-pinion diff, where you have excellent acces to the guts. You probably can't get into the case of a 4-pinion diff to weld it that way.

Originally posted by SwampTJ
I had this pic, don't know what site it came off though.

http://pages.prodigy.net/mattw23/locker4.jpg


This is how I did mine on a dana44 on 33's on my daily driver :D held up so far :shrug: went wheeling and got on it pretty good. everything held up A-OK be sure to glob both sides till it starts to drip then let it cool then add more. I did a front and my rear same method and both have held. good luck you will not regret it. It is extremely tolerable on the street but then again I live where it doesnt snow/ice at all. :rolleyes: Anyway go for it.

The reason I say just do the spider gears like above is that the mod is reversable and you are not welding two types of metal togther, which in my opinion offers a weak point if you only have a MIG welder like I use.

If you have a stick it is not that big of a deal to weld the spider gears to the carrier.

Do it like the picture above and you will not break it!

I just did my rear

Tigged the gears to the case, then MIGed the crap out of everything else, and THEN added a 3/16 plate and migged it also, its difficult to pic this diff up with one hand now, I must have added several pounds of filler.

the TIG 1st pass
http://bbs.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/9-662218-dif1.JPG

after MUCH more MIG welding, finished

http://bbs.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/9-681819-weldif1.JPG

Originally posted by SwampTJ
I had this pic, don't know what site it came off though.

http://pages.prodigy.net/mattw23/locker4.jpg

I welded my rear in the cruiser like this. It held for a while but eventually broke a spider tooth. Now it resembles some what of a Baseball sized weld in the carrier. Holds up well.

Originally posted by GloNDark


I welded my rear in the cruiser like this. It held for a while but eventually broke a spider tooth. Now it resembles some what of a Baseball sized weld in the carrier. Holds up well.


Cept for the pinions :flipoff2:

did you ever get a replacement pinion yoke??

I welded mine at each point where the spiders touch. I then removed the cross shaft, spun the spiders and welded up any open points on the top and bottom. I tested it out this Sunday and spent all day at 4k on my 4.0. Didn't break. Which really surprised the hell out of me seeing as how it is a POS 35...

Got about 10 years on mine....daily driver. Most the lincolns that I've seen break were not welded to the case. In my opinion welding to the case makes the unit stronger as a whole. Just doing the spidergears puts all your faith into the x-pin. No different than a mini spool.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mikiteb/bb/w14a.jpg

I'm not seeing any particular trend here, which way to do it...
:smokin: