How to weld you diff (lock it)

[pjdm1980]

Does any one know how to lock a diff, i want to lock the rear diff in my 4X4?
Do i weld the spider gears of what?
I've got a non gas mig

[padrickz88]

Like this and you should be fine

[H1GHROLLR]

ha ha ha ha ha ha

[pjdm1980]

good security device saves putting an alarm in!

[DANNY8]

Weld the spider gears up, pretty much everything inside the centre.

[pjdm1980]

thanks mate

[delcowizzid]

mig isnt the best due to the oil that has impregnated the steel and the last thing you want is the welding coming undone it the middle of the wapwaps best take the nugget out clean the oil off really well then fire it in the oven or other heating sorce and get it hot then get the good old ark welder out crank it up high i mean high high then goto work with as much weld as you can at once you dont want to stop really get the heat in there.there are some pics on here of a nice little metal plate someone made to go in the spider gears which is a lot stronger than just welds.

[vkberlina]

mig isnt the best due to the oil that has impregnated the steel and the last thing you want is the welding coming undone it the middle of the wapwaps best take the nugget out clean the oil off really well then fire it in the oven or other heating sorce and get it hot then get the good old ark welder out crank it up high i mean high high then goto work with as much weld as you can at once you dont want to stop really get the heat in there.there are some pics on here of a nice little metal plate someone made to go in the spider gears which is a lot stronger than just welds.

Or just do it the old fashioned way chuck in a handfull of old nuts & bolts & weld them in while your at it
I like the idea of firing the bits to burn out the old oil. Just dont get it too hot to change the composition of the metal gears or you could make them soft.

cheers
Scott

[DANNY8]

If ur gonna go to all that trouble u may as well spend $100 and chuck a minispool in lol.

[Cobez]

If ur gonna go to all that trouble u may as well spend $100 and chuck a minispool in lol.

Was just about to say that. A spool would be much stronger than welding it. 8 times out of 10 when people weld their diffs, they take it out and 2 houses down the street BANG!!! the weld breaks.

Easier, cheaper and less dodgy putting a spool in and it will last longer. If you are going to have the diff apart welding it, do it properley and spool it.

[padrickz88]

Was just about to say that. A spool would be much stronger than welding it. 8 times out of 10 when people weld their diffs, they take it out and 2 houses down the street BANG!!! the weld breaks.

Easier, cheaper and less dodgy putting a spool in and it will last longer. If you are going to have the diff apart welding it, do it properley and spool it.

*pats on back*


his a thinker lmao...... might aswell spool it, just concider (sp?) it extra security for only a $100

[vkberlina]

*pats on back*


his a thinker lmao...... might aswell spool it, just concider (sp?) it extra security for only a $100

COme on Spend a little more and have fun with an LSD

[Pub247]

he asked about a 4x4 so i doubt theres a cheap spool out there for them. Being a welder myself i agree with delcowizard with a gasless mig your not going to get enough penetration. Best way to do it is weld a plate intothe centre small enough that you weld al the way around it preferebly 6mm thick or more. Arc welder would be the best option as they have the best penetration properieties.
you could do it with a mig but a high power with with at least 200amps would be needed. You may get away with yours at full amperage make sure you use a plate otherwise itll break the weld pretty easily

[greenfoam]

You know how master qui gon melted the door in phatom menace ? that's how you do it with a arc welder and heaps of amps. But really the best diff locking I ever saw was my old boss pouring molten zinc into one. It was so clean and nice, no damage to the diff and locked solid forever (was for a speedway car and it's still holding)

[pjdm1980]

If ur gonna go to all that trouble u may as well spend $100 and chuck a minispool in lol.

Cheapest spool i could find was $400 bucks and the hole thing only cost me a grand so i'll give the welding a plate idea go, i've got a mate with an industrial arc and mig just didn't think i'd need it.
Thanks for the guys

[delcowizzid]

yip mig = fail all the time mig doesnt like oil or unclean surfaces

[kp123]

what you wanna do is fill it with lighter fluid and wash it round a bit to get the majority of the oil out then our a bit more in and light it let it burn out. weld it using an arc welder as it creates less splutter to damage surrounding gears use 77 grade rods for high tensile steel. weld the 4 gears in the spider cluster together and fill the gap right up so its kinda level and then fill the diff with lime and leave over night to cool. the lime will cool the metal much slower making the welds heaps stronger and less likely to crack etc. thouroughly wash all lime from diff when cold.some people use plates inside the cluster but this is not advisable due to the fact that you can never match it to the gears properly and the heat distorts and pulls it around trying to match up weakining the gear set. this was the way i welded the diff behind a 500hp limited saloon running a 350 chev and its never gone wrong

[illusionalvr]

the new zealand miner.

[Pickled]

Cheapest spool i could find was $400 bucks and the hole thing only cost me a grand so i'll give the welding a plate idea go, i've got a mate with an industrial arc and mig just didn't think i'd need it.
Thanks for the guys

You can get a minispool centre on eBay for $80~

[DANNY8]

Maybe get a 4WD Systems Lokka.....they do them for a lot of 4wd's (not MJ Tritons tho ). They're around the $500-$600 mark, but would be worth it. They lock and unlock automatically. It won't engage going around a corner (unless ya give it stick), but if ya break traction or anything where one wheel tries to spin more then the other it locks in...works off the force applied to each wheel or sumfin. If one wheel slows down or speeds up from turning a corner the force is coming from the wheel....but if ya give it shit the force is from the driveline so it locks........sumfin like that anyways lol.