Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

driving a welded diff on hard surface in a TJ?

4K views 44 replies 14 participants last post by  zjj 
#1 ·
I own a 56 Chevy sedan built for straight line racing.... it is spooled in the rear with sticky drag radials that are 10" wide. I drive on the streets (not in the rain) all the time. NO issues. Turns a bit hard but to be expected at slow speeds.
I'm wondering how a 4" lifted TJ would drive with in 2wd obviously on hard surface roads at say 25 to 30 mph and then maybe at hwy speeds to get to the trail system? It has 35" Dick Cepek Extreme Countries on it as well.
 
#4 ·
Spools are very predictable on the street so long as you behave when driving with them. I have a couple friends with welded diffs (spools) who daily drive their TJs with them. I would not want to drive with a spool on icy or snow-covered roads but I wouldn't worry about it that much on the pavement.
 
#6 ·
Well, depends on the axle. Weld up a stock ‘35 and you can kiss the shafts goodbye in short order.

I personally would not want to live with a spool on the street - even with an axle that could take it. Too much drama in the turns, especially with a set of big, sticky rubber.
 
#7 ·
I did it for a few months when my Detroit broke. I put in a mini spool in my 8.8 to make a trip and driving it on the road wasn’t bad. However going slow in parking lots making tight turns was terrible. It caused a lot of body roll and chirped the tires constantly.
 
#8 ·
Never did on a TJ but drove 2 CJ-5's and a YJ with a welded rear axle. Tires chirped on just about every turn and you will wear thru a set of tires REAL fast. With as light as the rear on our Jeeps are it just makes it fun.

As everyone else has said on snow and ice it would SUCK and you would slide off to the side of the road on any sloped roads.
 
#10 ·
so.... found out that the rear end is open and the front has an Aussie locker. The rear is NOT welded b/c he knew it would take out the stock axles with the 35's.....
sorry to mislead the topic, but lead to some interesting conversation anyway! thx fellow Jeepers!
 
#17 ·
in my opinion, you weld it with a mig set up and i promise you something else will break before the weld will.

also why weld it with a stick welder and then have to worry if your removed all the flux from inside the chunk

of course mig does produce some splatter, it is not that much

i am sure either one would work, but i dont buy the stick is better in this case.
 
#19 ·
I have ARBs and have tried driving locked. On dry pavement is is different, very odd. Things get silly if you try to do a hard left while trying to get out in traffic.

On the snow it get scary at times.

In the ice you are a fool and if you try it you get what you deserve.

I wouldn't even consider have a DD with a welded rear if ice is a possibility, even snow.
 
#26 ·
I have ARBs and have tried driving locked. On dry pavement is is different, very odd. Things get silly if you try to do a hard left while trying to get out in traffic.

On the snow it get scary at times.

In the ice you are a fool and if you try it you get what you deserve.

I wouldn't even consider have a DD with a welded rear if ice is a possibility, even snow.
I agree. Having a spool/locked rear wouldn't be an ideal situation in the Summer for a DD, let alone Winter.

I am looking at going with a Super 35 upgrade on the axles knowing that the rear is open. Doing any kind of locker in that rear with stock axles is stupid, with 35" rubber. I don't know how he's done it even open over the years, having this thing in 7 states! He did take out a spider once, but never an axle...

I'm trying to decide now if i go with the ARB locker or a Detroit in the rear. The ARB sounds much more complicated to install i guess... not sure why other than you have to run a copper air line to a fitting on the housing and plumb and wire a pump.... I like the idea of having it completely unlocked when driving it around the lake on hard pavement in the Spring thru Fall. Never driven in the Winter. Never driven with a Detroit b4....

Any suggestions?

Sorry this has nothing to do with the OP and his welding questions.... lol. :grin2:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ross
#20 ·
AS far as welding.

A MIG welder using flux wire (no gas) is arc.
A MIG using gas is not arc.

So yes a MIG welder can be used as arc welder using flux wire.

But if use with gas it is not arc welding.

So a MIG welder can be used two different ways.

But even using a MIG with flux wire is not stick welding.
 
#28 ·
I had a 2000 2.5L TJ that I swapped a Ford 8.8 onto, the PO of the axle had welded the diff. I was running 3" spring lift and 1" body with 33x12.5s. It was manageable on the street... on tight turns the rear would either hop(called the Jeep Bunny) or if I got on the go pedal while turning it would lift the inside front tire 6 inches or so off the ground. I was in college at the time and it was awesome!!!! I was the only one that would drive it aside from a few close friends. My ex was really scared of it. haha If you don't mind those compromises for daily driving it I say go for it, that Jeep was an absolute beast off-road. That being said I still have that 8.8 but I wil be going with a selectable locker on my LJ.
 
#30 ·
Normally I dont feel the need to defend my points--- but in this case----
I have been welding for over 45 years- now retired. I have worked in the industry for about 40 of those years. I have worked in a nuclear facilitity and was nuclear certified on 4 different processes ( stick/arc , TIG , core wire & gas ) with over a dozen different materials and passed probably dozens of certification tests. I have welded boiler tubes (well over 3000psi ), condenser tubes and high pressure steam lines. People in the industry , who actually work in the industry do not refer to the process of mig welding as arc welding--- NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER. Go into a welding supply shop and try referring to mig as arc or the other way around-- you will find out real quick.

Was just initially trying to help , hope i did
 
  • Like
Reactions: BM3 and Ross
#35 ·
I appreciate and respect your experience, Blue, and I'm certainly not in your league. I understand your point, and I personally never refer to MIG as arc either. I was just making the point that the underlying processes for MIG, TIG and stick are all arc. Is that not correct?

Jeff
 
#33 ·
So now i'm looking at the Eaton E Locker maybe instead of the ARB. I've had the ARB front and rear on an XJ, but like the idea of no air pump.... Anyone have any Pros and cons on the 4 pinion E Locker?
 
#34 ·
I got my ARBs back in 2001 and recently had to replace the entire front diff. I guess the older style ARBs for the Dana 30s had issues but the new one shouldn't. I sucks that I had to lay out cash to do this but I guess now they are better. ARB has been around along time and there are a lot of them out there. I don't think there are as many Eatons as ARBs. Maybe ARB has more of the "bugs" worked out? You will probably want air anyway.

We haven't had the XJ long enough to give any honest reviews of the Eaton other than it works. How the wiring mounts into the axle on the XJ does look more fragile than the hose and fittings on the ARBs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zjj
#41 ·
I love my E lockers. For me it came down to air versus electricity. The thought of constantly chasing air leaks turned me off to air. The ay I figure it if either have problems inside the case it is probably not going to get fixed on the trail. If the problem is outside the case, I can fix an electrical issue much easier than I can chase down and repair an air leak.
 
#42 ·
Why do you believe you'd be "constantly" chasing leaks? I've been running air lockers for about 11 years and only had one air leak that was easily fixed. None before or since. Air leaks in air lockers are very rare when properly installed. With tens of thousands of them the occasional report of a leak is in the noise level. If you look at what is being run in the big events like King of the Hammers, it was 86% ARB air lockers when I actually did a tally of all locker types used several years ago. They don't install flakey or leak-prone devices on competition vehicles. As one who spent his career in the electrical and electronics industry, I'm here to tell you electrical products have problems too. I spent a large percentage of my time troubleshooting them. Air leaks in my air lockers? That one leak I had was a one-time thing.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top