welded spider gears

[fightin irish]

did anyone ever weld the spider gears on a 7.5?
I know you can buy a lock-rite set-up but it is
costly.I ran a stockcar back in the 70s and
could not afford a quick change so I welded
it up and lasted 2 seasons let me know
what you think.

mac

 

[American1990]

I have a welded 7.5, in my ranger right now with 31's and a 4.0. Does well, the only time the tires act up is when your making a sharp turn at speed over 20 mph. It will increase the outer tire wear on the rear tires, but the upside is incredible tire traction on and off road.

 

[stegomon]

I ran a welded 7.5 was fun off road. Street use sucked balls. Then I swapped in a power tracs. I won't look back. Better on road manners. But I would use a welded one in a pinch

 

[Captain Ledd]

A couple people have claimed their welded 7.5's have held up to V8 abuse.

The 7.5"s weak point has been the spider gears, the shafts are the same as the Ranger 8.8" axle, and are generally accepted to have a bit stronger steel than a comparable Dana shaft (in stock applications). So the shafts will be fine. The design of the R&P gears is also fairly strong.

Welding up the spiders to the carrier spreads the load out substantially. And they can put up with a surprising amount of abuse.

I really wish I would have done that with mine...

 

[Dune Runner]

BTW It's called a Lincoln locker. It should hold up just fine. Tire wear is another subject if you drive a lot in the city.

 

[bigmark303]

The guy I give my 2.3L blocks to uses welded 7.5s behind all his stock cars.

The weak point of the 7.5 is the spider gears and then carrier. Welding the gears will make a huge difference, or just get something like a Detroit unit and replace the entire carrier all together and its strong as an 8.8.

Ive got a detroit locked 7.5 behind my 4.0L with 33s. I also have a welded 7.5 behind my Jeep Cherokee that I put 35s on last weekend. Ive been running the 35s on the rear of the Ranger for a few weeks now and swapped them over to the Jeep as a joke but the 7.5 takes the abuse from them like a champ so they'll stay on until I lift the front of the Ranger to clear them. I dont see the 7.5 giving pushing those tires around.