welded 7.5 open?

[rangers92]

im new to this site and new to the ranger world. i have a 2wd open diff ranger. as known my limits off road are very small. i was wondering how adverse the effects of welding my 7.5 open diff would be on my daily driver? keep in mind ied be willing to drive slower learn how the trucks handles after and be willing to take the risk of my axle snapping or parts breaking. what are some cheap locker alternitives as well.

 

[rangers92]

anyones input?

 

[dangerranger83]

The spiders in a 7.5 are made from powered, yes, powdered metal that is pressed together then heated together. Welding can be done, has been done and always will be done. If you want to not have it welded later down the road then just weld the spiders gears, between the teeth and not to the carrier so that they can be taken out an be replaced with new ones to make it an open diff. again. There are may options to doing this.

What is your definition of an off-road 2wd ranger?

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

Just dont haul heavy loads on the bed and drive carefully/slowly on turns.
Expect some rear tire wear faster than normal also.

 

[rangers92]

Thank you both. My def off a offroad 2wd ranger is my truck with a intake and exhaust. Some type of locked rear (welded in this case) and good 30-9.5 tires on 15 inch rims. Its still not 4wd but its a bit more insurence.

 

[4.0B2]

just get used to how it drives, and you'll be fine. AS LONG AS YOU WELD IT PROPERLY

 

[-Nathan-]

^just curious, how many of you previous posters actually have welded diffs in your rigs. I did this to the 7.5 in Rangebe 2.0.

weld it and dont look back.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

^just curious, how many of you previous posters actually have welded diffs in your rigs. I did this to the 7.5 in Rangebe 2.0.

weld it and dont look back.

I wanted to do mine, but since i use this truck for work, carring a 2k pound cargo on the bed and making tight turns on streets doesnt seems like a good idea.
I gave my opinion based on what ive read about it

 

[4.0B2]

Nathan-

I have never done the welding.. But my dad did. On a truck I owned. And I dd'ed it while doing the 4.0 swap on the b2. I didn't mind it to much. Wish I would have welded my 7.5 a long time ago but now I'm about to swap it out anyways so why waste the time/fluid.

 

[RollinWOT]

-rangers92

I use my 2WD offroad pretty often with an open diff-loose gravel, lots of potholes, slippery snow, inclines, etc-I do a lot of mountain driving offroad, and I would like to weld my diff, but can't bring myself to do it. Just get a Powertrax and call it a day. They lock/unlock automatically so you're good on the street and offroad. A lot of guys here say you MUST have 4WD to offroad, but I do MILD offroading in an open diff 2WD and it does pretty darn good. If you're into heavy duty stuff, get a 4WD. WELCOME TO THE RANGER STATION AND CONGRATS ON YOUR FIRST RANGER!

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

-rangers92

I use my 2WD offroad pretty often with an open diff-loose gravel, lots of potholes, slippery snow, inclines, etc-I do a lot of mountain driving offroad, and I would like to weld my diff, but can't bring myself to do it. Just get a Powertrax and call it a day. They lock/unlock automatically so you're good on the street and offroad. A lot of guys here say you MUST have 4WD to offroad, but I do MILD offroading in an open diff 2WD and it does pretty darn good. If you're into heavy duty stuff, get a 4WD. WELCOME TO THE RANGER STATION AND CONGRATS ON YOUR FIRST RANGER!

Get the best M/T rated tires u can too, atleast for the back.
its unbeliavable how a pair of tires with better traction help an open diff 2wd.

 

[plainschurch]

mini spool?

Does anyone know if a 28 spline 8.8 mini spool might fit in the 7.5 carrier?More expensive than welding but there only around 65.00 on ebay.Just a thought.

 

[Captain Ledd]

Does anyone know if a 28 spline 8.8 mini spool might fit in the 7.5 carrier?More expensive than welding but there only around 65.00 on ebay.Just a thought.

Doubt it. 8.8's have much larger spider gears.

And the mini spool will do the same thing as welding, but be weaker. you usually weld the spider gears to the carrier so the carrier itself helps hold the gears still over a large, spread out, area. With the mini spool the entire torque effort through the axle is held only by the cross pin. Which is how it is normally but since it cannot send power to the wheel with the least traction it becomes much more breakage prone. In both the pin and the area on the carrier that supports the pin. It's only merit is that it's more easily reversible.

 

[rangers92]

im greatfull for your input guys. any more knowledge would be great. im rapildly leaning to the weld it side based off what people are telling me plus i know a guy with a 240sx whos welded his diff becuase he drifts and his car was a daliy driver. how bad will it wea my tires and how adversily will it effect my handeling.

 

[RollinWOT]

It will make you chirp the tires a little more often, the ride may ''skip'' if that makes any sense-as in the ride may be jittery on the street, and the tires will wear faster than normal because where in an open diff the spiders allow one wheel to spin slower/faster during turns a locked or welded diff won't, so the extra wear is created when you turn or do smokey burnouts. Handling may be a little bit extra hard to learn, but once you get used to it it will feel just like normal. As for tire wear, in a set of tires that say for instance would normally wear 30k miles, you might get 24-26k out of them depending on how aggresively you drive. A Powertrax would be my biggest suggestion because it locks/unlocks automatically when it detects wheel slippage and while it's more expensive than a welded carrier, it is cheaper than a normal on-demand locker and you can remove it and revert back to open diff if you want.