Welding the front end?

[88ranger2.95sp]

Question about one of my many rangers. '91 2.9 5sp. D35 front. I want to weld the front of it in order to gain winter traction. Is this a bad idea?

It already has Warn manual hubs. So if I weld the front with neither hub being locked in, obviously there's no effect. If I lock one hub in (say the weather's bad) it will act like an open differential right?

If I am pulling someone out of a ditch, or doing snow wheeling, locking both in will provide a spool.

I think the front would be better locked than the rear because if you are pulling rather than pushing whether it be recovery or barreling up a hill, you're more likely to pull up the hill rather than push right??? Plus it's free.

Opinions? Comments?

Rob

 

[martin]

If you have one jub locked in it will not work like an open diff, you will still get driveline wind up between the front and back. I suspect it would make for some interesting handling caracteristics on snow or ice.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Rear locked is better in most situations than the front locked because of the weight transfer to the rear. It will not act like an open diff with one hub unlocked, it will most likely pull to the side that's locked however it will probably steer, steering in the snow with a welded front with both hubs locked will not be very fun. I'd consider locking the rear, steering is no problem in the snow in 4x4, it acts almost like stock, in 2wd it will want to kick the ass end out but it's pretty manageable.

 

[4x4junkie]

I see massive understeer problems in snow with a welded front.

I would get an Aussie or Lockright locker to put in it.

 

[88ranger2.95sp]

I wouldn't drive it in the snow with both hubs locked in. You would never turn. Ever. I understand that.

Thanks for the input guys. The truck isn't worth putting a locker in the front. It's pretty rusty, and not worth the time and money. I just thought it would be an easier way to get snow traction besides sandbags.

Rob

 

[superdave1984]

I always just shovel the snow from the driveway into the bed of the truck.

 

[88ranger2.95sp]

Haha I actually never thought of doing that. Gonna have to try doing that this winter. I can't wait for snowboarding on top of that.

Rob

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Do it. It's the best thing ever. just keep in mind even with just one hub locked it's nothing like an open diff.

Also weld all your u-joint caps into the axles. The snaprings won't even hold the force. You'll throw caps like nothin.

And "It already has Warn manual hubs" means nothing to a Lincoln Locker.
Get some spares. At this point they don't strip-out, they explode.

The traction to me is well worth all this though. My truck is stock to me and to be able to climb over these trees on the first try... NICE

Also make sure you weld them all around and between the gears, with a stick welder

 

[Jason]

Do it. It's the best thing ever. just keep in mind even with just one hub locked it's nothing like an open diff.

Also weld all your u-joint caps into the axles. The snaprings won't even hold the force. You'll throw caps like nothin.

And "It already has Warn manual hubs" means nothing to a Lincoln Locker.
Get some spares. At this point they don't strip-out, they explode.

The traction to me is well worth all this though. My truck is stock to me and to be able to climb over these trees on the first try... NICE

Also make sure you weld them all around and between the gears, with a stick welder

How much of the above is pure satire?

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

How much of the above is pure satire?

I believe what I said to me my most honest opinion. The traction is unbelievalbe. and that it puts way more strain on the front axles and hubs, and I also provided good tips on how to get the most out of it and how to avoid breakage.

Just look at what mine did to my Warn hub the first time I took it out

 

[88ranger2.95sp]

Nice carnage!

I meant that it has WARN hubs to state that they're manual hubs, not automatic hubs. This was to clear up the turning issue stated earlier in the post.

Umm, unfamiliar to welding types. My father has a MIG welder w/o gas. Differences between the two? I'm assuming it's a totally different welder.

But my buddy works in a welding shop. He could probably do it for me.

Do I have to remove the entire carrier like that or could i just pull the pig and do it that way?

Should I keep the snap rings on top of the tacks on the joint caps? Or will they even fit?

Rob

 

[leumas12]

Nice carnage!

I meant that it has WARN hubs to state that they're manual hubs, not automatic hubs. This was to clear up the turning issue stated earlier in the post.

Umm, unfamiliar to welding types. My father has a MIG welder w/o gas. Differences between the two? I'm assuming it's a totally different welder.

But my buddy works in a welding shop. He could probably do it for me.

Do I have to remove the entire carrier like that or could i just pull the pig and do it that way?

Should I keep the snap rings on top of the tacks on the joint caps? Or will they even fit?

Rob

Im putting a welded diff 60 front in the front of my BII. Maybe its the fact that its a 60 makes a difference, but i see no difference between a welded front and a front with the locker engaged...Basically saying that you could tack weld in the caps or use snap rings. If snap rings cant hold your joint, either your snap rings are too thin or theres something else going wrong (this is as far as a dana 60 goes, may be different for a d35 ). Also if you do decide to tap in the caps, DO NOT tack them in on the inside of the yoke, you will end up ruining your shafts if you have to remove the joint, jack the outside of the yoke to the top of the cap. That way, a simple little grind with an angle grinder could take em off.

I pulled mine from the carrier just because it was easier to weld that way for me. Rather weld it looking down on the part than looking straight at it laying down with slag going down your shirt

If you are going to weld the spiders to the house, a stick (AKA arc welder, uses welding rods rather than a continuous wire like a MIG) will be your best bet but its still really easy to warp the cast carrier that way. I used a 175 amp MIG with .030 wire and CO2/Argon gas but gasless/self shielding would work for the method i used. Heres what i did:

take some pieces of .25" or bigger plate:

Put it in the space between the spiders and side gears (with the axle shafts INSTALLED on the carrier, if you dont you may run into a big interference problem when you go to put the axle back together. ALSO spray down the ring gear mounting flange and the shafts with lots of anti-spatter so they stay clean):

Tack it to all 4 gears to the plates on both sides:

Then just weld that plate to all the gears as well as the gears to eachother. I had to put some small pieces of 3/16" rod between the side and spider gear teeth for when there was a big gap. Heres what i ended up with:

Anyway thats one way of doing it with a MIG and regular wire. Hope it helps!

Sam

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

What he said about the welding, I used a stick welder because a mig isn't hot enough to get good penetraton from cast to steel. But you have to be carefull with the amount of heat as to not warp the carrier. That's why my buddy who's a certified master welder did it for me. Not in pic but, we also tack welded a plate to the side of the carrier for a good ground that wasn't in the way.

Mine was actually welded inside the pig. Then removed to clean the dirty pig, and make sure no splatter/slag was in there to ruin bearings, because we ran out of anti splatter spray and resorted to layered masking tape

If you want I suppose you could put the snaprings in addion to the tack welds on the caps, seems kinda pointless to me though. Use new u-joints too, common sense. And as leumas12 said put the welds toward the shafts not on the ears. Bad pic but you can see what's goin on. You can also see I unnessasarily went a little too crazy with the tacks. I also welded my shafts installed on the truck, cause the shafts are tight enough through the spindle without little welds on them. Also don't forget about the C-clip eliminator, I highly recommend an external spring.

 

[88ranger2.95sp]

Wow.

Ok, now with pictures I understand the difference between the two welders. Just needed a reminder.

Sounds easy enough. I'll talk to my father first. He'll probably say no, so I'll just take the pig out and have it welded via my buddy.

There's no reason why I wouldn't be able to drive the truck without the pig in it right? I mean it's all there besides that.

Rob

BTW, that's gonna be a sick BII when it's done.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Do you really want to do this twice? Expecially if your in the driveway w/o air tools?

Simplified. remove both spindles, remove both axles, remove ds sway bar link, remove ds shock, fight with coil spring, remove radius arm from mount, remove pivot bolt, drop beam from truck, loosen coil retainig bolt, swing radius arm out, remove pig. Then reverse to put back together.

I would advise doing it all in one shot, but to answer your question. Yes, you could drive the truck without the front diff installed