My buddy wants to do a welded diff for his low hp 4x4 truck. I was wondering who has done it and has it worked for any amount of time?

I plan on using some thick plate and welding that to the spider gears, high heat and hope for the best.

Hey, A LINCOLN Locker!
You know what they call a guy with a welded diff? A PEDESTRIAN!
I guess if the truck stays in the dirt/gravel/mud/snow, it may be okay as long as the truck is a D 100 slant six automatic....

I have one in my shed. lol I used it in a low eleven second car for 8 years. Broke 8 3/4 axles but couldn't brake the centre.

This was back in the eighties, I would just buy a spool and be done with it.

i made my first locked diff by melting 3 pistons & pouring the molten ali into a 2 spider. man that was hard on the axle splines but it did work well. just made a plate that i held in place with some wire so the ali wouldn't run out the other side. no way the gears could ever move doing it like this.

We welded one in my buddies mud truck with a dana 60. You just need a few good size tacks in the spiders. Tack both sides and then rotate 180 degrees and tack it again. If you do to much it'll make the spiders brittle. He had a pretty stout 460 and a set of 43-45 inch tractor tires. It would break the axles before the gears. Maybe we just got lucky?

I welded the spiders together in my last 9.25 in my 94 Ram 2wd. It had a mild 440 727 with a 9.5 4000 converter it ran 11.50's with a low 1.5 60fts launching it on a 150 shot and I ran it for 3 seasons and it still looks perfect. Its no longer in use!

welding an open differential is CRAZY! you'll be killed! it's in the nhra rule book! oh, and i welded up an 8 3/4 about a thousand years ago and never had a problem. just welded the side gears to the spiders, and it held up fine. don't try this at home.

It's a little more crazy on a C-clip Axel. But I am a member of the been there, done that, club.

My dad welded the spyder gears in the Ford 9" rear axle when I started racing the 1963 ford F-100 truck back in 2004. It was powered by a supercharged 350 Vette engine. Don't sweat we swapped it to a 1989 Dodge factory roller cam 360 back in 2008.
It also has around 25,000 miles of daily driven summer use, including pulling various Mopars on our trailers all over the Midwest and Eastern U.S.

Still works flawless to this day, however it does eat up the rear tires a little faster than an LSD would. Probably not as much as the burnouts and drag racing do though...lol

I did this on a 73 Datsun pick up that we converted to a 4x4... It worked great, never had any problems with the exception of the inside rear tire bouncing when I did donuts on the street..

I broke a welded diff in 5 minutes. It was a corporate dana 44 (8lug chevy junk) My buddy told me to drive his truck up the front of a junk car, it didnt work too well

I wouldnt risk it

That is what I did to the 8 3/4 under my Demon.Welded the spider gears and never had any problems.Ran it that way for 7-8 yrs.Drove 25 miles to the track ran 6.90's to 7.0's on motor and 6.40's on a 100 shot never broke, just lucky I guess.

I welded the spiders in my 70 Cutlass. Drove it on the street. I always worried about the shafts, but never broke one. But now I am going for a Dana 60 and will be getting a spool.

I ran a welded 8 3/4 unit for a few years with no problems when I was on a tight budget. Clean it good, and weld it good!

I've used a mini spool years ago in a 8 3/4. I never drove it afterwards, I sold it at a swap meet and told the new owner that it was a mini spool, not a real drag racing spool The reason I tried it was the local 1/4 mile asphalt circle track racers use them and swore by them