welded diffs

I have a new rear diff I am going to stick in my M38. (new=different) was thinking of welding my current rear diff for Tellico just to have a locked up rear axle. I know, I know, but I am getting rid of it anyway and have read about welded diffs several times. whats the hardest part about welding a rear diff? Any other eyepoking thoughts?

 

See other thread re: *need* for a locker at Tellico...

As for welding a diff - I'm sure some will tell you that you need to do a bunch of detailed stuff, but all I did was start welding where the spider and side gears meet. I kept going over it and building up the weld until I knew the gears wouldn't turn any more. Pretty simple really...

 

Yeah, I saw the other thread at about the same time I posted. Thanks for the info Tim.

 

The biggest thing I've found is getting as much of the gear oil out as possible to keep from contaminating the weld and protecting the other gears and all bearings thoroughly from spatter. I weld the spider gears to the side gears and the side gears to the case. Haven't had a failure yet with this method. Not saying it's the best way to go, but it works for me. I use liberal amounts of spray brake cleaner to clean the oil out. Just make sure you let it dry thoroughly before welding! Nickmil.