I prolly welded my 8.8 dif

paddyrk

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Jun 7, 2018
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Dublin, OH
It’s a little late here, and I may be thinking of this completely wrong, BUT, if I were to weld my differential gears, this making the rear axle a locker for the drag strip or drifting, would I be able to swap that set of gears out for another unwelded set?

I may be missing how a dif is actually welded, but I am considering changing my rearend gears, and was thinking, why not have some fun and weld the old ones, then take them out for the new ones?

Does welding your dif actually weld the gears AND the axle together? Or is it just the gears (2.73,3.73,4.10 etc.) that get welded? This is a street strip car, so a welded dif would be nice for the strip built a nightmare in a parking lot.

Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks.
 
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You do not weld spider gears on a street driven car unless you like the ditch. A locked rear end will increase the likelyhood of a spin out or your loss of control in wet circumstances. As to how hard it is on parts, it's murder. If the welds are strong, axles become weak links. if your welds break, ( because the spider gears don't like getting jammed together) then the broken metal is now floating chunks waiting to get picked up and get jammed between the ring and pinion, effectively trashing the gears and causing a potential lockup of the drivetrain.

To answer your question, yes, you can swap gears off of the diff after you have welded the thing.you are not welding the ring and pinion, you're welding the four spider gears together inside the diff.

There are cheap alternatives to a welded diff, ( mini spool) but the danger while driving and potential for parts breakage is still there.

This would be a plan best left in the " I decided not to" category.
 
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^^^Mike’s right, welding is a :poo: idea. You’re better off with a mini spool and even better off with neither - being that it’s a street/strip car. Most likely with an emphasis on street.

You can put down quite a bit of power through a trac lok. They’re also pretty cheap and you can find them readily available anywhere.
 
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Yes, you can change the gears out w/ a welded diff.

Ur not touching ring and pinion gears. Just welding spyder gears in differential. It will not break under drift circumstances. Drag racing. Iono. Wouldnt suggest it.
 
Plenty of people driving with welded differentials and spools on the street everyday. It's not ideal, but it's not like instant death either. I've driven a few spool cars, and it's actually amazing how little you notice it. Just have to take it easy in the corners.

Kurt
 
Lol, i think i got my answer from the guys post above me a while back. I see i reposted exactly what he said.

Ya, not necessary for most applications for sure. Like any normal daily driver, street driven car. Im sure the lockers can hold plenty of hp for drag. I like the spool idea, did some research on it, pro drifters are probably running spools, but most everyone else just runs welded diff or "2 way" or VLSD. Weld diff. Is very easy, so ima get it done and prob. Have no problems for the few years i own the car. Besides motor, transmission,a/c,radio, power steering, brakes, suspension, electrical.. what am i forgetting. Door handles, window motors...
Typical foxbody stuff. Lol.
 
Look up Premium Fuel magazine. Stuart is a friend of mine and runs the heck out of his fox. Drift foxes are foxes too.
 
Oh cool. Ya, i've watched a lot of his stuff. I want to get his front light mod sometime or another. For sure, there is more and more american cars showing up on the drift scene everyday.
 
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My problem is not with building a drift car no matter what car it is . I hope the fox serves you well . My issue comes in where it seems like 9 out of 10 it’s a competition to see who can build the most hacked up drift car . I have some friends that drift and it just seems like there is no pride in majority of the cars .

Oh and I would just put a spool in it
 
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Lol Right. If they tandem, they get ruined bumping into each other, or playing with walls, barrels etc... im gettn necessary drift parts first, but ima make it look good to me later on too.
 
Ima wrap it sometime. But want to get the saleen body kit/wing and fender flares first. I wont be tandeming for a while cause a cage is required and I really dont feel like ripping out the whole interior.
 
Start a build thread and show a bunch of pics. A bunch of guys here don't appreciate drift foxes. Personally, I like seeing them get built and in action. It does destroy a bunch of cars but so does everything else we tend to do with them. Could wreck one pulling out of the driveway.

I'm also not a fan of welded rears. Years ago we used to do it to drag cars. It's all great until you have to do an axle bearing or seal. I'm also getting older and find it hard to do things the old jack leg way.
 
Been pondering starting a build thread. 1. to show off. J/k. But to have a document for it actually. So i will. Yall need to see how its sitting right now. Its terrible. Lol. I put 245/40's on a 17x10 rear, to slide easier. And left the 255/40's up front on a 9in. Cause of the tire stretch i lost more height profile than anticipated, and its just wacko right now. But it worked. Ima do 245/45's next time. Should help.

Why does welded diff make it hard for axle bearing change?
 
LOL. My stoke level is high for $ spent. Whether it was welded or spool, good $ spent for the drift fun it provides. It is more confidence inspiring off the bat, vs. welded diff. Id prolly be worried about it at first. Tho most everyone has ran em hard and not has a prob.
 
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*It's

;)
 
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