regularjoe

I did alot of searching and have read alot of different opinions about running with a welded or spooled rear on the road. I drive my truck on the road every now and again but not a DD. I was wanting to know how many people do drive on the road with a welded rear or spool. I am looking into putting a welded rear in mine next week. I only put 50 miles on it a week on the road. So please post if you run a welded rear or spool. Thanks

86toylet

I once ran a welded rear, in my sometimes road-driven runner. I now run a spool, and the welded one went up front. I will never look back. Sure it chirps the corners, but never had any problems.

86Toyrunna

just be ready for a difference in handling... and do some reasearch on different ways to weld it up. make sure to use a big enough welder to penetrate deep enough to get a strong weld.. you wont like it when the welds break and you on the trail.. or on the road...

redvette

Definatly prefer it. If the tires are soft enough they wont chirp. Never had any problems is wet weather.

algranger

A weld is definitely the way to go. Sometimes i daily drive the trail rig for a week just cause its so fun to drive. Welded rear on 35's 60 mile round trip to school no problem. I would strongly recommend welding in a piece of flat steel. (i used 1/8) The gear to gear is never that strong but when you get some strong mild steel in there it really does it up good



Oh and 86toylet, how it that welded front? I've been thinkin about doing mine.. anything to consider?

Flash319

The only thing I would worry about is that lockers are cheaper then tires. If you really are only on the road a little bit then it would not matter. If it was a lot I would worry about killing my tires.

algranger

Yeah thats a good point flash.

Nothing beats the true lock you get from a weld, spool, or selectable. If you put a locker in dont go autolocker

mt_goat

X2, a set of tires is about the same price as an ARB air locker. Buy one or buy the other.

regularjoe

I hear you on tires I just put on 34x10.5x15 swamper LTB tires they are absuletly amazing. We did some great wheelin yesterday with some friends. They performed so much better than my old a/t tires. They were waiting for me to get stuck all day put they pulled throught every pit. There is one I won't even try until I get my rear locked. Noone who tried it even with welded rear made it. So I do hear you on the price of tires.
As for the welded rear it is already welded and was in my buddies woods truck which is now parts. He is to trade me for a open third that is a spare to me now so it won't cost me nothin but time to switch them out.

Thanks for the pic I know he only welded gear to gear so im gona see if we can add a piece of flat steel too.

algranger

Yeah go for it then.

I hear ya about the swampers, i ran some 35" bf muds and they sucked i got dragged through half the trail. All you need where i'm from is bfg at's but i moved out to washington and and here you need lockers and swampers or your not going anywhere.

regularjoe

Ya I did draggin this time out. I can't wait to see how much better it does with a welded rear.

86toylet

With a welded front be prepared for some steering difficulty. I have hydro assist, and twin sticks which makes the whole thing very easy to turn. I just need to watch the bind, so I don't blow birfs.

ffryno13

i have a spool running 37s as a daily driver and i drive about 50 miles a day. its a little wierd cuz you can feel the axles kinda working against each other but you get used to i think that you can feel it more in a rearend

TOYOTA 1

I'm welded up in a semi dd, and tire wear isn't that bad. as long as you don't turn full lock and do circles in a parking lot other than that, id say the benefits far out way the disadvantages

if it were your dd id say no. but for a trail rig i say do it, you will love the extra traction.

Matt16

Judging by the tire wear I'm seeing with a rear locker that unlocks around 99% of corners on dry and maybe 75% of wet corners, I'd hate to run a rear spool. I would think you'd get maybe two years out of a set of all terrains with the spool. Lockers are cheap, I'd do that instead on a daily driver. While your's may not be a DD, it does see 50 miles a week, which is a lot to be considered a trail rig. Tire wear with the spool on the highway would be a lot less than city miles.

son_of_a_lc

I do, its great, kicks the crap out of a lunch box locker any day, on or off road. x2 on sticking a piece of plate in between the gears.

eich75

how exactly hard is it to turn if you were to weld the front diff? like would it be comparable to not having power steering at all? and this may have been answered but is it a good idea to weld the front diff of an ifs truck?

regularjoe

Thanks everyone. I'll have to see if we can add a plate between the gears.

ffryno13

when your locked in yeah its kinda like turning 33s on dry pavement with out power steering and staying in the same spot. its kinda hard but the pay off is worth it. or you can drive with one wheel locked in the other one free with welded fronts. then you can turn and you can always lock that other wheel when you need too.