jimbo74

before eveyone says the regular, yes i searched.. the reason i am posting isnt the regular reason, why is it bad or good, etc.... i need max traction, and am too poor for a real spool or a locker (however depending on the response might have to do one of them anyways)....

here is the issue... i plan on having a spare set of spider gears welded. i dont have them yet but will probably get them soon... my truck has a 2 pinion side gear design. what is the best setup to have welded, a 4 or 2 pinion, do i need to stick with one or the other, are they interchangeable? ... does anyone have any that are already welded for sale? does anyone know anyone who would do this, not i can slap some on, but rather that you know that the job is done well and will hold up

DudeBud

we did this to a 84 2wd of my friends just because it seemed like a good idea at the time .it was a fun truck on the wet pavement wip the tightest dagnuts and a set of rear tires would last maybe 2 month at the most with just driving back and forth to work. the welds held for over two years they broke doing a dry pavement dounut. after that he went back to open diff. not sure on the two pinon and four. i thought all 2wd rearends were inerchangable? i would say go for it weld it up but a locker would be my choice

jimbo74

well i have a 4x2, but it is an 8" rear end... same rear end internally as the 4x4, but with different axle flanges with a 5 on 4.5" pattern and sua.... i do know that i have a 2-pinion rear end (side gears) and i know some of them had a 4 pinion.. but dont know the differnce between the 2 or if they are interchangeable or which ones are better... i want a locker, but cant afford it... im going to pismo the july 4th weekend, and i doubt i will have much money between now and them to get what i need done..... a 1 legger in sand might not fare too well

DudeBud

one ? is this your dd

jimbo74

yes and i already know about the increased tire wear and all the crappy street manners of it.....

DudeBud

lol there you go. its really not that bad on the street untill you get into parking lots for the money you well end up spending on tires might as well get a locker or posi

CBIguy

you can't just weld a set of spiders together and then put them in, you have to weld them to the carrier also......pretty much ruins the whole third member, no going back to open, I would think the 4 gear would be better, but I'm sure you could do it with the two, just use more filler material.
Make sure you read all you can on this before you do it, as you can easily make the diff weaker with this mod., and if it brakes you have to buy a whole new third member

toy283

The 4-pinion would be better... if you could weld it. Problem is there is no significant opening in which to stick the welder to weld them up. Two-pinion carriers have nice big openings on the sides and are much easier to weld as a result.