I have heard both ways. A buddy of mine said he tryed to weld his spiders on the front of his yota and it wouldnt steer?? My truck is a trail truck only and i have the rear welded as well. Ive got a straight axle but dont have all the extra goodies i want yet to do the swap so in the meantime i thought about trying to weld the front just for s and giggles....Does it steer in 4Lo or not
?

 

well, my thinkin is if you dont weld it, your gonna get rid of the spiders for a locker. if you weld it and dont like it, then your gonna be getting rid of it that way too. so why not try it? i've heard you just wanna free one hub to turn but it doesnt seem like it would be an issue in dirt or mud, probly just on big rocks. you could just pop a few hundred on a lunchbox locker if the weld fails

 

a buddy of mine welded the front diff on his 79 bronco and he couldnt turn when he had his hubs locked or with unlocked he had to replace it

 

well thats why you lock one and unlock the other... i donno if he tried that as well

 

i dunno either we just found out that he couldnt turn so we hit a tree

 

in my experience with a lockrite, which is similar to welded spider gears. turning is only a problem in high traction conditions. in high traction conditions you would most likely not need both hubs locked and in low traction conditions there is only minimum turning issues that are easy to deal with. So if you are not concerned with welding the diff. there is no reason why you should not save your self some $$$$$$.

 

wow it was that bad huh.
i would pay to watch that heheh

 

hey its funny now it wasnt at the time

 

twin sticks.

I would not weld a front diff..JMO

 

Think about it for a minute ... to turn, each wheel has to travel a different distance, since the time is fixed, each wheel must turn at a different speed. With a locked center diff, and a welded rear and front diff, each tire has to turn EXACTLY the same speed.

Putting a locker, with SOME degree of differentiation, in either the front or rear will increase the ability to turn greatly. Both front and rear welded you won't be able to turn if there is any traction - in high traction situations, you risk breaking something do the binding in the drivetrain. Power steering will die a quick death too.

I can tell you that with both my ARBs locked I can't turn and the power steering is straining hard under the effort.