ok, I was just wondering, on my R180 front, if I was to weld the spiders, what would most likely break if soemthing fails. a hub, a cv, or something in the diff?

also I feel perfectly confident disassembling and reassembling everything to get to it and weld it and reinstall it. but I dotn really want to have to setup the gears like you do with new ones with the shims and all. if I am pulling and installing the original parts back in, do I just boplt it in how it came out and expect to be good to go or do i have to treat them like new gears on install?

I would like to possibly get it done before the az run but I have 3 trips planned from now til then so probably not, but if I get to it id like to know what is entailed.

You *should* treat it as if you were installing new gears... but you should be gtg if you remember what shims were on what side when you pulled it out.

As far as welding is concerned, I'd swpa out to manual hubs (if you haven't already), and carry a couple spare CV w/you. You will want manual hubs so you can unlock one side for tight turns if needed.

it came with manual hubs.

If all you are doing is pulling the ring gear and nothing els you will be fine. Just make sure you don’t mix up the shims.

As long as no adjustments are being made to the ring gear or pinion you are fine. Make sure you put lock tight on the ring gear bolts.

Steering. You are going to kill your steering gear and all linkage when you have the front locked in. Welding the front end is a last resort. I only recommend doing it on a non street driven dig. Most guys I know who welded their diffs also end up going with hyd assist or full hydro.

well, stering will only suck off road with them locked right? wont affect anything with T case in 2H and hubs unlocked would it?

quote:

Originally posted by maddmatt02:
well, stering will only suck off road with them locked right? wont affect anything with T case in 2H and hubs unlocked would it?

correct... you'll be fine on-road