welding the spider gears

Tobers

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Location
durham
What is the general procedure for welding the spider gears, and is it a good idea in general? would a spool be better? just trying to get some opinion on this before I do anything
 
Can you give more info? what kind of axle?, DD or off road only? Have welded rears in almost everything I own, including the corolla :lol:
 
turn it up and burn!!


weld the spiders to each other. make sure you get them as clean as possible before welding. turn up the welder to get as much heat in them as you can. You can weld the spiders to the case. I usually pre-heat my gears, weld, then wrap in a fiberglass blanket and let slowly cool.

When welding, you can add in chunks of metal to bridge the gap between the spiders. Basically anything goes. Just be sure you remove the bearings and the ring gear from the carrier before you weld.
 
rockcity said:
turn it up and burn!!
weld the spiders to each other. make sure you get them as clean as possible before welding. turn up the welder to get as much heat in them as you can. You can weld the spiders to the case. I usually pre-heat my gears, weld, then wrap in a fiberglass blanket and let slowly cool.
When welding, you can add in chunks of metal to bridge the gap between the spiders. Basically anything goes. Just be sure you remove the bearings and the ring gear from the carrier before you weld.
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He is on the money.:beer::huggy:
 
rockcity said:
Basically anything goes.
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That would negate anything else suggested in the post :)

But I agree with it!

I have welded them in and out of the diff, with and without bearings. I generally weld the spiders together and weld the spiders to the case. I have just welded the spiders together and almost filled the carrier with weld, depending on what the owner wanted. I have never found it necessary to add steel but I wouldn’t disagree with adding some. I have never found it necessary to pre heat but I wouldn’t disagree with that either. Getting it good and clean (drain all gear oil, clean with a couple of cans of brake cleaner and blow dry with an air hose) and using proper heat and filler is the key IMO. I like to use my DC stick machine at about 130 amps or so with 7018 rod. To my knowledge none of the diffs I have ever welded have ever failed.

Just my experience. Drop by the house on the way to URE and I’ll burn it for you. No Charge J
 
I use a 7018 usually as well. Stick welding seems to be the easiest. MIG is OK, there just usually doesn't seem to be as much penetration as with the stick welding. Stick welding does much better with these as usually its hard to get the gears clean enough for a decent MIG weld.
 
One thing that's been left out here...CLEAN YOUR SPATTER!!!!!!! Loose doodle-balls rolling around in the rear will take out the bearings in short order. I welded the rear in the $30 XJ for the race. Spider to spider, side gears to carrier, spiders to carrier. I believe I had the Lincoln Pro-Mig 255 dialed in on the 3/8" setting. Maybe a little heavier, but I don't currently remember. It may have been on the 1/4" setting, but that's still in the 19.5-20v range. Plenty hot with .035 wire. I spent almost as much time cleaning spatter after welding as I did welding. Every nook and cranny was clean. It made it through the beating of the race and many burnouts thereafter with not a clunk.
 
thanks for all the info! its a Dana 44. And John, assuming I get the jeep done :) I will definitely take you up on that. Yet again, thanks for the help
 
rockcity said:
Stick welding seems to be the easiest. MIG is OK, there just usually doesn't seem to be as much penetration as with the stick welding. Stick welding does much better with these as usually its hard to get the gears clean enough for a decent MIG weld.
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^ X2 ^
 
JC said:
I don't charge. I prefer to help out fellow wheelers for free. I'm not in business and any help I provide is totally at the owners risk :)
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okay...what kind of beer do you drink?
 
My first D44 (3.73) was welded by a bud using a TIG rig... one HUGE blob (side gears>spiders>case). He told me if it ever broke, he'd buy/install the new parts... was never able to take him up on it!

2nd D44 (4.27) I MIG'd myself. While I've welded a few in the diffs (trash truck 10/12 bolts), this is MY rig! I asked Andy & got the same basic scoop:

- Clean it VERY good (3 cans of brake cleaner in my case)
- Burn it hot, but only stitch the spiders to the case (too much heat can crystallize the carrier & weaken it severely)
- Wrap it when done and let it cool slowly
- Clean all the goobers before re-install

As I didn't want to risk boogering the bearings (by removing them), they were covered in quadruple layers of HD foil. May have had a few pops get thru 1 layer, but nothing touched the bearings. I don't have a slick fiberglass blankie, so I used an old bath towel> cloth packing/shipping blanket> set in cardboard box outside the shop (in case it actually caught fire)... I was shocked that some 3-4 hrs later the case still raised a blister on my "inspection finger"! :lol: Even the next day (14-15 hours later), it was still warmer than ambient temps. About 12-15 rides on it with NO issues...
 
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