[fully sick coily]

christover1 wrote:

Shift wrote:

As another opinion I think welded front on the sand is no worse then a welded front on any other surface. I've done a dozen beach trips now with mine welded and I have no issues with steering. Really it only badly affects steering when your barely moving, but even that isn't as heavy as when on dirt or most other 4WD surfaces. I'll also mention that I haven't snapped any cvs or axles yet, and its wrong to assume a welded front diff will result in snapping them every other trip out. Your driving style and what you drive will have the most effect on that.

X2.

I ran welded both ends in my Sierra for around 10 years.
Was fine.
But after lucking out on a cheap lock rite for the front, I was much happier.
Welded rear stayed for life of the Sierra.

?

Do you drive on the road very often

[Shift]

Its my daily driver, don't know about christover

[christover1]

My Sierra was my Daily Driver as well as my weekend toy.
Rear tyres wore faster than the front, was its only issue.
Though on road tyres or similar, it would screech on tight turns.
I now have a Vitara.
Vitara has 2 auto lockers,
being wider and heavier than a Sierra,
I decided welded/spools to be a bad idea.

[Gwagensteve]

It was Christover's daily.

The rear of my car is minispooled, and whilst I don't daily it, its pretty much undetectable - there's no reason it couldn't be dailied with the minispool in it. The more I've lowered the rear roll stiffness, the less I feel it.

The reason spools are a bad idea in the rear of a vitara is that with the same axle strength as a sierra, more weight, low roll stiffness, and more torque, they can pop axles on road. not the case with a sierra.

Steve.

[SierraDan]

Welded front has NO effect on 2WD driving. Unlock the hubs and you have no idea its welded.

I found in sand that the front dug in too much.

And on difficult terrain where twin locked is necessary and you'll be driving hard to get up. You are very likely to break a standard CV. Especially in a coily.

[Jazzor]

I've never broken any cv/axles with a auto locker in the front for years... the only time I have broken a cv is when I didn't have a locker and dropped the spinning wheel onto the ground with some revs up.

So each to their own, bad luck or a heavy right foot might be involved


I reckon sand would be the best surface for a welded front if you had to go that, there is lots of slippage available for the tyres.


I can't imagine how a zook would corner with a welded rear with grippy tyres on a grippy road o_O.

[Gwagensteve]

Jazzor wrote:

I've never broken any cv/axles with a auto locker in the front for years... the only time I have broken a cv is when I didn't have a locker and dropped the spinning wheel onto the ground with some revs up.

So each to their own, bad luck or a heavy right foot might be involved


I reckon sand would be the best surface for a welded front if you had to go that, there is lots of slippage available for the tyres.


I can't imagine how a zook would corner with a welded rear with grippy tyres on a grippy road o_O.

You might generally drive low(ish) traction terrain though - how many CV's do you guys break regularly?

Sand is a terrible surface for a welded front. Any wheel slip causes the car to start to dig and understeer gets very hard to manage. This isn't theory - I've experienced it.

I can imagine how a Suzuki corners with grippy tyres on grippy roads with a welded rear - it corners fine. I do it every time I drive my car. 13.5" of Krawler is pretty grippy on tarmac, I can tell you.

Steve.

[Jazzor]

Yea we don't break a lot of cvs, valid point if local conditions are hard on them .

Re sand, so its easy on the gear but not what you want, i suppose people without airlockers are out of luck then.

How does the inside wheel let go and spin faster than the outside one?

Cheers!

[fully sick coily]

so how would a welded rear go on my coily with 30" buckshots?

[Rusho]

My personal opinion here.....I would rather a front welded any day of the week over a rear. It can be turned on and off with the flick of a hub

[Gwagensteve]

Rusho wrote:

My personal opinion here.....I would rather a front welded any day of the week over a rear. It can be turned on and off with the flick of a hub

Gee, that gets boring though. Ask Christover. I think he wore out door hinges getting in and out to turn corners. It's better with power steer, but then the 685686 point turns are a mofo.

As someone who's run welded/spooled rear for 6 years, I'd NEVER weld a front diff, even with power steer. My wife drove my car for 400 metres with the front diff locked the other day and even with power steering she was cursing why the car was fighting her. She hasn't driven off road for years and forgot she could turn the air locker off.

I reckon you get used to a welded/spooled rear in about 20 minutes. i don't think you ever get used to a welded front, just more pissed off with it until you weaken and get something better.

Steve.

[SierraDan]

I'm used to my welded front without power steering. But an air locker in the front would be amazing without a doubt.

[fully sick coily]

thanks this thread has been realy helpfull
i think im gunna get a auto locker for my rear diff