How to weld a diff
Welding your diff is a great way to have the functionality of a 2-way
diff without spending over a massive amount of money. The process, while
not super easy, is very straightforward.
DISCLAIMER!!! I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR SCREW UP!! IF YOU MESS
SOMETHING UP, DON'T BLAME ME.
Take the diff out and drain the oil.
Take out all the bolts holding the rear cover on. The cover should just
basically fall off. Check the gasket and see if its worn or broken. If
so, replace it. Now, you have to clean that old oil off of where you’re
going to weld. Use brake parts cleaner, just be sure to let the brake
parts cleaner drain out and let the vapour evaporate because it is VERY
flammable. You may want to use a butane lighter on a few places to make
sure that it won't light on fire.
Ok get the welder out use this picture as a reference of where to weld.
Weld everywhere circled in red.
Here is what it will look like after its welded. Once you weld one side,
repeat on the other side, turn the output shafts to get to the other
side.
After you finish welding, clean up any slag. You can used a compressed air gun to blow any loose slag out. You should also spin your output shafts to make sure that there is no slag in the rack and pinion gears. It's not going to spin very easy because there is no diff oil but there shouldn't be a whole lot of resistance either. If everything looks good, then you’re ready to put it all back!
Put the diff cover back on the diff, put a little sealant on to give it a better seal. Put new diff oil in. It makes the diff a little heavier but, it's much easier than trying to squeeze that big bottle back up in that little area.
Fit the diff in the car and you’re done
Take the car for a test drive. Turn off your radio and listen while your driving for any sound that is out of the ordinary. You will have tyre chirping in hard corners at low speeds and some wheel hop, but you knew that already. What your listening for is like a loud, abnormal sound. Kind of like grinding. If so, stop, if your close, drive back to the shop and find out what the hell happened. Hopefully, everything went well.
ENJOY
