2nd gen "welded rear end" undo?

[duckrunner541]

Hey guys Im looking at possibly buying a pretty nice/built 2nd gen. my only issue is that it is welded in the rear but everything else I want done has been done and it looks pretty solid. after having a 1st gen pickup with a spool in the rear and the amount of around town driving i do, i dont want to deal with a full time locked up rear. here is a little from the ad:"Bobby Long Cryo Axles w/welded ring
5.29 Yukon ring and pinions front and rear with rebuild of diffs in two V6 housings, Front diff has Detroit EZ locker, Rear diff is welded, Warn Hubs"

How do i go about "unlocking" the rear? what do i need to replace? can somebody walk me through this

 

[KidVermicious]

It depends on how he welded it up. At a minimum, you'll need new spiders. More likely that you'll need to replace the carrier too. Probably easiest to just grab another V6 diff from the wrecker and have a gear guy swap your 5.29 ring and pinion into it.

If the carrier is salvagable, you maybe could drop a lunchbox locker in to replace the welded side gears and get out pretty cheap?

 

[nevada]

Hey guys Im looking at possibly buying a pretty nice/built 2nd gen. my only issue is that it is welded in the rear but everything else I want done has been done and it looks pretty solid. after having a 1st gen pickup with a spool in the rear and the amount of around town driving i do, i dont want to deal with a full time locked up rear. here is a little from the ad:"Bobby Long Cryo Axles w/welded ring
5.29 Yukon ring and pinions front and rear with rebuild of diffs in two V6 housings, Front diff has Detroit EZ locker, Rear diff is welded, Warn Hubs"

How do i go about "unlocking" the rear? what do i need to replace? can somebody walk me through this

it depends how/where they welded it. but I would bet the easiest way would be to get another 3rd and swap the gears over.

It depends on how he welded it up. At a minimum, you'll need new spiders. More likely that you'll need to replace the carrier too. Probably easiest to just grab another V6 diff from the wrecker and have a gear guy swap your 5.29 ring and pinion into it.

If the carrier is salvagable, you maybe could drop a lunchbox locker in to replace the welded side gears and get out pretty cheap?

it really doesn't have to be from a v6, the 4cyl 3rd is plenty strong.

I don't see how you would get the side gears out of the carrier, if they are welded together...

 

[KidVermicious]

I don't see how you would get the side gears out of the carrier, if they are welded together...

I forget what it's called, but apparently there's a way to weld the diff that leaves the carrier intact. Somebody was trying to talk me in to it once upon a time, but for all I know they were full of crap? :shrug:

 

[broken wrench]

Scrap it and start fresh,way more work than its worth. Plus you don't have to worry about junk in your bearing .

 

[nevada]

I forget what it's called, but apparently there's a way to weld the diff that leaves the carrier intact. Somebody was trying to talk me in to it once upon a time, but for all I know they were full of crap? :shrug:

yeh you can weld the gears to themselves, and not to the carrier.

but once the side gears are welded to the spider gears, how would you get them OUT of the carrier? they wont just slide out like before.

 

[KidVermicious]

yeh you can weld the gears to themselves, and not to the carrier.

but once the side gears are welded to the spider gears, how would you get them OUT of the carrier? they wont just slide out like before.

I forget that not everybody lives in my little 4cylinder world. I dunno how you'd get them out of V6 carrier, I've never played with one. If there's room to weld them, there ought to be room to get a cutoff wheel or something on them?

 

[CAN-03runner]

Hey guys Im looking at possibly buying a pretty nice/built 2nd gen. my only issue is that it is welded in the rear but everything else I want done has been done and it looks pretty solid. after having a 1st gen pickup with a spool in the rear and the amount of around town driving i do, i dont want to deal with a full time locked up rear. here is a little from the ad:"Bobby Long Cryo Axles w/welded ring
5.29 Yukon ring and pinions front and rear with rebuild of diffs in two V6 housings, Front diff has Detroit EZ locker, Rear diff is welded, Warn Hubs"

How do i go about "unlocking" the rear? what do i need to replace? can somebody walk me through this

The reference rear diff is welded,warn hubs... if this is referencing the rear, it may have been converted to full floater with locking hubs. Could be worth a lot to someone who wants that. Maybe a full trade for the whole axle with someone who has an open 5.29 diff. Or just put in an open 5.29 keep the locking hubs and you'll be able to flat tow it.

 

[Rockdawg84]

The reference rear diff is welded,warn hubs... if this is referencing the rear, it may have been converted to full floater with locking hubs. Could be worth a lot to someone who wants that. Maybe a full trade for the whole axle with someone who has an open 5.29 diff. Or just put in an open 5.29 keep the locking hubs and you'll be able to flat tow it.

I would guess that the warn hubs are on the front. Also realize that the bobby longs that are in this rig are 27 spline early longfields. strong but not the newer 30 spline longfields. I'm not bashing but just making sure the OP knows what he is getting. I agree with everyone else swap your gears onto a clean 3rd and have peace of mind.

 

[Hyde802]

Used thirds can be had for around $50. Sell your welded 3rd, or try and trade it for an open one.

I agree with what was said above, if just the spiders were welded, you might be able to change it out. But if they knew what they were doing, they would have welded it to the carrier, and then welded the carrier halves together.