let me just say that i have welded my spiders in a few cars. i have found that if you are just going to race the car, it works great for getting a true locked diff. i have found i works better than some lsd units. and again it is hard on the axle shafts. also i have a factory trac lok corp. 9" diff out of a 2001 dakota slt+ quad cab 4x4 that had 42,000 miles on it, just setting here at my house. if it is the same as a 4x2 diff i'll sell it cheap. it has 3.91 gears in it.

 

if you were just going to do it anyway, why bother asking? most everyone is telling you it's a bad idea and when you snap the whole axle you'll wish you wouldve just bought a 400$ LSD.
Also, if you're using it for "off road only"... you do realize your truck is 2 wheel drive right?? good luck with that.

 

PWNED

 

shadow, thanks for the info man, also the 97 dodge dakota sport 2x4 came with the 8.25 29 spline rear, older than 97 was the same with a 27 spline but thank you for the offer.

wink, if i wanted opinions as to whether or not i should do it i would have asked. i was looking for information about doing the job itsself becoming as informed about what it entails as much as possible. honestly i dont care about the fact that its 2wd ive seen alot of guys that go do just about anything a 4wd can do in thier 2wd trucks with lockers or lsd's as well as a 2wd is lighter than the 4wd and cheaper on parts as well as the truck its self was cheaper so a2wd does just fine for me.

 

so you're going to be "off roading" in your 2wd pickup truck and not be able to drive it on the road because you'll break the rear. are you gonna trailer it to the trails? because that would look pretty stupid. and another thing, I dont care if you didnt want my opinion, you got it anyway. now when you come looking for advice when your rear end breaks, dont be surprised if no one helps.

 

PWNED

 

i do stuff all the time people tell me not to. lol

 

A:honestly i dont care what he thinks i should and should not do

B:the truck sits at a house thats got over 100 acres and the trails are right there so there will be no need to trailer it anywhere

C: i have 2 other cars (07 chevy cobalt ss @ 2002 mitsubishi lancer oz) that are used for daily driving and getting around town

and finally
D:i know how to fix the **** if it breaks i wont be looking for help here i would go to my friend who works dodge service and get whatever help i need from him

 

Maybe he's building a Trophy Truck... [sm=smarty.gif]

[sm=laughat.gif]

 

hardwired, you actually DID ask for opinions, right in your first post:

any ideas and or opinions on how well this would work would be nice

You asked for opinions and you got them. Not everybody lives on 100 acres with trails in their backyard. Any reasonable person is going to assume that you've got to drive your truck on the street at least some. In fact, you even left open the possibility that you WILL drive it on the road, when you said:

i know that locking the diff either completely kills the road driving or breaks the rear end up which would suck, if i drove it on the road.

I know you haven't been on here long, but most folks on Internet forums like this try to look out for each other...point each other in the right direction. You obviously don't have much experience welding differentials together, by the fact that you asked about it. So any reasonable person is going to assume that you may not understand the consequences either.

It's like asking the question, "I want to raise my heart rate, do you think strapping on roller skates and tieing myself to the back of a semi would do it?"

You've got to expect at least one reply that goes something like, "Yes, that probably get you to your intended result, but I don't recommend it."

So not only did you specifically ask for opinions, state that it would suck if the axle broke if you drove it on the road, state that you don't have $500 for the proper equipment, AND state that you're saving up money for a wedding...you still get offensive after almost every reply came back similar to, "it'll work, but we really don't think it's a good idea." Of course, it's up to you if you want to do it, after weighing your options, but it would show some class if you didn't flame everyone for giving their opinions...especially after you asked for them.