Any of you weld your gears on your D44 to lock your front up for better traction? I am considering doing this to help for plowing but wanted to know if any of you have done it and what your thoughts are

 

Probably a bad idea in general since the axle is considered a weak one, not to mention the affects in general of a locker in the front. Plan to break stuff. At minimum consider manual hubs if you plan to do this to help aid if you do need to turn.

 

welding wouldnt be a problem except for the solid hubs, if you have the diff disconnect thing (i dont remember what its called cus i dont have one ) it will be ok except your front driveshaft will always turn. D44s are ok for strength as long as your running fairly small tires (smaller than 35"s) other than that, your asking for a broken axle when it all locks up.

 

i'd think it would be damn near impossible to drive while in 4wd. if you use 2wd on the road and 4wd only while plowing it might be alright.

 

you would have to be on soft ground. it would be hard on things to turn corners with the front axle engaged with a welded diff

 

I would not even consider it unless you had manual hubs...

 

i only ever use 4wheel when plowing and on soft slush/snow.. i dont think the axles would be much more of a problem then they already are.. the CAD seperates both left and right anyway .. only time the axle is live is in 4X4

reason why i ask is i got hung up in a snow bank the other night during a storm.. 3 out of my 4 tires were doing work when the 4th was slackin off.. not a huge + when i have 4 other acounts to get to and then get to work on time...

i might look into a locker for the front.. or a new truck..

 

\The cad disconnects between the carrier and the passenger wheel only. It does not do both sides. With the differential welded, the driver side wheel will be locked 100% all the time even in 2wd. Selectable locker is the choice for you.

Look into "ox locker" - cable selected open / spool carrier
Look into .... electrac? - its a lsd carrier that full locks with the flip of a switch

Both of these would allow you to disengage to help you manuever. Hope it helps.

 

The drivers side is always locked in regardless. The difference is the front drive shaft will be spinning 100% of the time, even in 2 wheel drive.

I definitely wouldn't recommend it on a street driven truck. At minimum you would want a posi-lock system so you could disengage the passenger axle when a locked front isn't needed (most of the time). A lockout kit would be even better.

 

Right now I think your upset that you got stuck and your looking for an 'quick' solution. I'd
think about it for a couple of days and consider looking into a selectable locker or you may
realize that you don't get stuck all that often anyway and its not worth the time/money for
a locker. my 2 cents.