Hey everyone im in the process of rebuilding the limited slip in my 2001 ram 1500, after I pulled out the spider gears I noticed that on the passenger side of the diff the clutches dug into the housing where it is notched to hold the clutch plates in, has anyone ever built up the material there by welding and grind it down to shape? Im good at welding and i know I can get a round file and a die grinder threw the side hole to give it its shape again but I dont know what kind of cast this is or should I use stick or might welder, also do I even need to worry about this because the clip itself should hold it all together right? Only reason it happend is because the clip fell out then the clutches dug in, my donor rear end has the same issue and I searched this island high and low for these limited slip differentials I think I have the only 2 😅 so im stuck fixing this one, I will post pictures of the damage and the chewed up spider gears later! any advice is appreciated thanks!

 

I believe it's alloy steel

 

I have had great success welding cast with my arc and mig welder. You can buy sticks that are made for welding cast I think they have a higher nickel content in them. I usually heat up the cast iron first with a torch or sticking it in the oven. If you can put it back in the oven after welding and cool it down slowly that has worked best for me.

 

It looks like cast to me because its very pourus but maybe its not cast ain't very strong when it comes to torsional stress which a rear would see lots of, I do have a donor differential im gonna try welding on first and see what happens! Like I said earlier do I even need to worry about welding the grooves if the clips are what hold the clutches together in the first place?

 

Yes I will try heating it up first unfortunately I only have a mig welder but its a good one, thing im not sure about is do i want high heat or low heat on the welder? I know I gotta get everything as clean as possible aswell

 

 

Are you mig welding it with gas or flux core? I would not recommend doing it with flux core. Pore the coals to it, if it is to cold it will build up on the surface.

by the way welding cast can cause it to crack when cooling down. That’s why I would keep heat on it after the weld and let it cool down slow. If you can put it in the oven after welding start out at 400 for 10 minutes then 300 for 10 the turn it off and leave it in the oven till it is cool enough to touch.

 

Well here is the fix just heat up the metal and spot welded over the area with a mig then grinder it to shape with a air grinder and stone, hope its a bit stronger then it was before it welded very easily just like normal steel1