To spool or not to spool.....

[rockymtn6.5]

The orb??

And thanks big Dan, good to know I can ask questions, I was on a dpiesel site a while back and bashed on everything I posted, mostly because my dd is a 97 6.5td so I was dumb for not having a cummins, powerstroke, dmax.

I told them off and found a bad a$$ 6.2/6.5 site

 

[6.2Blazer]

When I put the 14FF in my Blazer 10 years ago I decided to weld it and if I didn't like it put in a Detroit....it still is welded. The only time I ever notice it on the street is parking lots and really sharp corners in town. Before getting a trailer I drove it to the trails which were at least a 3 hour round trip. I think I was one of the first in our club to go this route and have talked many others into either a welded or spooled rear axle and nobody has complained about going that route. While I wouldn't want this on a daily driver, I doubt I will ever go a different route on a trail rig.

 

[kgblazerfive]

Orb of traction, someone posted a picture of it earlier in the thread. Basically a big round ball of weld.

 

[jekquistk5]

The Orb ends up being a mini spool. Just the spiders welded together, and completely filled in. I had almost a 5lb spool into mine.

 

[mill5471]

i think im going to be welding the 14ff in my next project. almost free traction . a friends rear is welded and from driving his rig to someone elses, i like it. only time you notice his is when your doing a michigan U turn

 

[supermotard750]

Orb of traction, someone posted a picture of it earlier in the thread. Basically a big round ball of weld.

Exactly, that's mine. I tacked it while it was laying in the carrier, then I actually welded a couple of bolts in between the gaps so I didn't have to use all welding wire but it still weights atleast 12 pounds. I was very careful to not weld an part of the thrust washer seats so I could reinstall them to eliminate any kind of slop

 

[Fordum]

You know, at highway speeds, those chunks spin at a pretty good RPM, depending on the size of the tires.
I wonder how critical balancing would be.......

There would be a vibration that was hard to find......

 

[jekquistk5]

You know, at highway speeds, those chunks spin at a pretty good RPM, depending on the size of the tires.
I wonder how critical balancing would be.......

There would be a vibration that was hard to find......

That is the advantage of a mini spool as they are balanced, orb of traction not soo much. For a trail rig/ light dd, it should be fine. As long as he is not turning 75mph for long periods of time.

 

[owenst7]

You know, at highway speeds, those chunks spin at a pretty good RPM, depending on the size of the tires.
I wonder how critical balancing would be.......

There would be a vibration that was hard to find......

Its so close to the centerline of the axle that it doesn't matter. That's one reason why it takes so much weight to balance a 44" when you're clipping weights on to a 15" rim. Have you ever seen any finish machining to a carrier to balance it, like random OD areas that are machined off?

Remember, the driveline is spinning roughly 4x faster than the axle shafts. Even a really out-of-whack driveline is not usually noticeable until ~35+ mph. It also doesn't have nearly as much inertia as the carrier does.

 

[supermotard750]

I drive my rig to an from the trails last to trip were over 2 hours each way at 70-90mph no balance issues at all

 

[rockymtn6.5]

Sorry, most of my posts are off my not so smart phone (T-Mobile) and the rest are off my work computer that blocks most pictures.

Most I've ever seen before is heavy welds between the teeth of the spiders.
Would that hold up with 37's or should I goober it to?

 

[Fordum]

Its so close to the centerline of the axle that it doesn't matter. That's one reason why it takes so much weight to balance a 44" when you're clipping weights on to a 15" rim. Have you ever seen any finish machining to a carrier to balance it, like random OD areas that are machined off?

Remember, the driveline is spinning roughly 4x faster than the axle shafts. Even a really out-of-whack driveline is not usually noticeable until ~35+ mph. It also doesn't have nearly as much inertia as the carrier does.

True, with 33s, you are only spinning the axles at about 600 rpm. But, you use ounces to balance a tire, and people are talking about putting 5 pounds of wire into one.
Let one of those pounds be concentrated on one side, and you would probably notice something.

Not saying it would do damage, but most folks who drive lifted or modified vehicles are fairly sensitive to vibration since it often is an early indicator of trouble.

And a vibration from inside the rear end housing would be a real bear to track down.......

 

[kgblazerfive]

It is basically a ball when its all said and done looks like a softball with shafts sticking out of it.

 

[black dawg]

I have welded lots of rear diffs including stock car stuff (pretty short tires) and have never noticed a vibration afterwards.

 

[6.2Blazer]

I personally think the "orb" is a little overkill. When I welded mine I tacked the spiders together in the case then just heavily welded the side gears to the spiders. Been running it that way with 38's and 39.5's for years and have busted several stock D60 front shafts so it gets used hard.

For the balance issue the welds are only a couple inches off the centerline where as a tire the tread can be 20+ inches from the centerline. Not saying there isn't any balance issue but I have never heard anybody state they had an issue.