Hey all,

I was under the Tracker today doing so maintanence and I noticed that my front diff. housing was cracked.  Can I weld this?  I know I should upgrade to a steel housing from and XL7 or GV (not sure which) but I just don't have the funds for that right now.

Another question,  While I was reattaching the Calmini front skid plate, I noticed that it hits the front diff.  Is this normal?  It seems that if it is hitting the front diff, that it would put extra pressure on it when I hit a rock.  Do any of you have this issue? 

Thanks All,

That could be welded, but the strength is
still going to be the same, I would just use
grey silicone to seal the hole until you can
replace it with another one, steel or otherwise

Really, so getting it welded would result in the same strength as it is being cracked or did you mean that it would have the same strength as the stock housing before the crack?  Is there something different about aluminum that I don't know.  I have never welded aluminum but I thought that it would atleast be stronger than it is now. 


Thanks for the info. 

Aaron  :'(

I think it all depends on the type of aluminum and what type of filler material you use. Some aluminum alloys are heat treatable and some are not. Some filler materials are heatreatable and some are not. If the housing was initially heat treated for strength and then you weld it without heat treatng afterwads you may infact make it weaker.
  If you want to have it welded then it is important to find out what the base material is so that the proper filler wire can be chosen. There are  different aluminum rods and all have their strengths and weaknesses depending on what type of service the joint will see in use.
Does anyone know the base material?

How about a little JB Weld?  It would probably be a little stronger than silicone.

I'd suggest just getting a replacememnt housing, even if it's still just alum.) ...

in fact I have one laying around (where are you located).

It would have the same strength as the stock housing before the crack

You need to figure out why it cracked there, that's not a
power crack, that looks like a loose mounts type of crack

You could remove the housing and have it beefed up in
all the right places, the empty housing weighs like 5 pounds,
there isn't a lot of matierial there to start with

I live in Santa Clarita, about 30 miles north of Los Angeles.  Please let me know what you are willing to sale it for.  I appreciate the offer. 

As for why it happened, I think it is because the bottom Calmini skid plate hits the differential.  I can actually see flat spots on the bottom of the differential where 15 years of wear have rubbed it.  I am figuring with a couple years of good abuse and slamming on rocks, it eventually cracked it.  I need to get some space between the skid plate and the differential, that way when I hit rocks it doesn't transfer that energy to my diff. 

Thanks for all the input!

Aaron