Snow is not common at all Florida. But I'm not from here and drove in snow for years before I came here. So I know how a vehicle would perform with a licker in the snow. It would be scary af.

Yeah me and Mudraider are about neighbors, I may have a bit more red clay to deal with but it's still sand and mud here in north florida.
Yes I'd rather have lockers, but $$$.
When ever I'm able to rebuild my front suspension I will find someone with a strong stick welder and do it up right.
Rear would also be nice to do but i have the 28 spline 9" not the good 31 spline 9.5" so the rear is optional still.

Got other stuff needing work right now. Catalytic converter is apparently clogged up, not sure I can get it out past the torsion bar ? Tight azz fit.

With the axle disconnect the 97-99 have, a welded front diff shouldn't be an issue until you engage 4wd (assuming everything is working correctly). The models without the disconnect will need manual hubs to disengage the left and right sides to avoid binding during turns
Locked front differentials are hard on cv axles when your turning, the sharper you turn the worse it gets.
I'm going to try to install a ford 9" mini spool on the rear axle of my truck. Axle diameter and spline count match up, so here's to hoping. Sadly it looks like the front axles are slightly smaller diameter even though they are still 28 spline. I'm going to test fit anyway just to be sure

I was thinking the same about the Ford 9".. I would be the cross pin will be what could be different.


I'm not going to lock and unlock the hubs everytime I turn, if the front can't handle spinning a tire on say a dirt road then something if wrong... so with it welded and engaged, the inside tire will want to break loose and churn.. it will only ever be engaged offroad and when 2wd won't cut it or I'm just in some place all of it is loose sand or mud.. I can and may leave to rear open and only weld the front until I can score a bigger 9.5" 31 spline rear.

TM, I'll have a used Aussie locker available in the winter. Yours for shipping.

I wheel ridiculously hard, only straight panels are the roof and back door. Since I installed the Aussie 10+ years ago, I've destroyed countless CV axles... so many that I carry spare CV axles and can trail swap either side in under 45 minutes. YMMV, but locking the front hasn't worked for me. It sounds as though you don't play on the rocks very much and you're a bit more prudent than I am with the skinny pedal...

No rocks big enough to play on here, and yes I wheel mild, mostly sand and mud here.
And man you have a deal, keep me updated. Thank you so much.

Yes, there are rocks to play on in Florida. And all kinds of man-made obstacles to play on at events. But wow is it wet out right now. Went to Osceola National Forest yesterday 20" deep was the norm, and a couple of times I looked out and my 37" tire wasn't visible.­ƒÿ?

Well, great to see you on here.