Ya either way IMO its half a dozen one, six the other. Cause if there is play it has slack to shock the gears when you are really getting on it. It just all depends on how you look at it. Both ways work and have been proven to work.

If you weld the gears together and then build up the space in the valley of the gears then if the weld fatigue's or breaks then the weld in the valley's will prevent the spider gears from turning. You will really have to pretty much explode the carrier to destroy it.

The one thing I found in looking for the most "common" way to do it is that THERE ISNT ONE. There are so many different opinions on it I found that you have to pick one method and do it. Just make sure you get enough heat for penetration on the welds and either method should work fine. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />