We bolted up the LPW diff...
We bolted up the LPW diff cover and tightened the load bolts that support the main bearing caps inside the pumpkin. The load bolts help prevent movement and possible breakage of the main caps. The axle brace kit came complete with everything we needed. It is such a simple kit that even we could put it on without using directions. All it takes are rod ends on each side of the two seamless rods and the tabs on the outside.
All right, here's the plan: A Dodge Ram desert truck with 37-inch tires and nitrous on demand. We built a Dana 60 with 35-spline axles and a spool, but how the heck are we going to keep that axle from flexing too severely on take-off when the juice turns on? Trussing the axle conventionally will only help with the up-and-down flex on hard impact. We needed something that would act as a brace against the opposing forces of the tires' static load and the engine's considerable power. We needed a dragstrip tip.
We got on the phone with LPW Racing to get our hands on its Ultimate 60 differential cover and axletube brace kit. The truss goes on the back side--just the ticket for our application. When it arrived in the mail we drove up to see Chris Hill and Larry King of Hill 4 Wheel Drive in San Luis Obispo. They had a welder handy and have helped us on miscellaneous projects in the past. Check out how simple it is to brace your rear.
Hill mocked up the installation...
Hill mocked up the installation of the braces to locate where on the axle we should mount the tabs. Make sure to tighten the bolts firmly so there is no squeezing or prying to get the rod ends in once the tabs have been fully welded.
King tack-welded our tabs...
King tack-welded our tabs first to make sure there were no mistakes in our installation. Then we measured with a level just to make sure that the bracing rods were parallel to the axle. If either rod was at an angle it could cause pull to one side when under full load.
With everything double-checked...
With everything double-checked and measured, we finished the entire job in just under an hour. Besides having a bitchin' looking rearend, we had now prevented any forward movement resulting in case distortion. The rockcrawlers out there are probably looking at this picture right now and saying, "Man, I'd rip that thing off in five minutes!" But like we stated before: Our application is for a high-powered desert truck that is going to be moving over everything at 60-70 mph. The only thing that will see any contact at that speed is on the bottom of the axles.