I was thinking about welding the gears in the front and rear of my 1980 cj7 and was wondering if anyone has done this and what works best?  

What works best is not welding them at all, especially in front axle. It will cause steering bind and guiding issues. Tires need to turn at different rates in a turn on front axle plus Ujoint are not constant velocity either. A open diff or LSD lets this bind unload a bit while spools and Lincoln lockers do not. Good way to break front axle shafts too with big tires. All is not as it seems with this idea.Plus in rear on slick surfaces like slick road or slick hillsides you will have directional control issues with rear lincoln locked or spooled.  

Ditto, if you want a traction aid go with a selectable locker in both axles.  

thanks for the help, but i got bigger problems now. pinion bearing in the front axle busted and broke my teeth on the ring gear hope thats all but not through tearing it down yet. anyone have any dana 30 parts they getting rid of for a 80 cj7  

If you are running big rubber and broke it I would be looking for a bigger front axle, not parts for current one. A IH scout might be about right width and from later 60's on they all had D44's front and rear.  

Ouch, that's goota hurt. How big a rubber you running? See you did that much carnage without welding the gears, imagine what would have happened if you'd have welded that front diff! Not to mention the frontend damage from not being able to steer it with that Lincoln locker. SnoMan has a point as well about the Scout axles, both front and rear. Your exploded Dana 30 in the front is stronger than that Model 20 you got hangng in the rear. Another bolt-in option for the rear is a Dana 44 from a later year '86 CJ7.  

Actually if you do a axle shaft upgrade on AMC 20 (one piece axle) it is pretty strong and well above a stock D30 or D35. The weakness of it is the two piece axles.  

i upgrade the rear amc 20 with solid axles now the problems the front axle  

If you can find a old D25, they are stronger than a D30. They are closed knuckle and were used up until lat 60's when it was replaced by D27 with open or closed knuckles. The D30 is all open knuckle but D27 and D30 has smaller pinion bearings and pinion shaft than a D25. Smaller ring gear too.  

thanks for the help just trying to figure out if i am going to fix the old or replace the hole thing  

Usually I'd say go with the cheapest fix, but in your case of breaking the pinion I'd say sling the D44 under it.  

its really hard to find parts down here. i have found all sorts of parts up north but nothing close  

scott39641:
its really hard to find parts down here. i have found all sorts of parts up north but nothing close

Where is "down here"?  

Jayess,MS  

Try "www.car-part.com" but you may have to travel a bit to get parts for that Jeep. If you go with a axle swap, look for old IH scouts.