[dsraven]

the thing with welding on the axle tubes anywhere is that it must be done in short welds allowing time to cool off between welding spurts. otherwise the axle tubes heat a bunch in one spot and that ends up causing warpage in the tube. once that happens the axle housing is basically toast because it costs more to straighten it than you can get another housing/axle for. the welders/shops SHOULD know this and I would advise asking them BEFORE they weld on your housing and I also advise checking the welds and the axle tubes afterwards to see if the welds were done as a continuous bead or in sections. if continuous then check the tubes for straight before emptying your wallet for them.
that's maybe why the costs are a tad higher than you might expect. it is time for the welder that is paid by the hour. a shop may be able to task the welder to another job, like 2 jobs going at once, so he can weld a piece, go to the other job while it cools, then come back. instead of driving to your house and waiting for the parts to cool between welds with no access to another job.
just my 2 cents