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12 bolt next to 14b sf pics

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scott soucy

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Thought I'd share a pic of my project for those who might be thinking of swapping a 14b sf to replace their 10/12 bolt(not everyone needs a FF). Quite a difference in size.
axleproject025.jpg

axleproject026.jpg
 
that's exactly what I'm doing to my rear end right now - 3.07 12bolt open to 3.73 14bsf gov-loc'd / 6 lug / with disk brakes. It's nice to see I'm not alone.
 
The one I got is gov-loc'd as well. I got real lucky, it came out of a low mileage truck, all the parts on this axle were in excelent condition, including the brakes, even the oil that I drained from it wasn't all dark and nasty.
 
You catch a lot of chatter here about sf axles being weaker, gov-locs sucking, etc, etc. I'm not disputing anything anybody has said regarding that. But, my truck has about 110,000 miles on the original 12 bolt. Its been totin a heavy camper around the whole while and all the seals were still good and the gears were still in good shape when I pulled it out. Its funny, because after reading all the "Have to have a 14ff" stuff here, I was expecting a differential full of steel wool when I finally popped the cover.

For the type of offroading I do - lots of highway miles, little bit of sand, rock, mud wherever I happen to be hunting / fishing - I think this new axle ought to work great. Yours should to.
 
I run a 14bsf as well. IMHO it's a great axle for those of us who run tires under 37in. I will never go above 35in tires as long as I live in Maine, so I saw no reason for a 14bff; lots of extra weight and less ground clearance.
 
I too run a 14 bolt SF with 4.56 gears, detroit, and 38.5in tires and I beat the hell out of it and never had a problem (knocking on wood) but I have a FF waiting for when this one does finally go.
 
Those of you that have done this swap, did you set the pinion angle the same as the previous axle? I've already relocated everything but was trying to get this info to minimize the shock of potentially having the angle incorrect.
 
It's going to be at least slightly different, due to the shortened driveshaft. 14SF is about 1" longer on the pinion side than a 10 bolt, I assume the 12 bolt is about the same?
 
My axle came from a 2wd truck, so the pinion angle was way off. I had to use 10-deg shims to get it right.

scott soucy said:
Those of you that have done this swap, did you set the pinion angle the same as the previous axle? I've already relocated everything but was trying to get this info to minimize the shock of potentially having the angle incorrect.
Click to expand...
 
I think its the picture, I didn't notice that standing over it. I thought the sme thing when i looked at it on here too.
 
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