I did a TMR full shave on my 14 bolt and have the clearance of a 12 bolt. Best of both worlds.
CK5
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12 bolt vs. 14 bolt
- Thread starter aceroth
- Start date
I did a TMR full shave on my 14 bolt and have the clearance of a 12 bolt. Best of both worlds.
But you still have the weight of a 14bff
i can tell you my 2wd 12 bolt with detroit true trac pushes like a tank . . . . my 14ff trucks with stock to 38" tires push like butter even with a detroit locker .
must be the true track or somthing when there is no power to it .
must be the true track or somthing when there is no power to it .
True. But that's what the big block is for. More power = better! If I was blowing thru the desert at warp nine the unsprung weight would be an issue. In my application it is irrelevant. Not busting a couple rears and 4 fronts every year is paramount.
But, I agree. I did add a few hundred pounds with the 14FF/D60 combo.
That was my concern as well; umsprung weight.
That is why i built up the D44 and 12bolt to replace a pair of 10bolts in my rig.
But it was also convenient because i had the donor k5 at the time.
I like the way my K5 rides right now with d44 12b config.
But If i get into any more technical terrain than I wheel now, i guess trading some ride quality for durability would make sense.
Thought about the semi float 14.
But if going to the trouble, i think FF with deep gears and 35 inch tires minimum would be the route to go for me.
Right now the lowly 12 bolt is fine locked up with 33's and 3.73's.
The d44 swap was just because the gears matched.
@sweetk30 are you saying the 12 bolt rig pushes better than your 14ff rigs?
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Normally I agree. But there is something to be said for the quality of the material of the old stuff vs. the new stuff.
Everyone has their own opinions on that so you be the judge of what that is.
Because the stuff that is currently working is a known quantity. I can think of VERY little aftermarket/replacement auto parts made today, whether US, Mexico, China or Canada, that I have ANY confidence that they are made anywhere near as good as they were OEM, or even aftermarket 30 years back. Poorer machining, thinner/lower quality materials, more plastic, you name it. The brand doesn't matter either. I recall buying the highly recommended Spicer/Raybestos Pro Grade ball joints for the 10 bolt, and seeing machining chips left in the joint when I went to install the boot. Griffin radiator failures. Mis-made 14SF axle seals. I'm sure I could come up with more examples if I try.
Run what is working until it fails, then replace with what you think will be the best quality component.
heck few years ago autozone went to all house brand on a lot of stuff .
a timken dana 60 carrier bearing was 34.99 or so and the duralast house brand was 9.95 . . . the duralast was so cheep they couldnt even put a part # on the bearing anywere . the bearing spun like crap compared to a timken in your hand .
at that point i wated 2 days and ordered off rockauto . got what i wanted for less than store list and few bucks more than store crap .
a timken dana 60 carrier bearing was 34.99 or so and the duralast house brand was 9.95 . . . the duralast was so cheep they couldnt even put a part # on the bearing anywere . the bearing spun like crap compared to a timken in your hand .
at that point i wated 2 days and ordered off rockauto . got what i wanted for less than store list and few bucks more than store crap .
Back in the 80's when I sold bearings in Bower/BCA boxes and various other "good" brands like Mquay-Norris, L&S,even some Timken ones,all had a spot on the box that told the "country of origin" stamped in ink on it..many came from weird places like Istanbul,Spain,Brazil,Japan,and other third world countries in the Middle East--not too many were made in USA even back then..
lots of people see KOYO bearings in 14ff and newer stuff . . . there a good oem brand of bearing .
Or you could have a bearing seize on you the first time out because you didn’t go through it all. There are good bearings out there, they just aren’t sold in most part stores. If you aren’t going to replace them at-least take them out to inspect. Just don’t run a flat back cover and you should be good.
Yeah, if I have good OEM bearings I always re-install. New ones are more of a crapshoot. 10 years ago I figured Timken was a safe bet, but I've had a couple Timken unit wheel bearings fail under a year (where OEM was good for 10+). Hopefully the caged individual bearings are better, but they are all off-shore now.
Lol at all this talk about unsprung weight.
I’ll take beef over weight any day
But that’s me.
14bff and Dana 60 KP ftw
Although a built 12 bolt is fine I just don’t get throwing money at it. The hubs is the only thing that makes it somewhat of a decision.
I’ll take beef over weight any day
But that’s me.
14bff and Dana 60 KP ftw
Although a built 12 bolt is fine I just don’t get throwing money at it. The hubs is the only thing that makes it somewhat of a decision.
Which could and does happen with all sorts of brand new parts. If you can get your hands on some stuff that is EXACTLY what is provided to the OEM's, then I'd be pretty confident that it would be good out of the box. But most people aren't willing to pay the OEM parts prices. Most of us also have no idea if what we are buying is OEM, or just a fancy name and price slapped on a lowest bidder piece of junk. I guess part of my argument can be nullified if someone put junk bearings in there since GM did. 
Axle seals would never be a bad idea though, if you are going to be in there, as long as they fit properly.
Axle seals would never be a bad idea though, if you are going to be in there, as long as they fit properly.
how did you install the unit bearings ?
do NOT use impact to install the BIG center nut . and there is a specific torque spec for each vehicles make/model .
if you do the 2 things above i just listed the unit bearing life is cut in half or more . had a bearing rep show us this years ago and we had 99% less come backs after we went to hand install of center nut and torqued to spec .
Wait. Are you saying that monkeying with something that works might make things worse?
(totally not directed at anyone, most of us can probably relate to our "upgrades" and "improvements" that result in far more pain and work than anticipated.)
Did it like I have for 15 or 20 years. Used to be you could buy AC Delco, Timken or Moog and they were good. Now it's a crapshoot. Things have changed.
