14 Bolt S/F

[Tiger5]

I have a 1986 K5 with a built 5.3 and a 4l60e. All rebuilt. I have 33 inch tires. Stock front and rear differentials. I own a 14 bolt 6 lug sf. I want to completely rebuild it and in stall it. What do I need to do as far as spring perches and shock mounts. I will get some sort of carrier and will do 4.10 gears too. I live in Kansas City and I really would like to find someone who could do the welding on the housing. I have a friend who sets up rearends. I also would pallet and ship the axle for the welding. Any ideas?

 

[Bent77]

Seems pretty expensive for doing some welder work.

Go find a Craigslist special and learn how to weld

 

[obijuank5]

Axle should be under the truck for fitting and welding. Make another friend who can weld or do like I did. Get thrown to the wolves and learn how to weld.

 

[Tiger5]

Yeah....no. I will take it to a chassis builder. That will be the easiest and best. Then I can send out and powder coat the housing. Any recommendations on a carrier? Should I use stock axles? I either do this 14 bolt sf or the stock 10 bolt. I think I am staying with the drum brakes too. Keep in mind this is a street driven truck. No heavy wheeling. So I could just use the stock 10 bolt but I already have the 14 bolt sf. Any input on the internals is appreciated.

 

[Bent77]

If you don't need anything super whammy for traction, I'd stay with the factory open carrier

From there either a factor G80 unit, or possibly a true trac or an Eaton posi
As long as you are not adding a turbo or driving really bad, those axles should hold up fine on the street

 

[obijuank5]

14sf and a true trac would drive and handle it well when you put the turbo on it.

 

[Bowtie85]

The detroit in my SF operates like an eaton posi, no complaints other than they are worth an arm and a leg compared to a traction device for a full float.

 

[6872xtc]

Yeah....no. I will take it to a chassis builder. That will be the easiest and best. Then I can send out and powder coat the housing. Any recommendations on a carrier? Should I use stock axles? I either do this 14 bolt sf or the stock 10 bolt. I think I am staying with the drum brakes too. Keep in mind this is a street driven truck. No heavy wheeling. So I could just use the stock 10 bolt but I already have the 14 bolt sf. Any input on the internals is appreciated.

I personally wouldn't worry about a designated chassis builder to weld the perches on, just an experienced welder. I would even consider someone with a welding truck to tack the them in position under the truck after setting the pinion angle.
I like the Tru-trac that I have, but the Gov-loc is nice when it isn't in a 10B due to the lack of longevity in those axles.
I flared the dust shield on the 10B pinion yoke, then used it on the 14SF so that I didn't have to change anything with the driveshaft. And the 6 lug 14SF has the same brake shoes as the 10B.
I like this axle in lots of ways, wouldn't think twice about using it how you describe.

 

[Tiger5]

Great. The setting the angle and getting a good weld is something I worry about. That’s why someone with this experience is important to me. That’s all. I will get it done. The vehicle is all done but that issue. It runs great and I want to get it geared properly.

 

[6.2Blazer]

For setting up the spring perches for rear, get it setup under the truck and just tack them in place. Then you could remove the axle and take it to a welding shop. No way I would spend the money to ship the axle someplace....it would cost more for shipping then to actually have the welding done. As stated above just find a decent welder locally and take it to them, or I also like the idea of having a mobile welder come out to you. If you had everything setup under the truck and metal cleaned up it probably wouldn't take them more than 30 minutes total to burn them in.

For the 14SF overall, I think it would be a really good axle for this application. The factory axleshafts will be fine. I ran a True Trac in the back of K5 for years and thought it was a really good differential for the street and mild off-road. Super smooth and kept both tires spinning until you got into a pretty extreme situation.