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14 bolt SF

stumpbuster

stumpbuster

1/2 ton status
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Posts
441
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Location
farmington, Ct
so this rear end i have is fairly weak?
im guessing more stout than the 12 bolt, but will it handle my 40's?:confused:

should i find myself a 14boltFF pronto?

thanks
 
it's stronger then a 12 bolt, but if you break an axle shaft, you will still loose your wheel, nothing to hold it in the axle housing.
 
I'd be more worried about the front if you have anything less than a d60 in it..

40's would be on the edge for an SF according to most.. I don't think it'll die a brutal death like a 10b would, and the axle shafts are quite stout.

I'm gonna guess, living in CT, you don't have a whole lot of rocks and have a bunch of mud..
 
I'd say a SF with 40's is not going to be that reliable... what kind of powerplant do you have? Is it going to be locked? Gear Ratio?
 
both open, 4:10's, wheeled "lightly", 350, np205 gear drive and turbo 400

i was excited to find out that the rig had 3/4 ton axles when i bought it, then bumbed to say the least when i actually did some research and found that my axles suck..
 
the SF does not suck but you probably won't find many people running a 40" tire on it either

I'm running a 35" on mine, one day it'll get a 37's..
 
I know it's not ideal, but a disc brake conversion does prevent loosing the wheel in the event of c-clip failure.
 
i dont think c-clips are prone to giving up on a semi floating axle, although they could, i dont see it happening alot;
 
There are two local guys running 40s on semifloats, both welded, one has Iroks and one has boggers they both run their trucks in rocks they aren't particlualrly hard on them and have never had a problem with the sf 14b. Thats not to say that they won't but so far so good both have had the 40s for a couple years
 
4.10 Open Gears with a stock GM 350 'wheeled lightly' should hold up decent. Wheel it until it breaks and then get a 14 bolt FF (pretty cheap to find a 4.10 open differential). There's nothing wrong with a Semi-Float, I ran one for a long time with 35's and some decent power... of course it only took one 'smoke show' to blow an axle and then I thought it'd be fun to try it in front wheel drive (10 bolt) when the rear driveshaft was out and you can guess what happened there...

I wish I could say I am older and wiser now... atleast I've upgraded to Dana 60 and 14 Bolt FF. Personally 10 Bolt anything, I wouldn't run bigger than a 33" tire... but I'm also abusive with my stuff and can't deal with a stock powerplant.
 
stumpbuster said:
i dont think c-clips are prone to giving up on a semi floating axle, although they could, i dont see it happening alot;
Click to expand...

In all my years here (almost 10 I suppose) I recall exactly *one* semi-float axleshaft fail where the c-clip seats. C-clips are not the weak link in the SF axles, either 10B or 14B. Carrier failure is much more common, and even then mostly due to the gov-lock, and only in the 10 bolts.

Not equating the 14SF to the FF, that would be a lie, simply that the c-clip isn't the problem it's been made out to be, at least for most applications. AFAIK on the circle track stuff they are prohibited. In that case the load on the pinion shaft is heavy and almost constant due to the turning, which would be hard on all the internals of an SF axle.
 
dyeager535 said:
In all my years here (almost 10 I suppose) I recall exactly *one* semi-float axleshaft fail where the c-clip seats. C-clips are not the weak link in the SF axles, either 10B or 14B. Carrier failure is much more common, and even then mostly due to the gov-lock, and only in the 10 bolts.
Click to expand...
I guess I used the wrong terminology. The concern is not breaking a c-clip, it's breaking a c-clip axleshaft. If you break the axleshaft anywhere the wheel can walk away from the truck.
 
Huge bearings with 1/2" rollers, and 33 spline axles with a larger diameter at the splines than a full floater .

Get disc brakes , and post up IF you can break it driving and wheeling like a normal person :D
 
Blue85 said:
I guess I used the wrong terminology. The concern is not breaking a c-clip, it's breaking a c-clip axleshaft. If you break the axleshaft anywhere the wheel can walk away from the truck.
Click to expand...


No worries, I was just responding to stumpbusters post which specifically mentioned the c-clips. Axle retention is a real issue if the axleshaft itself breaks. As you can see here, the c-clips stayed in place even after driving a few hundred feet:
1569ouch2.JPG


But breaking either 14SF and 14FF axles is extremely rare (not sure I've seen a report of a 14SF axleshaft breaking, but I have for the FF and 10B), and in reality, it is pretty rare even on the rear 10B's, that aren't gov-locked.
 
stumpbuster said:
yea? 37's with yer 10 bolt front end?
Click to expand...

Nah, by the time these treads wear out it'll be 60 time :wink1: Heck I'm already thinking about trying to find one in the fall... the 14bsf will get a detroit eventually too. The 14bsf detroit locker is pretty stout, and it's a carrier replacement.
 
pauly383 said:
33 spline axles with a larger diameter at the splines than a full floater
Click to expand...


Care to prove that?

AFAIK, the diametrical pitch of SF 14 bolt shafts (24) is the same as 98% of axles in cars/trucks. That means the shafts are 1.417" at the splines.

FF 14 bolt shafts use a diametrical pitch of 19.5, their 30 spline shafts are 1.59" at the splines. That's a big time difference in major diameter and strength. This is most comperable to 37 spline Dana/GM (except for the FF 14 bolt, which is different as mentioned before).
 
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