14bolt SF technical question

[Liberator]

My 87 K5 just puked its 10bolt rear the other day. The bone yard I do business with found a 14 bolt SF six lug from a 93 2wd Silverado. To get this axle in I'll have to change the spring perch and shock mount locations and install a conv u-joint but what about the lenghth of the axle. I was told the 2wd rear is shorter than 4wd axles. He measured 65" drum to drum (outside of the drum). How wide are the original 10 bolts and can I fit this 2wd 14SF in my 87 K5 without worrying about the rear being to narrow?
Any info or thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Bo

 

[Blue85]

have you measured the width of your 10-bolt?

I thought a 93 2WD silverado would be 5-lug.

 

[Liberator]

If I could, I would!

 

[RedBrute]

just measured my old '87 10bolt in the garage, I got 64.5" brake drum to brake drum near as I could alone.

 

[Liberator]

Thank you very much! I appreciate the info!

 

[bowtiepower00]

The 2WD SF14 should be a 6-lug unit if it came out of an Light Duty 3/4 ton truck. The only application that I know of that featured a 5-lug SF14 is the 454SS, and that wasn't produced in 93. The width is going to be a problem. I put a 2WD axle in my 93 K1500, and it was a couple of inches narrower than the 10 bolt it replaced. It fit, but the tires (260/75R16's) were about an 1/8" from the springs on stock wheels. I'm not sure if the axle would fit your application. You would probably be better off using an 8-lug SF that bolts in, and swapping the axleshafts, etc, to 6-lug parts.

 

[Liberator]

[ QUOTE ]
You would probably be better off using an 8-lug SF that bolts in, and swapping the axleshafts, etc, to 6-lug parts.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a very good idea. So the gentleman at the bone yard was correct when he said the 2wd was shorter(I didn't believe him). But if the 2wd 14SF I'm getting measures 65 inches, that's close to the measurement RedBrute got on his '87 10 bolt. Anyone have a measurement for the 93 and up 4wd?

 

[u2slow]

You'd be better off with the 6-lug 14SF from an 88-98 4x4 truck. Should be about 67-68".

 

[Blue85]

It's the axleshaft that sets the overall width of the axle. Different lengths were used over the years for different brake drum widths, 2WD/4WD, etc. From what I've seen, they all have the bearings in the same place, though, so swapping axleshafts could give you the width you need with the housing you already have. Better research this, though.

When I put in my 14bsf, I got some new 6-lug axleshafts and now my rear end is within 1" of my front end, where the stock 10b was about 3" narrower than the front. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif The axle housing was from an 80-something 8-lug unit.