Axle strength question

[thebluemax]

I'm sure it's been covered but couldn't find it in the search function.

What is biggest tire a factory ten bolt front can handle? and with upgrades like shafts and joints what is the max?

I can't see swapping to 3/4 ton front when it's same axle just with different outers from what I can tell.

I would like to either swap to a sf six lug 14 bolt or get a ff 14 and convert it back to six lug.

My truck will see a lot of on road use with a fair amount of mud in future, no rocks.

 

[Silver84k5]

couldn't find it in the search function.

this is not possible, unless you spelled something wrong.

My truck will see a lot of on road use with a fair amount of mud in future, no rocks.

I had 38's and 39.5s on a ten bolt, Ive seen rigs with 44's on ten bolts. You stay on the street, and you will be fine unless you are side stepping the clutch or doing neutral drops. Bigger tires will accelerate the wear on components, such as ball joints, brakes, and tie rod ends. But it wont be that big of a deal, just keep your maintenance up.

In the mud, with a light foot, you could run 44's just carry spare axle shafts and u joints.

and with upgrades like shafts and joints what is the max?

I wouldnt bother. The money you spend in shafts and joints, you could probally shop around and find a good deal on a 60 for around the same price. You upgrade shafts and joints, your R&P becomes the weak link, not to mention the balljoints and knuckles.

Almost forgot, this post wouldnt be complete without the....

"JUST GET A 60" and the obligatory

 

[stumpbuster]

44's on 10bolts. word.

 

[cegusman]

I have seen 54" Boggers on 10 bolts. Looked like toothpicks

 

[stumpbuster]

I have seen 54" Boggers on 10 bolts. Looked like toothpicks

that kid musta been "wickid cool"

 

[Stomis]

this is not possible, unless you spelled something wrong.

I had 38's and 39.5s on a ten bolt, Ive seen rigs with 44's on ten bolts. You stay on the street, and you will be fine unless you are side stepping the clutch or doing neutral drops. Bigger tires will accelerate the wear on components, such as ball joints, brakes, and tie rod ends. But it wont be that big of a deal, just keep your maintenance up.

In the mud, with a light foot, you could run 44's just carry spare axle shafts and u joints.

Sorry bud but this is the worst advice I've ever heard. Theres a difference between seeing people get lucky with not breaking stuff and the actual limits to a component.

Heres my advice:

The limits to a stock 10bolt front are 35s under a fullsize rig and I would say you should still grind for full circle u joint clips or tack the u joint caps.

If you get bling shafts AND U joints, dont forget the u joints!, it'll handle up to 37s depending on width and how aggressive of a tread. So ya know a 37 MT no prob, even a TSL, but if ya want boggers or IROKs just forget it. And I wouldnt even go this route because for the money a stock dana 60 is nearly as strong shaft wise, stronger ring wise, and upgradable.



Now onto the 8 lug vs 6 lug thing. I made this mistake... If you have nice 6 lug wheels your reluctant to part with then go get a 6 lug semi floater from a 89-98 truck.

Dont even think for a second about trying to convert a full floater to 6 lug unless you've got access to a machine shop. Its just not worth it. They recently came out with hubs that narrow and convert the 14b FF to 5 or 6 lug but theyre $400. To me thats $400 better spent going 8 lug and switching wheels.

Please for the love of god do not think its alright to run 38s 40s or 44s on a 10 bolt. EVEN ON THE STREET your itching to wear out BJs and bearings in a few thousand miles.

 

[6.2Blazer]

The only reason to go 3/4 ton in the front is to have matching 8-lug wheels hubs like the rear, and it's a lot cheaper and easier to make the front axle 8-lug then try to convert a 14FF to 6-lug. Also, the next progression in swaps is a D60 front and you would already have a matching 8-lug rear axle. Of course you could always drop a good bit of coin and buy aftermarket 6-lug D60 hubs.

There is really no hard number for maximum tire size a front 10-bolt can handle. It all depends on three things:

1. overall vehicle setup (power, weight, locker or open, etc...)
2. driving style and terrain
3. LUCK

Just last weekend I was at a big ATV and mud truck place and saw tons of trucks running 1/2 and 3/4 ton axles with up to 44" Boggers and stout engines. I only saw a handful that were obviously broke, but that was also staying on slippery mud and most had open diffs. Take them out on a real trail and bet the story would be different.

 

[andyblack]

When the 54" Boggers came out about three years ago, I saw a kid in Tifton, GA driving down the road with 54s on about a 2000 or 2001 1/2 ton Z71 with IFS. Don't ask me how that's possible. I didn't get a good look at how he had the truck lifted, but it was way up there. Looked like a suicide machine with $4000 worth of tires to me.

 

[Silver84k5]

Sorry bud but this is the worst advice I've ever heard. Theres a difference between seeing people get lucky with not breaking stuff and the actual limits to a component.

So my truck running around for 2 years, with 38"s on my ten bolts was luck?
I ran those 38"s 70% road 30% muddy trails, and bogs. Never broke a thing, the only time i broke something was when i tried rocks for the first time, lost a rear axle shaft. He said "No rocks"


**** isnt just going to explode while driving on the road with large tires. He said his truck will see "alot of on road use" Now if he drives his truck within the LAW, like a normal human, he will just need to keep an eye on his steering parts, and bearings. Check them when you change the oil and you will be fine.

 

[AZ79K5Project]

Here are some charts that I picked up over time.

 

[Stomis]

So my truck running around for 2 years, with 38"s on my ten bolts was luck?
I ran those 38"s 70% road 30% muddy trails, and bogs. Never broke a thing, the only time i broke something was when i tried rocks for the first time, lost a rear axle shaft. He said "No rocks"


**** isnt just going to explode while driving on the road with large tires. He said his truck will see "alot of on road use" Now if he drives his truck within the LAW, like a normal human, he will just need to keep an eye on his steering parts, and bearings. Check them when you change the oil and you will be fine.

Thats exactly what I'm telling you. You got lucky plain and simple. Ask anyone on here. Its common knowledge that the biggest size tire to run on a 44/10bolt and have it dependable is 35s. Besides maybe your idea of muddy trails is just wet fireroads for all we know. The point is actually wheeling the truck a 10bolt wont hold 38s.

You can argue thats your mud machine ran 38s and didnt break blah blah thats fine but some of us like to build the whole truck to suit the power/tires.


And those charts are wrong. It says a dana 44 can handle 36s but a 10bolt can only handle 33s? Thats retarded seeing as how they have the same dimensions within a 1/16th of an inch.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Here are some charts that I picked up over time.

Lots of misinformation in those charts, FF 14 bolt shafts aren't 35 spline 1.5" and the "subjective" axle strength chart is VERY inconsistent. It says 10 bolts can only handle 33's but 12 bolts and D44's can handle 36's? They're all very similar in strength.

And a stock D60 will in no way hold up to 44's.

 

[tRustyK5]

That chart also lists the 12 bolt as good for 36's, when it's no stronger than a 10 bolt. It also says the 12 bolt ring gear is 8.5", when it's really 8.875".

Rene

 

[Burbdood 74]

I'll weigh in on this. I had a 1990 K-5 Blazer with a Rancho 4" lift and 33's on it. I bought it and drove it nice and easy because I wanted everyone to see me cruisin in the best looking Blazer in town.

I took it off road one night with my girlfriend down a fire trail. Anyone who knows me will tell you I drive very carefully because I hate fixing broken stuff. Anyway, I came across some mud and as I gunned it to get through it, I heard a grinding sound coming from the rear. I limped it home and the next morning I took the cover off the rear end and I found 7 teeth from my ring gear in the bottom of the housing. My pinion gear was almost stripped clean and the gear oil looked like graphite powder.

I'm not saying that something like this is definitely going to happen to you, but it happened to me and I drive mostly on road, and occasional off road. And when I do go off road, it's nice and easy.

Do yourself a favor, if you want to keep it 6 lug, look for a 14 bolt SF rear and KNOW you'll be ok if you have to hit the throttle pretty hard. And if you find 2, let me know because I'm looking to swap out my current 10 bolt rear on my Suburban. I was bitten by a 10 bolt and I don't trust them.

 

[Silver84k5]

Thats exactly what I'm telling you. You got lucky plain and simple. Ask anyone on here. Its common knowledge that the biggest size tire to run on a 44/10bolt and have it dependable is 35s. Besides maybe your idea of muddy trails is just wet fireroads for all we know. The point is actually wheeling the truck a 10bolt wont hold 38s.

You can argue thats your mud machine ran 38s and didnt break blah blah thats fine but some of us like to build the whole truck to suit the power/tires.


And those charts are wrong. It says a dana 44 can handle 36s but a 10bolt can only handle 33s? Thats retarded seeing as how they have the same dimensions within a 1/16th of an inch.

Im going off of what the poster said. STREET, mud in the future, no rocks...

My "mud machine"

In reality, i dont think a stock d60 was meant to handle over a 33" tire. Can it? of course.

thats fine but some of us like to build the whole truck to suit the power/tires.

Besides maybe your idea of muddy trails is just wet fireroads for all we know. The point is actually wheeling the truck a 10bolt wont hold 38s.

Im not a guy to list stats, because it is cheesy. Mine is built to hold up just fine.

I stand by my OPINION that a 10 bolt will be fine for street and mild mud. Is it possible he will break, of course. hence why i said, carry spare shafts and joints.



lol

 

[Silver84k5]

And a stock D60 will in no way hold up to 44's.

Everything breaks, but many people have d60s that survive just fine with 44's bolted to them...

Hell, theres been rockwells busted with 39.5"s .

Everything has the potential to break, period. But thats not to say you need a rockwell to run 44"s.

 

[Stomis]

I've honestly had enough of this argument. If you wanna rough against the grain because its cool to be different thats fine but dont go passing off advise to people that are looking for help.

 

[Silver84k5]

This subject has beaten to death so much that the horse is a skeleton by now. The answers are out there.

 

[tRustyK5]

The thing that I never see factored in to the "1/2 ton" argument is that by the time most of us get one of these rigs and start wheeling them they have well over 100,000 miles on them. These 10 and 12 bolt rears that spontaneously explode most likely have never seen fresh lube in their entire life. Bearings get sloppy from wear, and then things take a rapid form of failure. My old '81 Jimmy, when I went to take it for a test drive I blew the rear 12 bolt trying to back it out of the parking spot it was in. We're talking chunks that blew through the cover, at 5% throttle, on 33's.

I have a 60/14 combo sitting on the floor of my carport, but my Blazer is getting a 10/12 combo currently and I don't plan to move up from the 1/2 ton stuff. i'll run them as is for now and re-gear/rebuild them later as money allows. I have 35's and won't be going bigger.

Trail failures up front: I ran 36" TSL's on a D44 that was open for many many wheeling trips and never once broke anything. I swapped the lube out yearly, and greased the U-joints regularly, and drove it smart...

Would I have run 38's? Probably not.

Rene

 

[Silver84k5]

and drove it smart...

This ^ period.