Ground clearance numbers, 14/70/60

[sled_dog]

Anyone have info on the ground clearance of a 14 bolt, Dana 60, and Dana 70 rear? Namely axle centerline to bottom of housing. I've been thinking the S10 may get some smaller shoes than the 39.5s I had. Thinking even with how far forward the axle will be, tire to firewall clearance could still be an issue. Smaller tires, less ground clearance. Just thoughts, seeing as the S10 won't get started till oh September.

 

[FRIZZLEFRY]

I dont have a centerline measurement but I can tell you that I gained a 1/4" ground clearance when swapping from a shaved 14 bolt to a shaved 70

 

[sled_dog]

was your 14 bolt shaved?

 

[84gmcjimmy]

shaved 14 bolt

Yes it was Alan

 

[mikey_d05]

It's cold and I'm lazy, but if you still need the numbers for the 14 and 60, I'll post 'em up after I get home from work tomorrow.

 

[sled_dog]

Yes it was Alan

shh I'm stupid lately

 

[mikey_d05]

Alright, axle centerline to bottom of cover on an unshaved 14bff is ~ 6.5", D60 is ~ 6". Don't have a D70 handy so I can't help you on that one.

 

[dyeager535]

Not sure if you even considered it, but here is the 14SF measurement I got.

Either the posted 14FF measurement is way off, or mine is, but my 14SF came out to 7" from axle centerline to lowest point of diff housing. A 10.5" ring gear housing (unshaved at that) pretty much HAS to be lower than that, no?

I'd like to hear what the 10 bolt is in any case for a comparison.

Then again, I was measuring by myself, and I did expect it to be slightly off, but not more than 1/2", although anything is possible.

 

[mikey_d05]

Well, assume that the ring gear is centered around the axle centerline (if it's not, you've got bigger problems) and that the housing is symmetrical along a horizontal axis. That would mean that outside to outside, the housing measures 13" top to bottom. The ring gear in a full floater is 10.5" which I believe is O.D. (correct me if I'm wrong). That leaves 1.25" on either side of the ring gear for clearance and the housing. I find that pretty resonable. If you apply the same fudged equation to a 10 bolt, it'd be 5.5" from axle centerline to bottom of housing. If applied to a 14bsf, it'd come out to 6" centerline to bottom. This of course takes nothing into account for housing thickness and design, but it's a very vague baseline. If you use it for the 60 it's about right though since that has a 9.75" gear and it's about 6". I'll measure the 14 bolt again tonight to make sure I'm not crazy.

 

[dyeager535]

Yeah, when I wrote down what I measured, there was no question, so I haven't re-checked. I am suspecting I measured from the outside of my straight edge (2x4) or something to come up with that 7".

I'm willing to bet I'm wrong and the 14SF is more like 6". Previous posts quote anywhere from 1/2" to 1" less ground clearance 10b to 14SF.

I also think the case on the 14SF is MUCH thinner than the 14FF, at least around that lower lip. Should have taken a picture with the cover off. The 14FF looks like it's 1" thick in that section.

Edit: in case this comes up again, I did remeasure.

My driveway isn't perfectly flat, but I'd say within 1/2" on all measurements.

14.5" center of spot weld to ground. (pinion is rotated, thats going to affect this)

15" from tube center to ground.

6.5" axle centerline to bottom of case. I used a level to set the bottom of that measurement, tube centerline is pretty accurate.

8.25" bottom of case to ground.

All measurements above were with 33" tires, which are very close to actual diameter.