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Lets talk axle swap

Dabba

Dabba

1/2 ton status
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I went today to the junkyard to look for some axles. They didnt have anything that could fit in my truck unless i moved the mount on the axle? I thought any axles from 80s GM trucks are direct bolt in? I really dont wanna do much if any fab work. Also do they make 6 lug 14 bolt sf? Thought they did. What axles would be easiest to swap in? Im thinking either a 3/4 ton for the rear and leave the stock 10b up front or go 14b ff or sf with a d60 up front. I dont think its worth the d44 on a 3/4 ton swap is it? Again, direct bolt on would be nice. Let me know, thanks.
 
newer v10?,iirc...the work truck model has a 6 lug 14bsf(but you will have to move the perches), if you go d60f, definatly go 14bff, and last yrs of 2nd gen 3/4 tons had 8 lug 10 bolts...grab a 14b from a 3/4 ton and it will bolt in(they had both sf & ff in 3/4 ton) and put the d44 8 lug knuckles on you 10 bolt, they will swap from ball joints out,iirc....... it van and 1 ton rears that need perchs moved
 
The 6 lug 14SF was only under 88-85ish 2500LD trucks (3/4 tons with 6 lugs and 1/2 ton front axle and suspension) and SOME half tons with the...think it was F44 code. Something44 at any rate. Some combination of weight and towing related packages would result in GM throwing the axle under there.

It wouldn't bolt in but by moving the shocks and spring mounts it could be made to work with an adapter u-joint.
 
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i forgot what the number is for the conversion joint or i'd tell you..isn't your steering different on a d60? and im going to ff and d60 now.. i had just bolted in a sf14 and d44 8 lug and bought a conversion joint which was 1330-1350 if i remember right.
 
Far as I know the D60 stuff is the same as far as steering goes. I know my drag link stuff is the same as any half ton of the same era.
 
Dont wanna steel the post... But is it true that the ford d44 twin ibeam is still the same from the knuckle out? In other words, could it be swapped to a 10blt?
 
whats involved in moving the perches? Cause for anything he had he said id have to do that. And im just wondering which axles i can bolt in without moving the perches? Or is that easy to do? Im prob gonna go 3/4 cause im poor and dont need one tons. Whats the best, cheapest 3/4 combo. Best vaule for buck so to speak? i was thinkin 12 bolt or that 14 boltsf or ff. Arnt they bolt in?
 
Dabba said:
whats involved in moving the perches? Cause for anything he had he said id have to do that. And im just wondering which axles i can bolt in without moving the perches? Or is that easy to do? Im prob gonna go 3/4 cause im poor and dont need one tons. Whats the best, cheapest 3/4 combo. Best vaule for buck so to speak? i was thinkin 12 bolt or that 14 boltsf or ff. Arnt they bolt in?
Click to expand...

3/4 is 14bff and 8 lug 10bolt or d44.. and is all direct bolt in.. you'll need to go 8 lug rims tho...

12 bolt is always 1/2 ton.
 
hmm i always thought 12b was 3/4 ton, good to know. So 14bff or 10b. Both are 8 lugs? What vehicles should i look for to grab these out of? Im just looking for a decently cheap axle(s) to upgrade to something stronger than my 10bolts. I wheel it a bit but i dont think anything one ton worthy.
 
ALL front axles are a direct swap. The rear axle needs to be from any 3/4 ton truck from 73-87 (91 burb).
 
alright so any 3/4 ton 73-87 and 91 burb is direct bolt in? no moving perches? is it worth it to upgrade the front 6 lug 10b to a d44 or no?
 
D44 and 10 bolt are virtually the same in strength. It's only worth replacing one with the other if it has a better gear ratio and/or 8 lugs.
 
haha they took some impressive punishment so far, im jsut sure how much more they can take haha. I take it 8 lug is stronger than 6. Looks like i might be needed new rims. I like my American racing rims :(
 
The only strength in 8 lug vs 6 lug when it comes to the Dana 44 and the 10 bolt is just that there's more lugs to distribute the force holding the wheel on. From the "wheelability" stand point the 3/4 ton D44 or 10 bolt is the same as the half ton 6 lug versions of those axles.


habitat, eh, the D44 and the 10 bolt as GM used them are pretty much the same strengthwise. Where one has pluses at some part it has a minus somewhere else. I'd run either if I was upgrading to 3/4 ton and live with it.
Now if we're talking a Ford reverse cut high pinion D44 that's another story...
 
sorry to drag this back up, but i thought 14 bolt was 1 ton. OR is that FF only? Whats the difference between Semi float and full float. also. I was talkin to someone who told me i should break a 10 bolt even with the front/rear comin off the ground and bouncing. he said what really breaks them is axle wrap/flexing. He right? Im not sure cause i heard brouncing is one of the causes of breakage and i see 10 bolts breaking just from street use. I wont spend the time/money if i dont need to yet, though i do wanna lock the rear. Ill need to go back to the junkyard eventually and see if they have any more axles and price em.
 
Keep in mind this is all referring to single rear wheel trucks, non-duallies:

There's two 14 bolts in our world. The 10.5" ring gear full floater and the 9.5" semi floater. The 10.5" 14 full floater aka "10.5" "14FF", etc is the stronger one by far. The semi floater is usually referred to as the 14SF.
The 14FF is easily identified by a large, cylindrical hub that sticks outside of the end of the brake drum and past the face of the wheel.

At it's most basic the full floater has axles that only do one thing, transmit the power from the driveshaft to the wheels. The wheels do not attach to the axleshafts.
A semi-floater does that but also supports the weight of the vehicle as the axleshafts attach the wheels to the vehicle.

Any 8 lug rear axle under a 73-87(91) body style truck will be stronger than the one you have now. It'll also likely have lower axle gearing than you do.
14SF's were found under the lighter GVWR (weight rating of the vehicle) 3/4 ton trucks of the era starting in the early 80's. Prior to that any 8 lug truck got a 14FF. After the 14SF showed up only the high GVWR 3/4 tons and all 1 tons got the 14FF's.



As far as the front, unless you really intend on thrashing the truck, just pick up whatever front you can find from a 3/4 ton or 1 ton that matches the gearing of your rear. A Dana 60 is great but not necessary until you want to run big tires and/or wheel hard. A Dana 44 or 10 bolt will hold up fine to anything up to 35's provided you drive sensibly and don't think you own a tank or deuce and a half.
 
A 14FF is used in both 3/4 ton (1973-80) and 1 ton (1973-91+). The 14SF has a 9.5" ring gear and a weaker semi-float axle design while the 14FF has a 10.5" ring gear and the stronger full-float axle design. If you break an axleshaft with a FF axle you can still drive the rig, but in a SF the wheel will come off with the end of the axle shaft in many cases.

On front axles, if you find a 3/4 ton rear axle you are better off getting the matching front axle with 8 lugs and matching gears than trying to keep your current axle.
 
true, so if theyre both 3/4 and 1 ton, what makes the differece in a 1 ton truck and 3/4 ton truck? suspension?
 
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