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Quick 14 bolt question

84bigblue

1/2 ton status
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Iv got a line on a seller who has two 14 bolts one being style 88-98 with no spring perches for 60 bucks and the other is style 73-87 for 150. Iv read the 88-98 is a little wider then the 73-87 but was wondering if it would still work in a k5 with little hassle other then putting new spring perches and shock tabs on it.
 
Fair chance you’re moving those perches anyway

I’d be more concerned over condition and gearing
 
does the 73-87 axle have 40.5" = k30 spring pad spacing . or 42.5" = k10-k20-k5 spacing ?

this will help you a lot .

and the 88-98 style can be press on drums or pop off drums they used both . and doing disk brake swap on pop off style is a lot more money . and i have not seen them much wider at all . so measure for your self .

the van axles were the wide ones at 70" wms to wms .

read up for info here http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/14b_bible/index.html
 
does the 73-87 axle have 40.5" = k30 spring pad spacing . or 42.5" = k10-k20-k5 spacing ?

this will help you a lot .

and the 88-98 style can be press on drums or pop off drums they used both . and doing disk brake swap on pop off style is a lot more money . and i have not seen them much wider at all . so measure for your self .

the van axles were the wide ones at 70" wms to wms .
I believe it has the spacing of the k30 but would have to double check. Didn't
Know that about the drum style being different so that's good to know to check out as I would be doing a disc conversion on it. As far as width goes though as long as it's not from a van like you said, it should be alright then?
 
wider the rear axle = bigger the parking lot you need to turn around .

the reason the rear is narrower than the front is to cut down your turning circle dia .
 
Cool thanks for the info and thanks a bunch for that link. Lots of good info there.
 
I believe it has the spacing of the k30 but would have to double check. Didn't
Know that about the drum style being different so that's good to know to check out as I would be doing a disc conversion on it. As far as width goes though as long as it's not from a van like you said, it should be alright then?

If you're wanting to do a disc conversion you might be better off just getting a newer AAM 14 bolt. The AAM 10.5's are almost identical to older Corp 14 bolts only with factory disc brakes and a drum in hat style parking brake and all the gears and locker options are interchangeable with the Corp 14 bolts. The only somewhat of a downside is they will need to have the spring perches and shock mounts moved and they're wider (68.5"?) which you would probably also run in to with the other axles you said you were looking at like @sweetk30 mentioned above.
 
If you're wanting to do a disc conversion you might be better off just getting a newer AAM 14 bolt. The AAM 10.5's are almost identical to older Corp 14 bolts only with factory disc brakes and a drum in hat style parking brake and all the gears and locker options are interchangeable with the Corp 14 bolts. The only somewhat of a downside is they will need to have the spring perches and shock mounts moved and they're wider (68.5"?) which you would probably also run in to with the other axles you said you were looking at like @sweetk30 mentioned above.
That' good to know as well. Was actually wondering that the other day, as far as how different the newer 14 bolts are vs the corp 14 bolts. Good to know the parts are basically interchangeable. Thanks a bunch guys!
 
So little update. Found out when going to look at the those axles the guy i guess didnt realize they were sf when he was telling me about them. But ended up finding out a friend of a friend was willing to let go of a 14 bolt ff rear with disk conversion already done and a Dana 44 front for a good enough price I jumped on the offer. Finding a Chevy Dana 60 or even the older Ford's with the pumpkin on the passenger side seems near impossible here so I figured the Dana 44 would be a decent enough substitute for now. The guy had the 44 taken apart to do a reseal on it and gave me most of the parts new. One of the few things not included was the seal for the inner axle. The ring and pinion are still in it so is there any way to tell if that seal is still good with out pulling the ring and pinion? They don' seem to cost much so maybe it's worth replacing for piece of mind? Also I know Chevy had a transition year for the size of that seal in 77 I believe. looked on the axle tube and found the numbers 610037 5 any one know if that has anything to do with the year?
 
Absolutely replace both the axle seals and the pinion seal while its already this far apart. Its fairly cheap, but a massive amount of work to tear an axle down far enough to change these seals. Do it now while everything is apart already and you dont need the truck back together again by the end of the weekend. Also its easier to do on a bench/jackstands vs bolted to the underside of a truck.

Casting numbers decode info is here:
http://www.differentials.com/technical-help-2/differential-identification/
 
A crude seal test would be to tilt the diff pinion side down with it full of lube and plug the vent tube,and wait and see if any gear lube oozes past the pinion seal overnight..I do not blame you for not wanting to dissasemble it,for fear of altering the backlash or the torque on the crush sleeve...but while your in there you might as---well,you know how that goes..things escalate..

The ring gear will have a date stamped on it along with the gear ratio tooth count--if its the original ring & pinion you can date the rear axle that way..
 
Cool. Thanks for the input guys. Figured it was a might as well sort of deal, just wanted to make sure. As far as the year goes I did look up the BOM# but for what ever reason had no results come back. I did how ever come across a link on this forum for some spicer webpage that has lots of pdf versons of old manual and such and found it on there. Says it's a 78 out of a k20 3/4. Guess it's time for a refresher on how to deal with those crush sleeves haha.
 
as far as i know dana of this vintage didnt use crush sleaves . but look up the info / specs and it will tell you . you might need a BIG tourqe wrench tho . and socket to go with it for the pinion nut.
 
as far as i know dana of this vintage didnt use crush sleaves . but look up the info / specs and it will tell you . you might need a BIG tourqe wrench tho . and socket to go with it for the pinion nut.
Hmm I'v got a blown up view of all the parts in it so guess I'll have to double check, thanks for the heads up. Tools shouldn' be a problem. Any tool i don't own my cousin has the snap on version of haha.
 
Sweet K30 is probably right,I know the 10 bolt 1/2 ton axles use a crush sleeve (and that is what I've had more of apart than any 14 bolts)..the 14 bolt might use shims ?...

I never replaced a ring and pinion myself ,but have seen others do it--
I always just looked for a good used diff from a salvage yard the few times I needed one,they used to be cheap and plentiful here..not so much nowadays though..
 
Speaking of used ring and pinions. A buddy of mine says he thinks he might have some used 4.56 gears for the 14 bolt and matching ones out of a jeep Dana 44. Any one know if the ring and pinion out of jeeps 44 is interchangeble with Chevy 44? I know there's a few differences with the axle housings themself but not sure about the r&p gears
 

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