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school me - what axles and gears are these? *pics*

dieselndixie

dieselndixie

1/2 ton status
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austin, tx
first time ever opening a differential (first k5 too, see "gredda" build thread.

anyway, i opened them, now how do i tell what I have? And how does it look? it was leaking from one of the bolts when i bought it.

IMG_0612.jpg

IMG_0614.JPG

IMG_0616.JPG

IMG_0618.JPG

IMG_0622.JPG
 
it looks fine from the pics, but cant tell from the pictures!
look at the teeth make sure no cracks or chips, or uneven wear.

i cant tell you the gears by looking at the pics, look on the tag, it should be on one of the bolts unless removed from po.

if there is no tag spin the yoke and count the revolutions of the tire and if its almose 4 rotations it 373:1 if alittle more it would be 411:1, i hope this help, have fun and get a detroit in there!!!
 
yup thats an open carrier, sure looks like a regular old 10 bolt diff. the ratio will be stamped or etched on the outter edge of the ring gear. wipe it off turn it all the way around you'll find a whole mess of numbers. but there'll be 2 in particular. that will be the number of teeth on the ring and pinion. find them divide them you're gold.
 
I see these numbers
12/41 078 1

make sense?

divide 41 by 12? 3.416666?
if thats right, can someone shed some light on what that actually represents?
 
with my overall plan being a 4" lift and 35s....I think i need a 14 bolt rear, not sure what front....but are these axles something I can sell? should I try to sell them whole, or pull things from them, etc?
 
dieselndixie said:
with my overall plan being a 4" lift and 35s....I think i need a 14 bolt rear, not sure what front....but are these axles something I can sell? should I try to sell them whole, or pull things from them, etc?
Click to expand...

Idk i think you would be ok, but will prolly want lower gearing to help turn those tires. If you sell, i would think it would better as a whole. Idk a price though.
 
They aren't worth very much but you can try to get something out of them.
 
would it make sense to get a 14bff rear, and just convert the stock front 10 bolt to an 8lug? i want a 4" lift with 35s and good to above average off roading capability.
 
That is an open carrier 10 bolt axle and the numbers make it a 3.42 geared axle. You won't be happy with 35's and 3.42's and more importantly depending on what trans you're running it might really not be happy if it's a 700R4. Give us more details as to the year of your rig and if it still has the factory trans.
 
dieselndixie said:
would it make sense to get a 14bff rear, and just convert the stock front 10 bolt to an 8lug? i want a 4" lift with 35s and good to above average off roading capability.
Click to expand...

Yes, so long as you're not going to lock the front or abuse it really bad. It's very easy to do.

If you're going to be hard on it, you'll be happier with a Dana 60 up front. The 10.5" 14 bolt is the best choice for the rear by far and it is stupid strong.
 
whats considered "hard" on it...

owenst7 said:
Yes, so long as you're not going to lock the front or abuse it really bad. It's very easy to do.

If you're going to be hard on it, you'll be happier with a Dana 60 up front. The 10.5" 14 bolt is the best choice for the rear by far and it is stupid strong.
Click to expand...
 
Instead of converting the front to 8 lug just look for a set from a 3/4 truck. Gears will match and save you money. Even if you find a 14sf you will be fine with that for only 35s
 
Trust me when I say you won't be happy with a 700R4/35's/3.42's. I'm currently running 700R4/35's/4.56's and wished I had gone with 4.88's or 5.13's. When I can afford to do so i'm going to do another gear swap for 5.13's. Mine is an 89 blazer as well.
 
dieselndixie said:
whats considered "hard" on it...
Click to expand...

Ultra 4 racing, like my buddy Steve the other night lol
http://www.facebook.com/v/587074560949
Like I said, a locker will change things a lot. Leave it open and you will probably not break shafts. Try not to shock load it i.e. hopping the front tires off the ground when you don't have enough traction.

If you're planning on going bigger than 35"s some day, just find a 60. It will be cheaper in the end because you will probably need to buy aftermarket shafts to make a 10 bolt/44 reliable with anything bigger than a 35".

It will handle 35s just fine though. I ran a 44 for a couple years with 35s in the rocks and never had an issue, but I never locked it and didn't invest any money in to it because I knew I was looking for a 60 to handle 40"+ tires. Me and my buddies did tons of miles on them with 33s and 35s in the mud and snow in Alaska and rarely had issues, but again we never locked the fronts.

You can run these kind of trails on a stock front end with 35"s and a locker
IMG_2507.jpg

But the stock steering will leave you like this
Untitled.jpg
 
It's your call whether you want to stay 1/2 - ton or go 3/4-ton. To do 1-ton takes crazy cash unless you get really lucky - plan on at least $2k. 3/4-ton should be in the same league as a gear swap. Now you can swap gears yourself for about $200 per axle (if you know what you are doing) or pay about twice that to have a shop do it. So if you can find axles with the gear ratio you want it can turn out cheaper.

The 3/4 tons will swap right in with nothing more than a conversion U-joint - but you will need to get 8 lug wheels. While 10-bolt axles are hard to sell, I find that wheels and tires are very easy to sell - and easy to find used. I find it hard to find axles with anything lower than 4.10s in them (which is like bare minimum for 35" tires), but there were some 4.56s. So to keep the axle swap cheap you need to find somebody selling a set with 4.56 or 4.88 gears - probably meaning that they swapped those gears in previously.

There is also an option to go 3/4-ton and stay 6-lug if you're interested. Search on the 14b semi-float axle.
 
Good info guys.

So far, I dont ever see myself going larger than 35s on this rig. I tow my dirtbikes, I camp, I offroad at our local OHV park, and I like to drive to the coast, our ranch, etc.

I know that I want a 4" lift and 35s. I dont know what order to do everything in. I currently have 90% new Mickey Thompson 31x1050 and black crager wheels. I would like to upgrade to the 3/4 axles so that I have confidence in them, but I dont know if I can lift and tires now, and do axles later? when the tires wear out?

what order should i do all this in. Also, with the 14bsf axle, if I could keep 6 lug wheels, that would be cool....what are the pros/cons of that one? Is there a list somewhere of all the vehicles that have axles that will swap?

p.s. can anyone point me in the direction that I can learn the differences between locking the rear, unlocked, locking front, etc...I dont have a good grasp on all that yet.
 
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