What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Using 14BFF housing as axle for trailer?

teacher_dave

teacher_dave

1/2 ton status
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Posts
404
Reaction score
0
Location
Arkansas
I have a 80's chevy PU bed frame that I'm wanting to make into a trailer, on the cheap, and I want to run 8 lug wheels so I only have to have one spare. Is there anything preventing a fellow from stripping down a 14BFF axle, taking out the ring and pinion, axle shafts, and hubs, and running it that way? I guess I could leave all that stuff in as spares, but I think I'd rather yank it all and save the weight.

Are the wheel bearings greased or are they lubed by the diff gear oil?

Thanks
 
I'm using an old 12 bolt under the trailer I'm currently putting together. I left all the junk in it, and full of 80W90.

Really, you could unbolt the pinion assembly, pull the shafts out, remove the carrier, press off the brake drums. Then all you need is a tin cap to seal where the axle shafts went, and one more to seal off the old pinion support area. Top it up with 80W90 and call it good. The most important part is ensuring the outer hubs have gear lube...
 
tRustyK5 said:
I'm using an old 12 bolt under the trailer I'm currently putting together. I left all the junk in it, and full of 80W90.

Really, you could unbolt the pinion assembly, pull the shafts out, remove the carrier, press off the brake drums. Then all you need is a tin cap to seal where the axle shafts went, and one more to seal off the old pinion support area. Top it up with 80W90 and call it good. The most important part is ensuring the outer hubs have gear lube...
Click to expand...

The frame I have currently has a 5 lug 12 bolt under it. I'm just a little leery of having a c-clip axle. Nightmares of popping a c-clip or axle and then ejecting the tire/wheel into oncoming traffic while losing control and wrecking...

Thanks for the info. I thought it could be done that way. Just wasn't sure if you had to put gear oil back in or just make sure and keep the wheel bearings greased.
 
I did excactly what Rene said, except I used broke axle shafts & torched them off. I capped the axle tube with a rubber pipe plug & then I drilled holes in the axle caps & added grease zerks. Just squirt a shot of grease in there & let it go.
 
Really, you could unbolt the pinion assembly, pull the shafts out, remove the carrier, press off the brake drums. Then all you need is a tin cap to seal where the axle shafts went, and one more to seal off the old pinion support area. Top it up with 80W90 and call it good. The most important part is ensuring the outer hubs have gear lube...
Click to expand...
Or.........
pull everything out of the housing, just leave the pinion in place.
throw the cover back on.
drive a freeze plug into the ends of the spindles.
pack the bearings and hubs with grease.
cut the axles off of the hub end and bolt the end plate back on the hub.
done.
 
boz42 said:
I did excactly what Rene said, except I used broke axle shafts & torched them off. I capped the axle tube with a rubber pipe plug & then I drilled holes in the axle caps & added grease zerks. Just squirt a shot of grease in there & let it go.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what I did for mine.
 
friend removed guts years ago on 1 . packed bearings with grease. he didnt even cap the ends of the hubs.

still going stong :haha:dont ask me how but full of grease still and still rollin fine. :D
 
I did this on a trailer once and plan to do it again. I sold the trailer I had so this was a fairly easy and cheap thing to modify.

I had Kert cut me 2 round plates to replace the axle shafts on the bearing hubs and also 1 cover plate for the pinion support housing. I kept the stock 14 bolt cover and then gutted the complete insides. I sold all the internal parts to others who could use them.

So there you have it. Just contact Kert for 3 pieces of steel and you'll have your trailer axle. His price was very reasonable, so just let him do the dirty work.
 
seems like it would be just as easy to just clean the bearings and repack with grease.get the end caps and be done.no 80 90 to worry about.with the guts out it would take a couple of gallons to refill the axle high enough to keep the bearings lubed.or you could just plug the axle tube and fit the hub with 80 90 and cap it.then it would still get lube and keep the fluid where it needs to be.
 
We had a customer at the junkyard who built a car trailer with 1 ton FF axles--he used a pipe cutter to remove the axle tubes from the diff housing and welded schedule 80 pipe over the two axle tubes...his trailer was wider than the axles were stock,so he had to widen them ..he used the axle flanges to cap off the hubs and he plugged off the axle tubes with large freeze plugs just inboard of the bearings and installed grease zerks to lube the bearings.....................................................................................................................................................................................................I have a 1962 GMC 3/4 ton frame with a Eaton FF axle ,the coil spring type,it was made into a trailer many moons ago...they left the axle as stock,with all the guts still intact,full of 80/90W and its probably been towed quite a bit,but has sat 15+ years since I got it...my flatbed & crane off my last plow truck I parted out sits on it at the moment..not sure if I'll keep it much longer--I hate to ditch the Eaton FF axle but its got 4.56 gears and is set up for coil springs,so its not something I could bolt into any of my present trucks....................................................................................................money is tight and scrap prices are still pretty high--been thinking I should drag it out of the back yard before it gets buried under 2 feet of snow....I know as soon as I junk it I'll find someone who needed the rear end,and I could use the flatbed & crane on my '82 GMC--if I felt it was worth the swap ,that is...but I could use the 200+ bucks it would bring at the crusher too...
 
Those old eatons often had detroits in them...I'd at least check for that before sending it for scrap.
 
yep i was told over 1/2 had detroits in them.

i would take a eaton anyday over the 14ff . as with few simple mods you get 14ff parts swaped in and less chance of course spline axle problems and also 2" + ground clearence. and 4.56 gears dont bother me with overdrive.
 
tRustyK5 said:
Those old eatons often had detroits in them...I'd at least check for that before sending it for scrap.
Click to expand...
its definitely worth a few bucks more than scrap if you resold it to someone.abck than a lot of detroits definitely made their way into them eatons.
 
Pretty sure its not a posi--it still had the tag on it last time I looked,thats how I know it has 4:56 gears--never had the cover off it...I know its a desireable item to certain people,thats why I hate to scrap it...had a friend who wanted it for a nice '69 C10 he just bought,but he has decided to put a 10 polt Olds posi he already had under it instead now.................(actually the "trailer" made from the GMC frame,is in real decent shape and could be used still,though I'd be leery of the brake shoe hardware ,its probably rust nuggets by now,and you guys know what "fun" it is to remove a drum on these FF axles on the side of the road,if they decided to fall off in the drum!)...that possibility and the sheer weight of the thing with the flatbed on it empty,makes me hesitant to use it over the road!)..I'd keep the Eaton for my K2500 if it had 4:56 gears,but I think its got more like 3:42's in it being a diesel...I'd also have to weld spring pads onto it too..then hope letting it sit so long hasn't damaged anything internal..Doubt my truck will ever need a new diff anyway,if it did,swapping a "right" one back in would be a lot easier...
 
The 14b under my truck, spent 20 years under a makeshift "truck bed" trailer.
When I pulled the diff cover, it looked amazing inside.

So the axle will take it... I can attest to that!
 
TheBeast_88K5 said:
The 14b under my truck, spent 20 years under a makeshift "truck bed" trailer.
When I pulled the diff cover, it looked amazing inside.

So the axle will take it... I can attest to that!
Click to expand...
yeah i pulled my axle out of a pile of junkyard axles.just had them move around the pile with a forklift til i found my 14 bolt.drums were locked on to the hubs but i was doing a disk swap anyway.put new seals in and checked everything internally and have been running it for 7 years now with no problems.so as long as it had some oil between anything that moves and didnt rust up,it wil be usable.
 
sweetk30 said:
yep i was told over 1/2 had detroits in them.

i would take a eaton anyday over the 14ff . as with few simple mods you get 14ff parts swaped in and less chance of course spline axle problems and also 2" + ground clearence. and 4.56 gears dont bother me with overdrive.
Click to expand...

That removable 3rd member makes gear setup a BREEZE... :deal:
 
Got a pickup box trailer that has a 14BFF axle under it. Ditched all the internals and been hauling stuff ever since. Works wonderfully

We have a running joke at the shop, 101 uses for the 14BFF. Two have been turned into the pivots of hoists. Still others turned into fixturing components. Along the same lines I turned a Dana 60 rear hub into the center of a 4 position table for reloading presses.
 
Well you can do it in many ways and yes it can easily handle being a trailer axle.
For me I would keep it complete, not much weight saving and it's all unsprung weight so it will not affect the ride.
SixB here did one under his small military trailer, he gutted the axle and made cover plates for the pinion and axle areas, then he closed the tube beyond the bearings and put a zerk fitting on the axle covers.
I would have just covered all outside openings and kept gear oil in it, oil is a better lubricant for heavy axles, just look at all the commercial axles. :thumb:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom