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.

What to look for in a used 14 bolt?

V

VegasAR15

1/2 ton status
Joined
Dec 24, 2011
Posts
100
Reaction score
0
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
While I probably won't be upgrading to 14 bolt anytime soon because I have too many other things going with it, I wouldn't mind starting to acquire parts for it. Anything in particular you should look for when buying one? I don't really care what gears it comes with, because I will be regearing it anyways as most of this trucks time is spent on the freeway.

I found this one for pretty cheap. http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/pts/3217937905.html

And this one for 4x the money, but it already has the disc conversion and a better cover. http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/pts/3225741184.html

I don't have a spare $600 lying around for the second one, but I could definitely buy the one for $150 now. Would it be better to wait for something like the second one down the line, or just do it all myself to a stock one?
 
I guess it depends on what size tires you plan to run. You also probably want to stay away from the semi-float instead of a full floater.

I know you also say that you don't care what gears are in it because you plan to re-gear but why do that if you can find one with appropriate gearing from the start? If you run some larger tires then 4.10s might be about right if you're wanting to keep better MPG and RPM on the highway. However, if your tires are really huge then 4.56 or higher might be needed, and the carrier in those is different than the 4.10's.

The disc conversion in that second one sure looks purdy.. However the full costs of doing this aren't really that much. The fancy diff cover and brakes don't add up to the extra you'd spend over that other one that came out of the burb. I'm sure somebody else will know if that one is a semi-floater too.

Wow, I can't get over how nice that one looks for $150 - I woulda killed for the chance to get one that rust free living here in the rust belt of Central WI.!!
 
Right now I have 33's on it and I will probably stick with that. The biggest I will go is 35's. This mainly a DD, with some trail time when I am hunting, and pulling a small 12x6 enclosed trailer with two sport quads in it on occasion. Right now it has 3.42's in it, and I haven't had any issues with that, I am thinking I may go up to 3.73 when I do the swap, but don't want to go any higher because most of the time I am on the freeway. I just didn't think I was going to find one with 3.42 or 3.73 gears.

I would like to get a full float, so if anyone could tell if that $150 one is, that would help.
 
VegasAR15 said:
Right now I have 33's on it and I will probably stick with that. The biggest I will go is 35's. This mainly a DD, with some trail time when I am hunting, and pulling a small 12x6 enclosed trailer with two sport quads in it on occasion. Right now it has 3.42's in it, and I haven't had any issues with that, I am thinking I may go up to 3.73 when I do the swap, but don't want to go any higher because most of the time I am on the freeway. I just didn't think I was going to find one with 3.42 or 3.73 gears.

I would like to get a full float, so if anyone could tell if that $150 one is, that would help.
Click to expand...

you are the oddball here and i say that with as much love as i can. for most people looking to go full float, 3.73 is undesirable. that means you can probably pick one up fairly cheap. my buddy has one sitting around i think, and he can't give the damn thing away.

and yes, the top one is full float. the cover is very angular. there is a guide in the tech article section of this site showing all different common covers.
 
xenomarine said:
you are the oddball here and i say that with as much love as i can. for most people looking to go full float, 3.73 is undesirable. that means you can probably pick one up fairly cheap. my buddy has one sitting around i think, and he can't give the damn thing away.

and yes, the top one is full float. the cover is very angular. there is a guide in the tech article section of this site showing all different common covers.
Click to expand...

I know I'm an oddball on this one. I just figure with tires in the 33-35 range and spending most of my time at around 70 miles per hour I would be better off with the 3.73. That was just my thinking for this particular build, if anyone thinks I would be better off going higher for my purposes, I'd love to know why before I dump money into regearing.

Knowing that one is a full float, I think I am going to pick it up regardless, I have been cruising craigslist for about 6 months for one and this is the cheapest by far that I have come across. I haven't seen that many up for sale period, and there are people trying to sell 10 bolts for 3-400, so $150 is looking pretty good.
 
VegasAR15 said:
I know I'm an oddball on this one. I just figure with tires in the 33-35 range and spending most of my time at around 70 miles per hour I would be better off with the 3.73. That was just my thinking for this particular build, if anyone thinks I would be better off going higher for my purposes, I'd love to know why before I dump money into regearing.

Knowing that one is a full float, I think I am going to pick it up regardless, I have been cruising craigslist for about 6 months for one and this is the cheapest by far that I have come across. I haven't seen that many up for sale period, and there are people trying to sell 10 bolts for 3-400, so $150 is looking pretty good.
Click to expand...

what transmission do you have? if you have a 700r4 or something with overdrive, i would stick with the 4.10's, i had 4.10's and 35's with a 700r4 and it was a good combo. actually liked to cruise around 70-75. 33's would be about the same, not much difference.

that being said, get it and slap it in and do some highway cruising in 2wd and see how you like it. then adjust to your liking. it's out of a 3/4 ton which means it bolts right in to half or 3/4 tons and blazers.
 
xenomarine said:
what transmission do you have? if you have a 700r4 or something with overdrive, i would stick with the 4.10's, i had 4.10's and 35's with a 700r4 and it was a good combo. actually liked to cruise around 70-75. 33's would be about the same, not much difference.

that being said, get it and slap it in and do some highway cruising in 2wd and see how you like it. then adjust to your liking. it's out of a 3/4 ton which means it bolts right in to half or 3/4 tons and blazers.
Click to expand...

I have the 700R4 in it. Good to know that it bolts in relatively easy. Will I need a different drive shaft? Excellant point on bolting it in and driving it around before doing a gear swap.

I think I am definitely going to pick it up, but it will still probably be a while before I put it in the truck. I will start doing the disc break swap and buying all the parts for it in the meantime though. The main reason I don't want to swap it for a bit is because about six month ago I bought a full set of wheels and tires and I really don't feel like doing that again quite yet.
 
VegasAR15 said:
I have the 700R4 in it. Good to know that it bolts in relatively easy. Will I need a different drive shaft? Excellant point on bolting it in and driving it around before doing a gear swap.

I think I am definitely going to pick it up, but it will still probably be a while before I put it in the truck. I will start doing the disc break swap and buying all the parts for it in the meantime though. The main reason I don't want to swap it for a bit is because about six month ago I bought a full set of wheels and tires and I really don't feel like doing that again quite yet.
Click to expand...

The pinion is longer so it will push the driveshaft forward. You might need to get it shortened. As for the u joint, you need a conversion u joint. It's quite cheap and an easy swap.

In total you need:
Brake stuff
U joint
U bolts
 
xenomarine said:
The pinion is longer so it will push the driveshaft forward. You might need to get it shortened. As for the u joint, you need a conversion u joint. It's quite cheap and an easy swap.

In total you need:
Brake stuff
U joint
U bolts
Click to expand...


Cool, seems simple enough. The guy just emailed me back and it has an open diff. so I need to decide what I want to put in there.
 
I just did this to my Burb. Found a full floater with 4.10s, put discs on it and never looked back. This is my daily driver and hunting rig, stock height on 305/70r16s, stock tbi 350, 700r4. I had 3.73s in it before with the 33s and it would downshift just looking at a hill, now With the 4.10s I cruise 75 all day long. I pull my decoy trailer frequently and am happy to have the 4.10s. The 3.73s wouldn't kill it as long as you pay attention, but the 4.10s and 33s should put you right in the power band for that combo and keep the tranny happy.
 
jwobbs said:
I just did this to my Burb. Found a full floater with 4.10s, put discs on it and never looked back. This is my daily driver and hunting rig, stock height on 305/70r16s, stock tbi 350, 700r4. I had 3.73s in it before with the 33s and it would downshift just looking at a hill, now With the 4.10s I cruise 75 all day long. I pull my decoy trailer frequently and am happy to have the 4.10s. The 3.73s wouldn't kill it as long as you pay attention, but the 4.10s and 33s should put you right in the power band for that combo and keep the tranny happy.
Click to expand...

Maybe I will just keep the 4.10s. It has a 6.2 diesel with the banks turbo, so its happier not downshifting and keeping the RPMs low too. Mainly I just need to keep it very streetable and not lose a bunch of mpg, diesel is expensive.
 
My only recommendations are to stay away from the 84'/85' year axles with the small pinion bearings and the later 88' and up 14ff housings that are made of the weaker Gray cast iron instead of the Ductile cast iron that IS weldable. The housing center section is heavily ribbed to make up for the lost strength in the material. Obviously make sure the spindles are clean and not scores or damaged.
 
That first one is a full-floater; you can see the hubs sticking out of the wheel. Also, it's too old to be an SF ;)

Were it me, I'd try and get an axle from a 3/4-ton 4x4. The 1-ton's have the wrong spring spacing, so you'd have to cut and weld the perches, and the 2x4's have different shock mounts (same thing, cut & weld.) A 3/4t 4x4 axle will be a bolt up to your Blazer (this is going on a Blazer, yes?)

-- A
 
dremu said:
That first one is a full-floater; you can see the hubs sticking out of the wheel. Also, it's too old to be an SF ;)

Were it me, I'd try and get an axle from a 3/4-ton 4x4. The 1-ton's have the wrong spring spacing, so you'd have to cut and weld the perches, and the 2x4's have different shock mounts (same thing, cut & weld.) A 3/4t 4x4 axle will be a bolt up to your Blazer (this is going on a Blazer, yes?)

-- A
Click to expand...

Yep, its a Blazer. Just emailed him to find out if it came off a 2x4 or 4x4.
 
VegasAR15 said:
He just emailed me back, it is from a 2wd 3/4 ton. So I would need to cut off the shock mounts and weld something like this onto it in the correct spot http://diy4x.com/cart/index.php?route=product/product&path=24&product_id=134?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the idea. You'll prolly have to do so on at least on one side; I forget if it's both left and right are different or just one.

I'd definitely get the axle in hand before you go ordering parts, though, just to be certain.

-- A
 
dremu said:
Yeah, that's the idea. You'll prolly have to do so on at least on one side; I forget if it's both left and right are different or just one.

I'd definitely get the axle in hand before you go ordering parts, though, just to be certain.

-- A
Click to expand...


I think I am going to tell him to bring it to town next time he comes. I probably won't start ordering parts for a while. I'll take clean it up, take off the cover and inspect it, double check the gearing and stuff. It will be a while before I install it so I'm in no big hurry. I have a brand new set of 6 lug wheels and tires so I am not in a big hurry to have to go buy all new ones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom