Need New rear end ASAP! Need Info!

[Jewmont3]

Blew the rear end. Need a new one. It can be rebuilt but probably not worth it. Especially with the engine swap down the road. Can anyone suggest what I can replace my rear end with that wont kill the bank? 12 bolt/14 bolt and even maybe a ford 9 inch that doesnt need much custom fabrication and from what trucks and years?

thanks,
Mike

[Hit Man X]

9.5" SF I believe is a direct swap for an OBS if you have one.

[Jewmont3]

yeah I have heard that, I even think the 14 bolt FF 10.5 ring will fit in but no one will tell me if they are strong enough? I have heard yes and no so i have no idea what to believe. What about a Dana 60. A company said they have a pretty much drop in build for my truck and will handle everything I can toss at it. The other things are the C-clips I hear these suck. Some rebuilders eliminate them but if I get something from a salvage yard i dont know what to do. Another problem is weight and ground clearence. I heard the 14 bolts are like 500lbs!!! I dont know if thats true but thats what i heard, and also they hang very low. I do still have to drive my truck towing the boat down some shitty dirt roads and over curbs and stuff. and I plan on dropping it a few inches so I dont know how this is going to effect me.

This is all such a PITA! Wish there was just something easy, strong, lightweight and not too expensive to just drop in.

-Mike

[Jewmont3]

TTT

[SlammaDingdong]

I've been looking around at 10 bolt alternatives for my 1/2 ton; just thinking into the future.

I found one 14 bolt upgrade that is a "drop in" including 6 lug axles. Not sure if you got 6 or 8 lug. It is not cheap. From the pictures shown these things are HUGE. On my stock height 1/2 ton the beast would stick out like a sore thumb.

Not sure if this helps you much, but here it is...

Pictures of 14 bolt

14 bolt upgrade

Please disregard if you already know about this.

This joint does have a 10 bolt to 12 bolt upgrade, but not for trucks. Too bad.

[Hit Man X]

What sort of power are you making that you think you need a Full Floating rear axle?



Elimination of C-clips on street vehicles make the axles leak very often on the outer flanges. They're made for going forward only, lateral load makes them leak...

The 9.5" SF is like the 8.5" with bigger axles, bigger ring gear, etc. Just a beefier version of what's there. Since you do have an OBS it swaps right over.

[Jewmont3]

After engine swap I am guessing close to 500 ftlbs of torque and possibly more down the road. But it could be more if I decide to just turbo it at the same time as swap. Anyways I did hear that C-Clip eliminators were not good for a daily driver because the bearings heat up and seize and leak. So im good with that. I think I will probably end up going with the SF 14 bolt. I do have the six lug axels and it will just bolt right up. If I can get it cheap enough I will probably re-gear it and I deffinately want to put an Eaton Posi unit in there. Do you guys think 4.10s are too much for a street auto? I have 3.73 gears now...well I used to until I blew them up


thanks,
Mike

[Hit Man X]

4.10:1 would depend on many things man... tire height, cruise speed, cam, etc.

Many have 4.10:1 and many have 3.73:1... You're not gonna see enough to warrant the regear IMO worth the extra RPM on the freeway.



The 9.5" is just superior in every aspect over the 8.5"

[1998chevy1500]

Well comeing from the offroad world where no axle is too big I would say what you would want to do is either get ahold of a SF 14 bolt w/ the 9.5" ring gear out of a 4wd if you have 4wd or a 2wd if you are 2wd as the WMS widths are different. Another option is to get a FF 14 bolt, the down side is that they are big heavy and virtually indestructable, they are also only in 8 lug versions. You can get custom hubs made to convert to 6 lug but very few rims will work with them due to the large diameter of the hub.

So here is what I would do, go out looking for a 14 bolt SF in a 6 lug version (assumeing that you are 4wd). This axel can be found in OBS 1/2 tons with the towing package along with a few other packages, it can also be found in light duty 3/4 tons that are 6 lug. You can tell a 14b SF by its rounded diff cover and the fact that the diff cover is held on by 14 bolts. It differs from its bigger FF brother by the shape which is more squareish but also held on by 14 bolts.

SF 14b



FF14b



Conrad

[1998chevy1500]

Oh and the swap would practially be bolt in, esp if you find one that is almost indetical to your truck year wise.