Well I've decided I'm gonna stay with 36's on my truck for a while because I got a deal on a set and I dont drive much. Ontop of that I dont have the money to pickup 1 tons. I'm running 36x12.5 r15 TSL radials on my stepside which is 10b front and rear. I know something is bound to break once I start really wheeling it but I dont want to jump up to 1 tons for 36's.

I was thinking that a 6 lug 12bolt rear and 6 lug dana 44 front would be a step between the 10bolts and the 1 tons. What do you guys think? I'm working on a budget and going 1 tons + getting 16.5 wheels and tires would just be way too much.

I know alot will say just go one tons and shave the 14b and grind my calipers but I dont have the place or time to do the fab on the housing and I'm leery on grinding the calipers on my daily driver.

Thanks!

its not worth goin front 10b-44 when they are compareable in strength for a reasonable price u can pick up 14 bolt rear and 8 lug outters or semifloat 14b and that would be better

no gains at all by going with 12bolt and Dana 44 over 10 bolts.
The Dana 44 and 10 bolt front are virtually identical. 10 bolt front pinion is slight larger than a 44.
12 bolt rear was replaced by the 10 bolt rear, so I see no improvements there.
Just save up and 14 bolt and Dana 60 your truck.

Just swap to a 14bolt FF rear and keep the front 10 bolt open. You should not have a problem like this unless you are looking to break something....

14bolts are cheep and easy to swap. Upgrading to disks, puting in a detroit and shaving the bottom are all inexpensive and things you can do yourself as time allows. It is a good diff and a something you will probubly never get rid of.

Not much sense in going to a 12 bolt, its been proven that they can break just as easily as the 10 bolt rear...search for the thread its around somewhere.

I would pick up a 14ff and an 8 lug 44/10b front so you have the 8 lug stuff outta the way...get some 8 lug rims, swap to the heavier rear. You can swap over the d60 front later on as you save up some money...

I see your in jersey...if you wanna take a ride up to NH i can hook you up with some 8 luggers (or even a complete truck, lol)

some of the newer chevys hevy halftons i guess they call them have 6lug sf14bolt ther is one at my lockel pick a part

Skeeter

Like everyone said there is no gain in the 44/12 bolt. The only thing that is weaker on the 10 bolt then a 44 is the shafts. They have 27 spline shafts pre 90. If you have a 90 and newer 10 bolt they are the same 30 spline as a 44 then no need to worry. If not then you could buy after market locker or spider gear and shafts that are 30 spline or find a used set of axles and spiders and or complete axle. I would find that half ton 14 bolt semi float out of a newer chevy 94 or 95-98 chevy pickups that have have the 6 lug. That is the best bang for the buck option other then 1 tons. The axle upgrades will hold up forever as long as you dont like the gas pedel to much. If you dont have to force it where you wanna go and huge tire spinnin wheel stands are not your thing then you should be fine with 36-37s. JRAT

x2 for the 14sf as a good 6-lug upgrade. They can be had from 88-98 in 6-lug version in halfton 4x4's or in light duty 3/4 ton 6-lug 2and 4 wheel drive. 33 spline axles and 9.5" ring gear.

Hmmm alright I guess I'm gonna go the 6 lug 14bolt route than. The only thing I am scared on is killing my ground clearance. I just found out today that my yoke is bad in my rear so I'm not sure if I'm going to fix it or get a 14b.

Do those 6luggers have the same width? How about brakes? Can they fit 15" wheels w/o grinding? I guess if I take my time with the 14b I could shave it myself and have my buddy recap it.

the 9.5" 14 semi float is not a "huge" diff like the full floater so its not gunna kill your ground clearance theyll fit a 15"er no problem (stock) drum brakes and i beleive its the same as a srw full floater

Alright great. Looks like I'm heading down this path.

I'll probably wind up going with the 14bolt SF 6 lug and retaining the 10 bolt in front and switching to chromo shafts if anything bad happens. I really dont see this truck going beyond 36x14's until I can afford a daily driver which wont be for a while. Thanks for your help guys. Now to find one of these 14 bolts...

Like everyone said there is no gain in the 44/12 bolt. The only thing that is weaker on the 10 bolt then a 44 is the shafts. They have 27 spline shafts pre 90. If you have a 90 and newer 10 bolt they are the same 30 spline as a 44 then no need to worry. If not then you could buy after market locker or spider gear and shafts that are 30 spline or find a used set of axles and spiders and or complete axle. I would find that half ton 14 bolt semi float out of a newer chevy 94 or 95-98 chevy pickups that have have the 6 lug. That is the best bang for the buck option other then 1 tons. The axle upgrades will hold up forever as long as you dont like the gas pedel to much. If you dont have to force it where you wanna go and huge tire spinnin wheel stands are not your thing then you should be fine with 36-37s. JRAT



damn...

28 spline, not 27 spline. Its not a dana 35. last time we talked, you said you knew all about axles... somehow, i now doubt that.

10 bolt housings are weaker than 44 housings. year doesnt matter.

go back to your catalog wheeling.

From what I've read the 10bolt is a stronger ring though. I'm not too worried about the housing its no big block :D

impact?

reading isnt everything... ever done any wheeling?

From what I've read the 10bolt is a stronger ring though. I'm not too worried about the housing its no big block :D

Weld on a truss anyway...it's cheep inshurance.

Oh and you are worried about ground clearance. After I shaved the bottom my 14bolt FF has 1/4" more ground clearance than my 10 bolt front had. I realy don't think it was worth it to go as far as I did...just shave the lip off and smooth off the bottom. Any monkey with a grinder can do it :D

in stock form the 10 bolt front 28 spline shafts will normally outlive the 30 spline d44 shafts because of the milder kneckdown on the 10 bolts inner shaft not allowing the torsional stress to concentrate as easily flexing the whole shaft rather then snapping

Now for alloy shaft upgradeability you can't beat the D44, but if your running stock shafts I wouldn't be afraid of the front 10 bolt

I ran/beat on a welded GM truck 12 bolt rear in my 250 I6, Auto, 3000lb tube bluggy turning 38's to 39.5's for 7 years, only thing I ever broke in the woods was spinning the axle housing on the tubes (can be fixed/prevented easily with some 7018 welding rod)

Its no 14 bolt (which I'm installing now that I'm running a SM465, NP231, D300 doubler setup) but it gets the job done & is hella easy to find cheap replacement parts for

Anyone have some links/info on this 14bolt FF 6lug conversion I am hearing about?

Im not trying to Argue this 10bolt 12 bolt thing, however facts are facts. The 12 bolt has an 8 7/8" inch ring gear, the 10 bolt has a 8 1/2" ring gear. Besides having a larger ring it has a larger pinion & pinon bearings. The 12 bolt is stronger. Alot of people want to upgrade as big as they can when they do swaps, which is why people suggest the 14bolt. The 14sf has a 9 1/2" ring gear & the 14ff 10 1/2". Here is a link to axle identification:
http://coloradok5.com/axleguide.shtml
And pro's & cons of different axles:
http://www.coloradok5.com/axleswap.shtml
I hope that helps you.

I might be the luckiest kid in NJ right now. I just found a 14 bolt FF rebuilt by a highly creditted local shop. Its a 3rd gen FF with 6 lug axle shafts, posi, 3.73's to match my front 10bolt and complete brake setup with 5000 miles on it and its a town over.

The only other thing I am wondering about is driveshaft length. I've heard I may need to have my shaft shortend going from a 10b to a 14b FF. I have a 4in suspension lift and stock rear shaft will I need to shorten it up? The guy offered my a blazer shaft with it for free and said it should take care of the problem if there is any. Input?



Btw my truck is an 87 1/2ton stepside. 350/4speed granny, 10bolts front and rear stock? Anyone know what my axle ratio is? I just pulled up a page that told me 3.42's but I just want to be sure.

When i swaped my 10 bolts for 1 tons i used the same driveshafts and u joints I think most 1/2 tons are 3.07 gears

Ok good to know about the shafts, but was it a shortbed truck? As far as the gears go I'm pretty sure I'm steeper than 3.07's but idk how well I can trust the online charts. Does anyone have a reliable one so I can pull my ratios?

in stock form the 10 bolt front 28 spline shafts will normally outlive the 30 spline d44 shafts because of the milder kneckdown on the 10 bolts inner shaft not allowing the torsional stress to concentrate as easily flexing the whole shaft rather then snapping




horse shit, they neck down to the same 1.1" in all three, 30 sp d44, 28/30 sp 10b.

Ok good to know about the shafts, but was it a shortbed truck? As far as the gears go I'm pretty sure I'm steeper than 3.07's but idk how well I can trust the online charts. Does anyone have a reliable one so I can pull my ratios?

Pull the diff cover and check dont rely on charts someone could of changed them. My guess it there 3.07 or 3.73 my 87 chev 305 4 gear has 3.07s stock in the 10 bolts. Ive ran 36s on them for a while the rear broke the carrier front held up good id just get a 14 bolt for the rear and call it good till you can afford a 60 just like everyone else has said.

Thats the plan. Either that or chromos for the 10bolt to retail 6lug. Lol next think I'll be on here looking to find a 6 lug dana 60 :D

sf 14 and 44..im running that on my 87 on 37"s..they're fine, i picked up a set with shitty tires, rims, along with leaves and everything else. and i think your front driveshaft will use the same u joint and the rear will just require a diff. joint

Yeah I'm gonna grind an inch or whatever off the 14bolt and be happy. I'm pretty confident with the 10bolt on 36's. Especially since my buddy got away with a 44 on 38.5 boggers under the same truck for a long time.

Besides if I go looking to do a dana 60 like I said I've got an oddball 6 lug full floating 14 bolt. Idk how the shop built it but I'm 99.9999999% sure that its a fullfloater 6lug.

I might be the luckiest kid in NJ right now. I just found a 14 bolt FF rebuilt by a highly creditted local shop. Its a 3rd gen FF with 6 lug axle shafts, posi, 3.73's to match my front 10bolt and complete brake setup with 5000 miles on it and its a town over.

If this is the case than he is blowing alot of smoke up your lucky ass. A FF axle shaft will not have lug holes in it :shaking:



The only other thing I am wondering about is driveshaft length. I've heard I may need to have my shaft shortend going from a 10b to a 14b FF. I have a 4in suspension lift and stock rear shaft will I need to shorten it up? The guy offered my a blazer shaft with it for free and said it should take care of the problem if there is any. Input?


It will only need to be shortened like an inch or two. A blazer vs. truck is ALOT shorter than a couple of inches. Again... it sounds like this guy is full of shit and trying to sell you something.



Btw my truck is an 87 1/2ton stepside. 350/4speed granny, 10bolts front and rear stock? Anyone know what my axle ratio is? I just pulled up a page that told me 3.42's but I just want to be sure.

Only real way to tell is to eather crack open the diff, spin the wheels and count the # of rotations of the pinion, or look at the truck build sheet that came with it and be 100% sure that no one did any swaping.

horse shit, they neck down to the same 1.1" in all three, 30 sp d44, 28/30 sp 10b.

Actualy he is correct...

Did you actualy read what he said?

because of the milder kneckdown on the 10 bolts inner shaft not allowing the torsional stress to concentrate

It's called a stress consentration. The greater the difference in the neck down the worse the stress consentration and the weaker the shafts. So thoreticaly (assuming everything else the same) the d44 shafts are weaker since they have a higher difference in dia between the rest of the shaft and the neck down. :flipoff2:

^^gear sets have the ratio stamped on the ring gear, either in two #'s like...41 10, which will be a 4.10 ratio. just do the math and figure out the exact ratio.

If this is the case than he is blowing alot of smoke up your lucky ass. A FF axle shaft will not have lug holes in it :shaking:





No my bad he never told me that that was me being an idiot and typing too fast. I meant to say that the hubs or what ever that system is on a full floater is 6 instead of 8 lug. I was a toyota guy before this and still cant 100% wrap my head around how a full floater works other than that it has a sort of hub system like the front.

Reguardless I'm telling you I've seen this axle and it is a 6lug.

Btw theres that huge of a difference from a shortbed standard cab to a blazer?

Btw theres that huge of a difference from a shortbed standard cab to a blazer?


Depending on the year a short wheelbase truck should be around 120" and a blazer should be around 107" (from off the top of my head).

Thats atleast 10" of difference. Your pinion difference should be no worse than 2" I would expect. That's huge considering most drive shafts only have a slipyoke of 7" or so total....