Crankshaft Brad
Newbie
I was mainly going for the 14ff because of availability, and the safety appeal of a full floater.Aside from ease of availability, is there another reason why you want the full floater version of this axle?
There's a thread on performance truck.net where a guy made the 14 bolt/10.5" into 5 lug. If you have the machining capabilities, no problem. The factory brakes are fairly massive, however. I don't know if your wheels will clear. https://www.performancetrucks.net/f...-22/10-5-full-floating-14-bolt-6-lugs-528236/
And axle itself weighs somewhere around 450# with drums in stock form. It's heavy because it's meant to be worked. Think Mule vs Quarter Horse, LOL.
Another candidate is the 14 bolt 9.5" as was mentioned. It's a semi float design, but still plenty strong and they also made a lot of those. I believe you just need custom axles for your 5 lug, or modify them yourself. I'm not sure on the brakes. They'll clear 16" wheels and they are better than the basic 10 bolt brakes. They are still 6 lug, but they are a direct swap to the 10 bolt. I helped my brother swap one into his '90 C1500. He also swapped the front knuckles/hub/brakes and converted the truck to 6 lug.
I don't think a disc brake 14 bolt would be that much more difficult than a drum version. I think I read just the spring perches are a bit off between the two, but in the grand scheme of things, that seems like a minor thing if you have welding capabilities.
I had not given much thought about the weight difference between the 10 bolt and a 14ff. When I did the leaf springs this weekend, a buddy and I easily moved the rear end around. I can’t imagine how much of a problem a 450 pound axle would be. That’s a big weight difference!
If I would go with a 14sf, what trucks would I be looking for? I can spot a ff rear end, but not sure what a sf rear end looks like.