10 bolt vs 14 bolt??

[BlackSilverado98]

Ok I have a 98 Silverado 4x4 lifted 6" with 295/75/16 dynapro m/t which equal out to be just over a 33" tire. I unfortunately have a 10 bolt rear end with 3.42's The next step in my build is to regear because I would eventually like to get some bigger tires and even with the ones on it now it sucks. My question is that I have heard nothing but bad about the 10 bolt rear ends. I really do no off roading at all, and tow a trailer with fourwheelers every now and then but not that often. So if I just regear with my 10 bolt will I be ok or should I start looking for a 14 bolt. I would like to find a 14 bolt but not sure if that is going to happen because the couple junkyards I have called have none and no luck with craigslist right now. So would I be gaining that much with a 14 bolt? I want to do 4.10s for the gears. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[NAST96]

I would say no... if you dont wheel it or tow alot (especially just being atv's) i dont think you would gain much bang for your buck. I would say regear what ya got and check it out real good when regearing.... if everything checks out, roll with it. Even with 35's your 10 bolt would be fine.

Now im sure someone will say yeah you need it but i disagree. If you were gonna SAS it then i could see a reason. otherwise no. just my .02 though.


Good luck

 

[BlackSilverado98]

That is kind of what I was thinking to. I definitely don't wheel it and have no plans to and with towing being very little I too think that I would be ok with the 10 bolt. I was just looking for some opinions because I have heard a lot of bad about it and don't want to put money in something that's not going to last. I may do a little more searching and if I could find one cheap enough I may still upgrade. I think that 35's would be about as big as I would go with tires too. I would love to go bigger but this is my DD. I don't want anything too crazy and I want to be able to keep it in my garage and if it gets much bigger it's not going to fit..lol

 

[RHamill]

Well, I was in a similar predicament, my 10 bolt has 3.73s, but in winters I wanted a 14bsf with G80. The problem was, like you, I had no luck trying to find a 14 bolt from a 4x4 with g80 and the right gears. There had been 14bsf on here (mean green has one) but shipping is expensive. Id just regear what you have, plus you can get new bearings too. My 10 bolts still good after all these years and I hardly off road.

 

[BlackSilverado98]

Yeah I will probably be stuck with my 10 bot too unfortunately.

 

[dirtridinz71]

The carrier seems to be the weak link to the 10 bolts so when you regear ditch the stock carrier, if its open or G80 get something better, like a Detroit True-Trac. The weak link will then be the axles and doesnt sound like you will be hard on things to brake one.
Every 10 bolt on 35's I have seen has gernaded, open and G80 units, but these have been stock with miles on them too. I have never had an issue with my 9.5" 14 bolt. Did have a fair amount of metal shavings from the G80 in it when I went to install the locker, could of been bad if left any longer.
For 35's I would consider 4.56 gears unless you run alot of highway then the 4.10 may be better.

 

[darren250r]

Ya, the carrier is the weak link. As mentioned, upgrade that and you should be ok. I also think 456's are a must with 35's and not a bad idea for your current tire size.

Problem with all that is you will have a lot of money invested in a 10 bolt, but if it lasts and fits your needs than its fine.

Also, you really need to go to the junkyard and root around there yourself. Making a phone call has never been very productive for me as far as junkyards go.

 

[BlackSilverado98]

The carrier seems to be the weak link to the 10 bolts so when you regear ditch the stock carrier, if its open or G80 get something better, like a Detroit True-Trac. The weak link will then be the axles and doesnt sound like you will be hard on things to brake one.
Every 10 bolt on 35's I have seen has gernaded, open and G80 units, but these have been stock with miles on them too. I have never had an issue with my 9.5" 14 bolt. Did have a fair amount of metal shavings from the G80 in it when I went to install the locker, could of been bad if left any longer.
For 35's I would consider 4.56 gears unless you run alot of highway then the 4.10 may be better.

Yeah I don't want to do all that to my 10 bolt though because like darren250r said..I don't want to have a fortune invested in a 10 bolt. I am going to start looking strongly for a 14 bolt, if I absolutely can't find any at all, I am probably going to just regear what I have and hope that it will be ok. Only scary part is that my truck does have 195,000 miles on it. As far as gearing, I have thought about 4.56s but I usually do quite a bit of highway driving and it is my DD so I was a little scared of them. I think that 4.10s would be good for what I want but haven't decided completely yet. Also, 35s would be possible in the future but definitely no time soon. The tires I have now are still brand new. I just want to prepare myself for the future because I know I will end up wanting to go bigger..haha

 

[borahshadow]

I would at the very least go ask in person at the junk yard.

I'm kinda surprised that you can't find any as my local yard seems to have an abundance of them. They had several with the gearing that I wanted already and with less miles than my stock one has. They wanted $300 for a 14sf from a 1500 that had like 120K miles on it and the same 3.73 gears that I've got already.

 

[BlackSilverado98]

I would at the very least go ask in person at the junk yard.

I'm kinda surprised that you can't find any as my local yard seems to have an abundance of them. They had several with the gearing that I wanted already and with less miles than my stock one has. They wanted $300 for a 14sf from a 1500 that had like 120K miles on it and the same 3.73 gears that I've got already.

Where you located? I have only called a few local ones so far. I need to go in in person like suggested but have been working a lot of hours lately and by the time I get off work everything is closed.