abrasumente
OBS Enthusiast
Folks, I've finally gotten together pretty much everything I need for a 14 bolt swap. I've ran into a couple gotchas though so I figured I'd ask here:
1) The guy I bought the axle from didn't have the leaf springs off the other truck. Can I use the springs that are currently installed on my suburban? It has a 5 spring pack on it.
2) The axle vent tube has been broken off essentially flush- you could weld a nut to the round part of the vent tube and bust it off that way, but I don't have access to a welder anymore. Has anyone run into this situation, and what did you do to remove it without getting metal shavings inside the axle? I'm going to attempt getting it red hot and busting it loose with a pair of vice grips, but idk how well that's gonna work. I plan on replacing it with a new vent valve anyway.
3) What are the correct axle seals for this dude? The axle bearings are making a little noise but the diff itself is quiet, so I plan on replacing the bearings+seals- but I'm seeing a lot of different options for seals on RockAuto. Some are obviously for the FF axle, but I want to be sure of the correct choice. I'll be doing this swap over the weekend soon- the brakes on my 8.5 are shot and I pull a trailer regularly, and I'm not trying to kill my fronts.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
1) The guy I bought the axle from didn't have the leaf springs off the other truck. Can I use the springs that are currently installed on my suburban? It has a 5 spring pack on it.
2) The axle vent tube has been broken off essentially flush- you could weld a nut to the round part of the vent tube and bust it off that way, but I don't have access to a welder anymore. Has anyone run into this situation, and what did you do to remove it without getting metal shavings inside the axle? I'm going to attempt getting it red hot and busting it loose with a pair of vice grips, but idk how well that's gonna work. I plan on replacing it with a new vent valve anyway.
3) What are the correct axle seals for this dude? The axle bearings are making a little noise but the diff itself is quiet, so I plan on replacing the bearings+seals- but I'm seeing a lot of different options for seals on RockAuto. Some are obviously for the FF axle, but I want to be sure of the correct choice. I'll be doing this swap over the weekend soon- the brakes on my 8.5 are shot and I pull a trailer regularly, and I'm not trying to kill my fronts.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.