jsudar
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Cedar Hills
I have had too much time to think again and have come up with a new way to make something simple super complicated. This has been inspired by JPTHING's front 14 bolt axle thread and somebody else who used a 14 bolt in the front of their KOH buggy and Mesha's 609s he wants me to help him build.
WARNING: It's late, I have lots of time to kill and I will probably start to ramble.
The Ford 9" is a pretty sweet axle. A brain dead monkey could set up the gears, the third member pops out so you don't have to lay under the truck to work on the gears, it's got three pinion bearings and the fabricated steel housing makes trussing and linking lots easier (and lighter) when compared to a housing with a cast center section.
The only real drawback to the 9" (beside the low pinion, which is a non-issue with aftermarket gears and thirds) is the fact that it is only a 9" ring gear. Granted, the super low pinion of the 9" makes it a serious hypoid gear which gives it much more strength than a D44 which is a similarly sized gear. But it is not uncommon to see 9" get blowed to pieces when used with big tires and motors. Thanks to Longfields, the 9.75" R&P in the D60 is now the weak point.
So, what other axle has most of the benefits of the 9", but is lots stronger? The GM 14 bolt. It's got three pinion bearings, gears that a cro-magnon dude could set up and it's a 10.5" R&P.
The crappy part is that stock, it weighs 600 lbs, has a gnarly lip that hangs up on everything, likes to spin axle tubes and never came in a front axle version. It is the cheapest, most bulletproofest axle you can get, though.
Here is my uber-complicated idea: If we're gonna be building front 14 bolts, lets build them with a more standard sized axle tube, fabricated housing and drop out third member. To see how this could be possible, we need to look no further than Ford's twin traction beam axles. See the pics if you don't get it.
It would be pretty simple to chop the tubes off a 14B center section, machine the ends for seals and use the existing cover bolt holes to bolt it into a fabricated steel housing just like a Ford TTB. Now you have a 10.5" ring geared 9" axle, complete with a dropout third, easy to weld to housing and easy to set up, three pinion bearinged gears.
Yeah, it won't be easy to build the housing, but I don't think it would be much harder than trussing any other axle plus shortening and lengthening axle tubes for the offset pumpkin, welding on inner C's, etc...
Now, before the firestorm hits... I realize this is complicated and a lot of work for an axle, but I already have a D60 under the front of my Blazer and that's just not cool anymore. Front 60's are so 1999.
Hell, I could have just wheeled my Blazer when it was stock, but that's not the point. Building cool stuff that works good is the point. And not the same old cookie cutter crap. If I had a dollar for every chevy that has a 350/350/203/205/D60/14B or similar, I'd be already be done with my front 14 bolt.
Now, the only crappy part is I just sold my spare 14 bolt housing last week to chocflip201. Calling chopflip201-- want to sell me your 14 bolt with the screwed up axle tube?
WARNING: It's late, I have lots of time to kill and I will probably start to ramble.
The Ford 9" is a pretty sweet axle. A brain dead monkey could set up the gears, the third member pops out so you don't have to lay under the truck to work on the gears, it's got three pinion bearings and the fabricated steel housing makes trussing and linking lots easier (and lighter) when compared to a housing with a cast center section.
The only real drawback to the 9" (beside the low pinion, which is a non-issue with aftermarket gears and thirds) is the fact that it is only a 9" ring gear. Granted, the super low pinion of the 9" makes it a serious hypoid gear which gives it much more strength than a D44 which is a similarly sized gear. But it is not uncommon to see 9" get blowed to pieces when used with big tires and motors. Thanks to Longfields, the 9.75" R&P in the D60 is now the weak point.
So, what other axle has most of the benefits of the 9", but is lots stronger? The GM 14 bolt. It's got three pinion bearings, gears that a cro-magnon dude could set up and it's a 10.5" R&P.
The crappy part is that stock, it weighs 600 lbs, has a gnarly lip that hangs up on everything, likes to spin axle tubes and never came in a front axle version. It is the cheapest, most bulletproofest axle you can get, though.
Here is my uber-complicated idea: If we're gonna be building front 14 bolts, lets build them with a more standard sized axle tube, fabricated housing and drop out third member. To see how this could be possible, we need to look no further than Ford's twin traction beam axles. See the pics if you don't get it.
It would be pretty simple to chop the tubes off a 14B center section, machine the ends for seals and use the existing cover bolt holes to bolt it into a fabricated steel housing just like a Ford TTB. Now you have a 10.5" ring geared 9" axle, complete with a dropout third, easy to weld to housing and easy to set up, three pinion bearinged gears.
Yeah, it won't be easy to build the housing, but I don't think it would be much harder than trussing any other axle plus shortening and lengthening axle tubes for the offset pumpkin, welding on inner C's, etc...
Now, before the firestorm hits... I realize this is complicated and a lot of work for an axle, but I already have a D60 under the front of my Blazer and that's just not cool anymore. Front 60's are so 1999.
Hell, I could have just wheeled my Blazer when it was stock, but that's not the point. Building cool stuff that works good is the point. And not the same old cookie cutter crap. If I had a dollar for every chevy that has a 350/350/203/205/D60/14B or similar, I'd be already be done with my front 14 bolt.
Now, the only crappy part is I just sold my spare 14 bolt housing last week to chocflip201. Calling chopflip201-- want to sell me your 14 bolt with the screwed up axle tube?
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