Need advice on building rear end

[stylinbeaver]

Have a 85 k10. truck has 44" swampers and my 10 bolt exploded. destroyed the locker also. what I'm asking is what would be a good setup to replace it with? My thoughts are trying to find a 14 bolt donor and install new gears. Truck is a weekend cruiser and rarely sees offroad but i would still like a setup that wouldn't get mangled from running bigger tires.Would like to keep 8 lug hubs so I don't have to change rims. Running 5.13 gears also. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[crazy4offroad]

14 bolts have 8 lugs, k10 should have 6. If it turns out you meant 6 you'll either have to do an expensive hub swap or convert to 8 lug 15" wheels and run rear disk brakes. 14 bolt full floater would be the best bet for 44s. I run 5.13s in mine, gear swap in a 14 ff is a piece of cake. Pinion depth is fine tuned with shims under the pinion housing instead of having to press the bearing off/on the pinion over and over like the 10/12 bolt, and backlash is adjusted with spanners on each side of the carrier instead of shims like 1/2 ton axles. Spartan makes a cheapie locker for the 14 ff or you can weld up the spiders on the open diff for a mini-spool effect but that causes heavy tire scrub in tight turns.

 

[John-e Bravada]

FF 14 bolt, I 2nd that.

If you can find one in the yards you might try a Eaton HO. Some had factory 5.13's and Detroits.

 

[stylinbeaver]

14 bolts have 8 lugs, k10 should have 6. If it turns out you meant 6 you'll either have to do an expensive hub swap or convert to 8 lug 15" wheels and run rear disk brakes. 14 bolt full floater would be the best bet for 44s. I run 5.13s in mine, gear swap in a 14 ff is a piece of cake. Pinion depth is fine tuned with shims under the pinion housing instead of having to press the bearing off/on the pinion over and over like the 10/12 bolt, and backlash is adjusted with spanners on each side of the carrier instead of shims like 1/2 ton axles. Spartan makes a cheapie locker for the 14 ff or you can weld up the spiders on the open diff for a mini-spool effect but that causes heavy tire scrub in tight turns.

truck has 8 lugs. rear end housing says gm30. running mickey thompson 16.5 rims. assuming previous owner put 3/4 axles in the 10 bolt housing? which year trucks will have a 14 full float? have several local yards full of square body trucks. appreciate the help man.

 

[crazy4offroad]

Would have to see a pic of the cover. If it is round with 10 bolts it's a typical 10 bolt but if the cover is irregular shaped it could be a D60 rear. I think the 14 bolt came in to production late 60s through the early 90s. Look at the 3/4 ton single rear wheel trucks. Most came with 4.10 gears though.

 

[stylinbeaver]

Would have to see a pic of the cover. If it is round with 10 bolts it's a typical 10 bolt but if the cover is irregular shaped it could be a D60 rear. I think the 14 bolt came in to production late 60s through the early 90s. Look at the 3/4 ton single rear wheel trucks. Most came with 4.10 gears though.

I'm going to snap a picture of the diff cover real quick and post it. I've already planned on buying new 5.13 gears so if the housing has different gears it won't be a problem.

 

[stylinbeaver]

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just a few pics of what I got going on haha.

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[crazy4offroad]

Yep that's a standard 10-bolt. And I've exploded a front 10-bolt carrier like that lol usually the crosspin bolt backs out and allows the crosspin to slide partly out then *BOOM*! So always always always use red thread locker on that crosspin bolt. Also on the pinion nut, ring gear bolts and carrier bearing main bolts.

 

[stylinbeaver]

Thanks for the tip on the locktite. always used the blue stuff but something this seriois I'm assuming the red is necessary. now I just have to find a good 14 bolt housing to slap under this thing.

 

[GreaseDog]

Curious to see the adapters you have on the axle.Is that maybe a 5 to 8 lug adapter? 6 to 8 is not possible, because the studs would overlap.

 

[stylinbeaver]

Curious to see the adapters you have on the axle.Is that maybe a 5 to 8 lug adapter? 6 to 8 is not possible, because the studs would overlap.

They might be adapters. looks like it I guess.

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[GreaseDog]

Yup, those are adapters.

 

[stylinbeaver]

Yup, those are adapters.

thanks for the clarification. never used adapters and had no clue what they even looked like. to be honest didn't really pay any attention to the spindles once I pulled them out haha.