An 8 lug 14 bolt does not necessarily means it's a full floater

[cantdrive55]

Well I just spent the last two hours pulling a 14 bolt of which I had been mislead to believe was a full floater. See I'm still somewhat inexperienced and before today, didn't know the easy way to tell the difference. I had been told if a 14 bolt was 8 lugs, then it was a full floater, not true. Oh well, I learned a valuable lesson. Now I see how obvious the difference is between full and semi floating. I thought I would make the point incase I am not the only one out there who had been told this. I wish could post a pic to show the difference, but I don't have a website to reference it to.

[joe]

Mind you I don't know zip of 14 bolt Chev stuff but any full floater rear axle will have the hubs noticeably sticking out through the wheels just like all the hubs on full floater 4WD front axles. Semi-floaters axle hubs will be behind the rim and flush with the back of the wheel...no protrusion through the rim. On a FF rear axle you can pull the axle shaft out w/o removing the wheel and still tow/roll the rig home. If it looks like you need to pull the wheel off to pull the axle...it's a semi-floater.

[River Beast]

Send me the pics... I'll post them for you....I am learning about the 14's and would like visual

[cantdrive55]

Yes Joe, I can now picture what you are saying. Before I was explained all of that, but couldn't picture it. Now I get it.

River Beast I will see what I can send you but I think you've seen the pix I have. They are the ones taken from the 6 lug conversion post a couple of days ago. Do you have a plan for the front axle? Now that I know what 14 bolt to look for that should be easy. It's just the front. The Dana 60 is the only thing I can come up with, but they are not easy to come by and quite pricey.

[scotty]

ooooohhhh.ouch. that sucks. did you allready hand over nonrefundable cash for the axle? or are you just out your time?

it didnt occur to me to mention the difference,sorry if i didnt provide enuff info. the once youve looked at a full floating 14 bolt,the cover is pretty recognizeable. heres another tip if the rig happens to have big dust covers,or hubcaps covering the center of the wheel and you cant see the hub sticking out: the full floating 14 bolt will have bolts around the pinion,making it removeable without pulling the rear cover.

someone correct me here if im wrong ,but the 14 bolt is the only axle i can think of like this,cept for the ford 9" and some other axles that have removeable third members(no rear diff cover plate)

further questions? smile.gif

[River Beast]

thanks for the pics... the visual is PERFECT... now you can't miss the 'HUB' :D
http://home.earthlink.net/~riverbeast/misc/14bolt01.jpg

Scotty,

After seeing this pic... I FULLY understand the concept of cutting back the rotor and fitting it with the 6 lug rotor...

I WANT TO DO THIS!!!!....

[ March 26, 2002: Message edited by: River Beast ]</p>

[WillyPete]

if i'm not completely mistaken... a SF 14 bolt will have the ring gear on the driver's side, and a FF 14 bolt will have the ring gear on the passenger side (at least that's what the cover makes it look like)

a friend of mine with a CJ got what he thought was a 3/4 ton FF 14 bolt. turns out it was the 9 1/2" SF version

that's another difference, the SF is 9.5" ring gear and the FF is 10.5" ring gear

[scotty]

the cover is misleading.the ring gear is still on the driver side,the diff case is 2 parts,and the diff is shaped kinda funky,with the ring gear sort of in the middle of the case,but its not on the pass side like the cover suggests. smile.gif

[Big Country]

One easy way to tell the differnce, is to look at the diff cover. The small 14 is a lot more rounded. The large 14 has more straight edges, and protrudes at the bottom in V shape, to make room for the massive 10.5 ring gear. This V shape, or plow as some people call it, is the only draw back to the FF 14(do to ground clearance).

[Crazy_Jeepman]

I like this Chart makes things easy. Differential Identification Charts (http://www.nationwideparts.com/differentials.htm)
;)