DANA 70 or 14 Bolt?

[woodridge]

I'm gettin ready to put the rear end under my 71 ton project and have both DANA and 14 bolt rear ends. What are the pro's and con's of either? Let's hear your opinions. DANA is a 4.10 not sure what the14 bolt but the ratio is not an issue at this point.

[masterbeavis]

Both are good axles. They are both rated about the same in the stregnth dept. On the 14b, you have to check the ring gear and make sure you have the large one, they had 2 different sizes. Parts availability is about the same. THey use the same wheel bearings. THe 70 should have 12x3 shoes, the 14B will have 13x3.5 if it came from a one ton. If I was hauling heavy loads, I would choose the 14B simply because of its better stopping power

[BCOWANWHEELS]

14b has 3 pinion bearings also. more support and the 14b can go as low as 3.21 r&p ratio. the 70 its 3.54 low as you can go.14b is what i,am doing
bob

[special-K]

The larger 14-bolt is obvious,it`s a full-floater w/external hubs.I`m sure that`s what you have.The 14-bolt is the top-dog here.Was there ever a Dana70 used on a GM?Prolly won`t bolt riht up...shock-mounts,spring pads,brake lines,yoke...alot of ifs.

[snj8198]

I agree with yas about the RR14B. The additional pinion support and wider bearing surface area makes this dif a keeper. An acquantance of mine runs a D70 under his Dodge Ramcharger, performance wise neither have failed. However...if you are unlucky enough to get a 14B with the gov-lock and you plan on using it for heavy towing or offroad use I would suggest replacing the the gov lock case with a standard open case. The gov-locks tend to konk out easy. I didn't catch whether this was going in a 2 or 4 wheel application?!

[BCOWANWHEELS]

they put d 70,s in gm 1 tons

[snj8198]

Originally Posted by BCOWANWHEELS

they put d 70,s in gm 1 tons

yup...in both single and dual wheel configuarations.

[1969 GMC]

Realistically, using it for a stock or near stock truck, either rear will suit you fine. What I would look at is the gear ratio, basically. Find out what the 14 bolt has (im gonna guess 4.10's also, they seem to be the most common ratio for it), and make the decision off of that.

This also applies to re-gearing in the future. I have not set up gears in a Dana axle yet, but it looks like more work than a 14 bolt, which is very simple to do. As of now, the lowest gears you can purchase for a 14 bolt are 5.38, and you can get as low as 7.17 for the D70. Usually these ratios are only used by extreme offroaders or construction equipment, but I don't know what the plans are for your truck.

As far as I know, you could get D70HD under 73-up body style dually pickup trucks, but this was DRW only. I have seen a few D70's under the 88+ body style 1 ton SRW pickups also. The D70HD is a very beefy axle, it has 4" axletubes, 35 spline shafts, D80 size carrier bearings, but is wide (like 75 or 76" WMS).

One thing I would look at if you consider the D70 is "what did it come under originally?" You *should* be able to find the BOM # stamped into an axle tube if you don't already know. Some of the older D70's had 23 spline (instead of the more desireable 35) spline axle shafts. Also, some D70's have strange gears, involving the pinion offset. Whereas with the 14 bolt, you just need thick or thin gears, and thats it. No weirdo models.

Of course, I'd go with an Eaton h052. But that's just me. YMMV

[Yukon Jack]

The Detroit Locker for the 14 bolt is fairly cheap and very easy to put in if it is an open carrier to begin with.

[woodridge]

My plans for the Ton project is to eventually make it a dually pickup. The D70 is under an 8G-30 bus and will be wide enough btw's to set the bed on when it is ready. It has the 13" brakes but not shure how wide. I put one of these under a 87 dually several years ago and the best I remember I did have to relocate the spring perches which is not a problem. The 14blt came from a dually, not sure what year and haven't had a chance to check the ratio yet and the guy I'm getting it from couldn't remember if the truck was a manual or auto. I will be pulling a gooseneck on occasion and could be loaded fairly heavy (12-14k lb) about 1/3 of the time. At this time I'll be running a TH400 but will be upgrading to a 4L80E when the $ allow. I'm also upgrading the front brakes for more stopping ablity.
1969 GMC, going away from the HO52 because of the brake issue, I do have an HO110 under another C-30, they have mega brakes but that raises a whole new set of issues.

Thanks for everyones input, I should know in a few days what the final decision will be.

[special-K]

I thought the dooleys had D70s for years.Time went by,then from this site I learned it was the 14-bolt since`73.I knew,forgot,learned wrong,then re-learned what I knew.I thought I had just assumed the duals ran D70s`cuz everything else did back then.The 4wd mags led me wrong,too.My friend had a`77 K/30 Silverado dooley and it had a D70,I always thought.I guess my`78 had one,too.(I always thought)Been around tooooo long,I guess.