I want to spin both tires

[yellow70GMC]

a 12 bolt is a semi-floating axle. the axles are held in by c-clips that go on the ends of the axles where they meet the carrier. a full-floating axle has outer hubs, and you can remove the axle shafts without even taking off your wheels or jacking your truck up. in my opinion, a semi-floating 14 bolt is a waste of time, and the extra strength over a 12 bolt isn't enough to make the swap worth it. plus, i don't know how much a semi-floater weighs, but a full floating 14b weighs almost 600 pounds IIRC. I just think a differential swap is wayyyy overkill in your situation unless you ever plan on putting huge tires on your truck. If you're on a budget, just get a lock-right and stick with that for now. They're under 400 bucks. I'm not denying the strength of the 14 bolt, but not everyone needs one, especially high school kids on a budget. Just my .02

amcgeh01-look in 88-95ish "heavy half" chevy trucks. They had 14sf axles. Someone else will probably chime in with the exact years they came in. And i don't think you can limp home on one axle on a semi-floater, just the full floater, which is an 8 lug axle.

[msgross]

personally spinning 33"+ tires on pavement is asking for trouble with any axle... but it's not my truck or money...

Benelli,

is this thread concerning pavement or mud?

[Benelli]

Mike, It's concerning mud. Two of my friends have Ford explorers with positraction systems in them and they give me plenty of crap for only spinning one tire when I get high centered.

I don't do the whole burn out thing. I guess I used to, but I'm over that now.
A careless driving ticket causes you to grow up awful quick.

I think I'm just going to go ahead and do the lock-rite right now, and if I decide to step it up to 35's someday I'll swap to a 14 bolt, that's a long, long ways off from now though.


The motor is Not stock but I don't think it's quite as ballsy as to demolish an axle unless I'm doing something stupid, 9.5:1 Compression ratio, .46 intake cam (not sure on duration), 650 CFM carb, Alum intake manifold, boared .060, headers, I rebuilt the transmission and part timed the transfercase, I'm just working my way around the truck. After the axles I plan on patching the rust holes and maybe repainting the white.

[amcgeh01]

Originally Posted by yellow70GMC

a 12 bolt is a semi-floating axle. the axles are held in by c-clips that go on the ends of the axles where they meet the carrier. a full-floating axle has outer hubs, and you can remove the axle shafts without even taking off your wheels or jacking your truck up. in my opinion, a semi-floating 14 bolt is a waste of time, and the extra strength over a 12 bolt isn't enough to make the swap worth it. plus, i don't know how much a semi-floater weighs, but a full floating 14b weighs almost 600 pounds IIRC. I just think a differential swap is wayyyy overkill in your situation unless you ever plan on putting huge tires on your truck. If you're on a budget, just get a lock-right and stick with that for now. They're under 400 bucks. I'm not denying the strength of the 14 bolt, but not everyone needs one, especially high school kids on a budget. Just my .02

amcgeh01-look in 88-95ish "heavy half" chevy trucks. They had 14sf axles. Someone else will probably chime in with the exact years they came in. And i don't think you can limp home on one axle on a semi-floater, just the full floater, which is an 8 lug axle.

Thanks YellowGMC... Yes, I think I will pass on that for now.. It's a daily driver and I am not wasting money on tires to peel out on...Although I am running 35's with a 4 inch lift, Dana 44 front and 12 bolt rear.... I think it will be fine until I can afford something different down the road...

[doug70]

A good way to go is with a 73up 14 bolt Full Float. That's what I used. You might get lucky and find one with a limited slip, but better off to go to a detroit locker. I don't know about a 6 bolt option though.

Just another opinion. Sorry if someone already mentioned this.

Doug