Axel questions

[1980chevy4x4]

1.What is the driffrence between 3/4 and 1 ton? Is it 1 tons are D60s and 14bff and 3/4 are D44(an dothers) with 8 lug?
2. What is a 14ff? and How can you tell that it is one?
Sorry for the the questions im just trying to learn about these axels so when i go and build my truck up ill no what im looking for.

[784X4GUY]

Well im sure there are better and more detailed answers that will be given but ill give it a shot. The difference's that I know of are like you said dana44's up front on 3/4 tons and 60's on 1 tons. They are all 8 lug to the best of my knowledge. And a 14ff that would be pertaining to a 14 bolt rearend with the 10.50" ring gear. The ff would mean it was a full floater rearend which means that the weight of the truck rest on the hub not directly on the end of the axle shaft. Like in a Semi Floater rearend. The full floater rearend will be stronger. And if you take off the wheel you will see a big hub like looking thing sticking out. Im not the smartest on these subjects, just trying to help out a little bit. Good luck with it man...Later Mike

[JIMs70GMC]

I'll add one thing to Mike's post, You'll only have to take a wheel off if it has center caps with the rims, if not the hub sticks out like a front 4 wd axle. Also some time in the 80s an 8 lug semi float 14 bolt was standard on a lot of GM 3/4 ton vehicles, it has no hub sticking out and only has a 9.5" ring gear and is refered to as 14bsf.

[poff]

I found out that some early 70's 1 ton 4x4 trucks, like '75 and '76, may have come with D44s up front. 14 bolt full floaters are the same for 1 ton and 3/4 ton but the spring pads have different spacing. 2wd axles have longer shock mounts, If you get one of these I would cut them shorter before you weld them back on. If you get a '73 14 bolt, put '74 and later brakes on it.

[1980chevy4x4]

Thanks for clearing that up guys. Hopefully now when i go to the junk yard ill no what im looking at...

[Mudder]

I believe some of the D44's had different hubs also. Some were bigger. Not sure what they were called.

[JIMs70GMC]

That's the difference between external and internal hubs, and in this case supposedly bigger is not better. The spacer on the external hubs puts more leverage on the hub.

[784X4GUY]

Yeah I heard that the external spline hubs would break the bolts really easily...Later Mike

[LONGHAIR]

It depends upon what year you are talking about. GM switched to the "Corporate" axle in the late 70's.

There is nothing wrong with the "external" style hubs. Neither the internal nor external support any weight so there is no more or less pressure on them.
If you are breaking bolts, something else is wrong.
The only thing the hubs do is provide a way to disconnect the drive between the axle and the wheel. Most of the quality after-market lock-outs are smoother and more reliabe than the stockers. They all depend upon properly adjusted wheel bearings, lubrication and keeping dirt/water out. Even a small amout of moisture will allow them to freeze and stick (in cold areas obviously)
Also, a bad axle-joint (they usually rust to the point of not bending) will be rather distructive to the guts of the hub as well as the bearing on the inside of the spindle and the spindle itself. Most of the time this happens to trucks that rarely have the front axle engauged. The axle joint only bends (with the steering) on one side of the cross. The other side gets rusted-up since there is no way to lubricate them. Then when someone trys to use the front drive the joint doesn't want to bend.

[1FaastC10]

the changeover from the D44 front to the corprate 10 bolt front started in 1977, although between 1977 and 1979, both front axles were used.

as for the 75-76 K30s having Dana 44s up front, i'm calling on that one. prior to 1977, there was no such thing as a K30.

[LONGHAIR]

the changeover from the D44 front to the corprate 10 bolt front started in 1977, although between 1977 and 1979, both front axles were used

1FaastC10, you are totally right....
That's why I stated "late 70's" ...because they used whatever whenever and there is no way to pin in down. If you try to state any year/axle combination...some one would come along and argue the point.

[784X4GUY]

Originally Posted by 1FaastC10

the changeover from the D44 front to the corprate 10 bolt front started in 1977, although between 1977 and 1979, both front axles were used.

as for the 75-76 K30s having Dana 44s up front, i'm calling on that one. prior to 1977, there was no such thing as a K30.

Really, I didn't know that prior to 77 there were no K30's...Later Mike

[Americanrider]

Chevy axle ID info link:

http://www.akfabshop.com/alaskaoffroad/axle_tech.htm

[1969 GMC]

there were 1 ton 4x4's before '77...but they are aftermarket conversions, and the VIN would still have a "C" in it. these also do not have dana 60 front axles...they have modified Eaton rear axles up front, with "NAPCO" cast into the long driver side axletube.

[b454rat]

They made 1 ton 4wd before 77, but that had the Dana 44 with the bigger hubs, but not sure if they were aftermarket or factory. Only saw one 74 crew cab, and a 67-72 style. They still used the 14 bolt rear which came out with the new body style in 73. Dana 60s came out in 77 I believe.

[1FaastC10]

[QUOTE=b454rat]They made 1 ton 4wd before 77QUOTE]

sorry, i misworded that, there are no FACTORY 1 ton 4x4s before 1977. if you find a 76-prior 1 ton truck, it has been converted, and could contain parts from just about anything.