Blowed up the rear diff

[T-Bagg]

Remember this trick.

Damn.

On into the night.

Shit happens. Not exactly what you want to be doing in the desert though. The truck we pulled the rear end off of, all the hardware was corroded on. Took half a day to get the ***** off. Geez, it was hot. Finished putting it together late the next morning under the hot ass desert sun. Then drove back to San Diego, three hour drive. Made it back in time to shower, eat and go in to work a 12 hour shift on night crew. Just got off.

Got the new axle on, same gear ratio but no locker at all. While the truck is rolling I have time to weigh my options. Take my busted rear end, and rebuild it Bionic Man style, better, faster, stronger. Build it up nasty as hell.
Or, go balls out and get a 14 bolt and convert that. The junk yard I got that new 10 bolt out of had a good number of them. If I go that way, might as well convert to disc also.
Or, go 12 bolt.
Or, there is a company that makes a 12 bolt diff carrier that bolts onto a 9" housing. Meaning if the problem ever comes up again, I could just swap the diffs, Ford 9" quick. But that shit was expensive. I'll post a link for that when I find it again, but I'm tired now since I've been awake for 24 hours now. It was Currie I think.
What ever I do, I'm going 4.10.

So, guys, help my decision making process. Giving some pro/cons, opinions.

What should I do?

I'm going to sleep.

 

[grimm]

Holy shit, that sucks. I'd go the 14 bolt route. You probably would not have to worry about blowing your shit up again. I've read so many articles, heard so many stories now about how tough the 14 bolt really is. Just my opinion though.

Anyways, sorry for your blown diff, but now you have a story to tell about working for hours on end in the hot desert swapping out axles.

 

[bowtiefreak]

go with a 14 bolt

 

[h0tr0d]

Man! That's quite a story...thanks for the pics too. Were you pretty far from the place where you got the axle from? Were you wheeling with the guy in the red truck, or is he just like a badass friend who will come rescue you in the middle of the desert...lol

 

[mikeyboy]

thats some work shop

 

[retorq]

Strange is the company with the bolt in 12 bolt/9inch combo.

http://www.strangeengineering.net/catalog/pdf/079.pdf

 

[T-Bagg]

Strange is the company.
The guy in the red truck is a friend I always go wheeling and camping with. Funny thing is it's usually his truck that breaks. But I decided to push it with some rock crawling. It was just the one rock. Biggest rock on the trail. Was almost over when the tire let go and dropped off and started the bounce.

If you can't tell, he has no bed.

The thing holding up my truck is my spare tire carrier. Which I rescued from the trash only a few days before this trip. Stripped the rust and painted it. Somebody made it and made it tough as hell.

So. Will a 14 bolt mate up to my leaf springs and shocks or will the housing need modifications? I'm thinking I want the 14 bolt with the 10 1/2" ring.
Are the yokes on the input the same size as the 10 bolt? I'd imagine not. Could I trade yokes or would I have to modify the drive shaft?

 

[grimm]

A 6-lug 14 bolt semi-float axle with the 9.5" ring gear is a direct fit from a 88-98 4x4 donor truck. All you would need for the swap is a conversion U-joint. I'm not exactly sure though if a full-floater from the same year range is a direct fit, but I would guess so.

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

don't think the FF is a direct swap.

go with the 14 bolt SF.


one of these days when i have the time and money to do more to the hoe im cramming some 1 tons under it.

 

[Shaggy]

Damn that sucks!