04 DC - Rear Axle Options - Chevy 14 Bolt Full Floater?

Hello,
At 263,000~ someodd miles, it appears my rear differential may be on its way out. I'm getting a lot of backlash in the pinion. I have a spare third kicking around my garage that I could send to ECGS to get rebuilt, but my original intent was to have a very fresh refurbished housing to transfer my parts to. This truck is my daily, so I cannot have it down for more than two or three days while I work on it.

I have spent some time searching for a second-hand axle assembly (or housing) and have not been able to find much for under $1,000-1,250 in a reasonable radius around my house.
After speaking with some friends, someone mentioned that the WMS measurement of a Chevy 14 Bolt is 67.5", which I believe is similar to/the same as my DC axle. Can anyone confirm this to be true?

I believe the swap would be relatively straightforward and more budget-friendly than purchasing a secondhand DC axle, with a stronger and more serviceable end result.

Shortlist on the swap (reusing stock Toyota Leafs):

• Leaf Spring Perches
• U-Bolts
• Shock Tabs/Hardware
• Pinion Flange
• Deal with ABS somehow? (Maybe pull the fuse and let it bump.)
• Adapt Brake fittings
• Ditch the LSPV and go to a manual Prop valve

I will also have to get some adapters (or different wheels) for the swap.

Is there any reason this wouldn't work? Anything I'm not taking into consideration?
I suppose it is also worth mentioning I plan on eventually solid front axle swapping my tundra to one tons (maybe a few years from now, when the tundra won't be my daily).

 

this is a great april fools day joke

 

It's not april fools day here! Maybe it still is for you!

 

Not sure how much a “14 bolt Chevy” rear end and all its fab work, headache and adaptation will cost compared to $1250, but I can’t imagine it’s that much savings. What about the gear ratio difference? Won’t find one in 3.91 or 4.10 I imagine, whichever your truck is equipped with.

 

Depending on how much fab work you wanna do, I may have another sequoia axle available soon. It'll need a new driver's side wheel bearing and comes with 4.10s. AR and TX aren't that far apart...

 

I have found multiple 4.10 equipped axles for sale near me for $350~ all the brackets will cost about $100, plus the cost of the pinion flange for the driveshaft at $200, and about $10 in brake line fittings.

I thought about a sequoia axle because they’re plentiful, but to my understanding they are about an inch and a half narrower, no?

 

So $650 before the manual LSPV and whatever brake work is needed. You lose ABS (some don’t care) and the centering hub from the Toyota axle. You could grab a later version and get discs instead of drums while you were at it, but likely creates more brake work and more cost. If you’ve got the means to do the conversion work yourself, sounds like a viable plan. If you’re really gonna 1 ton the front end (not my cup of tea) and go all franken-tundra anyway then why not.

 

1.5" wider, give or take. The brake lines don't take much, and throw a wilwood prop valve in.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/bmf-and-jakejakes-sequoia-axle-shenanigans.153891/page-7

 

14 bolts can also come stock with some pretty sweet gear ratios, 4.56 decently common, but if not they have about the cheapest gear sets of any axle, I've seen some close to $200. Lockers for them are also cheap too I hear. Of course you'd have to regear the front too but idk what you do with your truck. 14 bolts are pretty huge and you'd lose ground clearance. I've never done an axle swap myself so take my advice with a lot of salt, but I would love to see you do it haha.

Edit: I see now that you want to SAS swap in the future. In that case it's gonna cost you more in the future to swap your rear out again for something bigger so you might as well send it now.

 

Many of the 14 bolt swaps to jeeps included making the housings lower protrusion 2” shorter to help with ground clearance.

 

Commonly referred to as the 13 bolt mod. My K5 runs a 14 bolt full float and on 37's I've drug the diff a number of times.

Don't forget that a 14 bolt is a HEAVY axle. You'll also need at least a conversion u-joint or a new axle to connect it all up. You'll need new wheels or adapters.

I'd be looking at more half ton options if it were me. The 14 bolt is just an overkill beast for a daily driver.

 

Check this out if you haven't and want lots of 14b info.
http://www.billavista.com/Tech/Articles/14-Bolt_Bible/index.html

 

14 bolt is an unrealistic swap for a 1st gen. So is a SAS. I wish it weren’t true on the SAS, but that’s how it is with our trucks.

14 bolt is 8 lug. You can get custom 6 lug hubs though. You’ll also want to do a shave kit on the pumpkin to get some of your ground clearance back. Might as well swap in disc brakes to shed some weight. A custom length drive shaft isn’t as affordable as it used to be. MPGs will suffer with all the extra weight. I’m not sure how to delete the ABS (and not the speedometer at the same time with a double cab truck). You’re probably looking at close to $3500 bare minimum for all of the aforementioned bits and pieces. Another couple $K for welder, gas axe, grinders, ect if you don’t own any of it. I’m pretty sure a used DC 3rd member at a pick n pull junk yard costs less than a tank full of gasoline. I’ll let you crunch the numbers though.

 

Which was my original thoughts on this swap

 

I have a spare third member sitting in my garage. My original goal was to send it out and regear the truck and put a detroit in the rear at the same time. I'm just weighing my options. My whole reasoning for wanting a complete axle assembly is so I can refresh the entire axle tip to butt in one go before putting it back in, that way I won't have to worry about anything in the axle for a long time to come. I already own a welder grinder etc, so not a problem to modify the axle to fit, my biggest enemy is time and money. I crunched the numbers and just to get a 14 bolt in the back of my truck it would be about $600 not including the cost of 2 wheels. The vehicle speed sensor is inside the transfer case, so you can pull the ABS fuse and ignore the wheel speed sensors.

 

If you are handy enough to do a 14 bolt conversion on these trucks, there’s zero reason you can’t run through the factory axle in a single day. There’s not that much to them.

 

Interesting…when i deleted the ABS in my 2004 AC it was pretty much the opposite. The rear wheel speed sensors needed to stay plugged in and i had to keep the ABS fuse in place in order for my speedometer to keep working. The double cab has way different wiring, so i’ll have to take your word on that one.

I have Detroits in my old ford highboy. Luckily that truck isn’t a daily driver. I don’t think it would be that fun to deal with the popping and banging from the locker in a lightweight pickup such as a tundra. A selectable locker would be way better on the street for sure.

 

The newer detroits are way better. I run one in the rear on my k5 and I’ve yet to hear or feel it engage or disengage.

 

Ahhh. I have the NoSPINS in my truck (D60 and D70), not the soft locker. I don’t mind the noise since the truck is so darn utilitarian. Something new like an old 1st gen tundra i’d probably be a little more judgmental about its nuances.

 

After a couple of days and speaking with my buddy (master tech at the local Toyota dealer), we came to this conclusion.
I am tabling the idea of a 14 bolt for now (at least until a few more years down the line when I solid axle swap).

The list for refurbing my existing axle is as follows:

• Send out my spare third to ECGS (likely 4.88s with a Detroit locker or Eaton Harrop e-locker)
• New OEM Wheel bearings, Retainers, ABS Tone rings, Seals, U-bolts etc
• New rear brakes
• Cleaning up the entire rear axle housing and repainting with some sort of durable brush/roll-on paint (jury is out on the particular brand or type as of yet)
• LSPV Delete (will happen beforehand)