10 bolt or 14 bolt

[I Leak Oil]

10 bolts are fine for what they were intended for. Millions of GM vehicles used them over the decades. It's probably fine for the tire size and use you describe. You haven't had any issue with it yet right?

On the otherhand, I agree with others. I would not put a dime into upgrading one. Just not worth it as the potential just isn't there with one. Relatively weak housing, gears, carrier, small bearings and axles. A stock 14 solves all of that and has a much larger potential to be more robust with upgrades.

 

[justcuz]

My wife and daughter have blown up every 10 bolt Gov-Lock I own except my 1993 Suburban, which I upgraded to a SF14 bolt a few years ago.

You don't really need a 6" lift to run 33"s.
I run 285/75x16's (a 32.5" tire) on my 2000 K1500 Suburban. I used H2 rear springs and Ford front torsion bar keys.

 

[BPD53]

I run a 10 bolt in my Colorado V8 with stock 265/70-17 tires. I have had good luck so far, but I did sink some money in mine. I run an OX locker in the rear so I could get rid of the G80. If I were going to do it again I would go with the 14 bolt. I run moderate trails and I tend to drive like an old man off road so I expect little trouble. I really think it comes down to the driver/terrain to be attempted.

I must say that the design of the G80 is in fact a ticking time bomb. If you go 10 bolt don't use a G80 for sure. Good luck.

 

[chilliwak]

Take your time and search auto wreckers for a good 14 bolt rear end that has matching gears to your existing front ifs. They can be had for $200 or less, and thats in Canada. You guys in the US can get stuff from the military achtions for even less. Dont worry about the low clearance of the 14 bolt housing. I have seen guys slam it into rocks without even the slightest damage. A good rule of thumb is just put your wheels on top of anything that you might be scared of hitting the bottom of your truck. Also, consider a lunch box locker if you are going to add one at all. I hope this helps, cheers, Chilli...:drool::drool::ylsmoke::ylsmoke::wings::wings::wings::bike_rider::bike_rider:

 

[ejwebb]

The 14 bolt out of the supercharged escalade dose not come with 4.10 gears,you will have to change them.That is a small price to pay to get a bolt in 14 bolt with 6 lug.

 

[Burb One]

Bought a link setup 14 bolt SF (9.5 and 6 lug) with 4.10 and G80 yesterday for $1100. (Code GT5 is 4.10 and G80 is the locker, obviously)

As I expected the 14 bolt above, is about $300-$400 more than a leaf spring 14 bolt, and much, much more rare (though the leaf will have the 10.5 and not 9.5, so that is one advantage. I definitely don't need that much strength).

I am happy with the price, especially considering it is local, and also, for me, the 300 or 400 bucks is worth less than my time in having to fab up the mounts if I had gone the "cheaper" route.

This thing, after mocking up, is truly going to be directly bolt in, except for the E-Brake cable and the U-joint. THAT IS IT, that easy. Also, the clearance isn't as bad as I thought, so I am going to wait on the shave kit, and see how it is out in use before I go that route.

For future reference, 2007-2013 Yukon, Yukon XL, Escalade (reg. ext, esv), Suburban Hybrid, and Suburban "High performance" (Forgot the exact term, but I am assuming it denotes the 1500 gov vehicles) could be optioned with the 14 bolt SF 9.5 in 1500 trim/rear suspension setup and will fit directly in 00-06 1500 suburban/tahoes (as well as the 07-13's). Mine is out of a Suburban "high performance." The escalades, and any of them can be optioned with the 4.10 if you look hard enough and find the "GT5" code, and will have 6 lugs.

If ordering sight unseen, ALWAYS get pictures. Many of the 14 bolts listed out there for these applications are in fact 10 bolts. Took me awhile to find one that i could 100% verify was the correct axle.

In parallel with the other suburban thread on the front page, with the 33's (not going bigger because of mpg and the long trips this thing takes), 14 bolt, and 6 inch lift, I am quite happy with the capabilities of the truck. I did have keys before the 6 inch lift, which as mentioned does allow 33's to fit but highly recommend the 6" Rough country lift, with no crank on the keys, that extra 2 or 3 inches of clearance between keys and this lift make a huge difference in getting the long wheelbase over stuff.)
This isn't even close to my first off road experience, and with the mods, this truck will be very capable as long as one understands the limits of the vehicle and the old addage, "as slow as possible, as fast as necessary."

Other than maybe adding an e-locker down the road (good insight into maybe looking into H2 lockers) It will serve its purposes.

If anyone has any questions on it in the future, let me know, I hope my quest can serve as a reference, thanks for everyone's input and pushing me away from the 10 bolt into the 14 bolt, I am definitely happy. I will post some pictures up after the install.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[Rot Box]

Cool! That's money well spent in the long run I think. If you don't already know about it I'm pretty sure theres' a conversion u-joint that will work with your current drive shaft AND the donor axle.

 

[justcuz]

A conversion u-joint or better yet, a 3/4 ton driveshaft will have bigger u-joints front and rear. All 1/2 ton 5 link rear coil sprung (00-15) and 3/4 ton rear leaf spring Suburbans share the same WB (130"). A 3/4 ton drive shaft will fit in a 1/2 ton Suburban, so will a standard cab long bed 4x4 driveshaft.
The price of these rear axles will start coming down because all new 2015 and up Suburbans come with the SF14 bolt rear axle. V8 Tahoes too I believe.
Since the parking brakes are the same design, you may be able to reuse your original cables.
No need for a shave on a SF14 bolt, the bottom of the housing is much more rounded than a FF14 bolt.
Looking forward to your installation pictures.

 

[Burb One]

Interesting about the drive shaft, thanks for the insight, I already bought the new joint, but maybe if I do the e-locker I'll couple that into that project.

I found this thread that documents the install process, and also the joint if anyone in the future needs: http://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...nsion-22/9-5-14-bolt-5-link-rear-swap-425023/

Also, here's proof, unloaded today, my kind of black Friday shopping




Going to clean it up over the next few days, and then schedule some time around Christmas to install it, as well as the front 4.10 gears and an auxiliary gas tank. I'll post pictures when it goes in.

 

[Woofwagon]

I have a 14 bolt ready to go into the Suburbillac, just need to find the time and hoist to do the job.

 

[justcuz]

I suspect you will be able to use your current rotors, calipers and parking brake cables if they were not provided or are damaged.

I am going to mention something here that may be specific to me or just an overlooked issue.
When using synthetic gear oil, I have noticed an evaporation factor. It seems when driving on the highway the synthetic gear oil seems to evaporate because it is so thin. My 2000 lost about half its gear oil over the period of a year. No visible leaks from any gaskets or seals. The rear axle never got hot enough to blister the paint on the cover (a common sign of overheating). Roughly 10 to 15 thousand miles of usage with 4 to 6 trips of 300 or more highway miles.
My suggestion is to check your synthetic gear oil with each oil change, if it's not using any fine, but if it is you sure don't want to lose your bearings due to lack of lube.

 

[rabbiporkchop]

How about a D60 from a 1999 Ford E350 like this?

Axle talk...

I've got a 2004 1500 Suburban on 33's lifted with a 6 inch Rough country (IFS is fine for my uses, it's not a rock crawler, it's a Suburban. My use is to just get over any moderate trail with little problems, which it does.)

I have been looking at upgrading the rear axle to a 14 bolt with an Eaton e-locker, just so I can rely on it, and not the IFS, in a bind.

However, now looking to actually buy the axle and locker, it looks like Eaton has discontinued or is out of stock of the locker for the 14 for the foreseeable future.

I've now been doing more research and it looks like the 14 bolt, might not even be an upgrade I want because i will lose a considerable amount of ground clearance over the 10 bolt.

I will be staying on 33's, so.....

Is the loss of ground clearance with the 14, too much if staying on 33's?

If staying on 33's, will 10 bolt w/ elocker be okay for long term? I am pretty easy on the pedal, and also now reading, the 14, may be overkill if staying on 33's, especially when considering the ground clearance loss. I do want the rig, to be as hardy as possible...

Thanks!
Harrison

 

[ejwebb]

What year make and model did a 14 bolt 6 lug with 4.10 gears come out of?????

 

[Burb One]

What year make and model did a 14 bolt 6 lug with 4.10 gears come out of?????

The one I bought, according to the VIN, came off a 2007 Suburban LTZ with G80 (locker) and GT5(4.10). I did not actually see the vehicle, so I can't confirm that, but have no reason to believe otherwise.

In one of the previous posts in this thread, according to my research and my GM guy, are the models you can find them in. Also, according to my guy, all of them could be optioned with the G80 and GT5, at various rarities.

Let me know if you have any other questions, hopefully this can serve as a guide for people in the future

 

[pappawheely]

How about a D60 from a 1999 Ford E350 like this?

Does that have the 8x6.5 bolt pattern?