I’m gonna start a little post about my 14 bolt rear steer axle build. It will be slow cause im poor. Also please don’t do as I do cause im just making this up as I go.
Started with a 2006 GMC 2500 srw as the base because I was told they are 4inch .500 wall tubes. That’s a lie they are a little over .275 in the thinnest places and about .375 in the thickest.
I originally stripped it down and cleaned the tubes but then after I started prepping it for the inner C’s and measuring I noticed the tubes looks awfully thin. So some measurements confirmed my fears and I would not be able to save any money not buying tubes. So off they came, honestly anyone building one should start there. It would have been so much easier. Any on to the pictures cause that’s all we care about
Did the 13 bolt shave and welded some plugs in the tubes so I could push them out and boy was it sketchy pushing these out. I swear the whole thing jumped off the ground when one side came loose. The C’s and knuckles went to Busted Knuckle to get machined for high steer and the inner C’s getting machined out to 4inch. Also got some 4 inch .500 wall tubing from them to beef it up.
in for the tech. i just started the beginning's of my 14 rear steer. by beginning i mean just started the process of getting a 14 retubed and c welded on.
Right there with you dropped my stuff off Thursday so hopefully it will be done soon and I can get started. I’ve got the front 60 on the table looking it over and playing with some mock up ideas. Really coming up short on truss ideas though
I saw a rock bouncer comp in TN and lot of guys were running this busted knuckle built rear .... BOMB proof copy as you see fit
1800 HP supercharged slamming into boulders at 50 mph LOL never saw one break
someday I hope to be able to afford the elegance of portals till then...
Ran into a little problem with my front Dana 60 between the housing ripping when I tried to fix a bend in the tube/housing and not being able to mount the 4 link close enough to get 50deg steering eve decided to build the 14 bolt as a front and go pick up a Dana 80 from a guy on marketplace for 100$ and build a Dana 80 rear steer. These axles will be stupid overkill for my setup but I’ll only be a little more into the 80 than I was going to be into sourcing another 10 inch ring gear 60 and retubing the short side
Well I guess I should really change the title because now it’s going in the front and a Dana 80 will take its place in the rear. Before you say it I’ve caught a ton of flack for how much bigger the 80 is. It’s a boat anchor, it’s huge, it’s gonna get caught on everything. While I wait for Busted knuckle to finish machining all my parts I stripped my 2005 Ford F350 Dana 80 down and cut the tubes to length. The tubes ended up being 4in OD and 1/2 wall. So no need to re-tube because they had plenty of length for what I wanted. All my research led me to believe maybe people were right about the Dana 80. Then I saw a photo and chart from ECGS showing that even a shaved 14 bolt is only like an inch more ground clearance. So I decided to see for myself and here are the pictures I took. I was really surprised since I took over an 1-1/2 off that 14 bolt. Both axles will be receiving cheaper 40 spline stuff and 1550 joints. Undecided on 1480 or 1410 driveshafts
Got a little progress done tonight. The rear axle the Dana 80 with the inner C’s off the F450 on and 6 deg while pinion is at 10deg. Also picked up the motobilt cover for a smoking deal on Black Friday so I threw it on for shits and gigs. Hope to start the front soon still waiting on a few more parts from busted knuckle then get these things welded out
I just read a bunch of people talking about it would have positive attributes to more traction climbing. The stuff I read even said people had tired as high as 15 deg which I believe is the point of diminishing return. I figure if anything I can adjust the pinion angle up some if it has a negative impact but I don’t believe it will being so little
Mine was set neutral, and I bumped it up. Just checked mine, it's just over 3 degrees. Too aggressive causes other oddities too, you want it to push up on climbs. Lots of voodoo that I know enough about to be dangerous
I did 8% recently....had all the stuff, so why not. I haven't noted any issues yet, but am unsure it's helping much either. It DOES seem "flatter" on steep climbs.
To you think 11% is pushing it. I’ve got 4.10a in both and the next available rear gear for the 80 is 4.63 I’m just a little concerned it’s too big of a split
11 isn't terrible. The greater the split, the harder it is to shift the t-case, since it will bind regularly. I know people who have done quite a bit more than that and survived.
Car weight plays a part tho too....11% on a 3000# moon buggy isn't the same result as 11% on a 4500# truggy. Weight will play a big issue in how much binding occurs and it's effects.
Higher Gear Ratio (4.88 front vs 5.29 rear for example)
Front tires spin faster pulling the rear some. Can have an affect on chassis attitude/stability/control in various situations. Especially climbing and getting the fronts up before the rear pushes under the chassis.
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