Solid Axle Swap BS Thread

I'm sorry but I'd run a 10.25/10.5 over a fab 9 any day of the week. The Sterling axle is stout and more ground clearance than the 14 bolt to boot. Plus they are dirt cheap like the 14 bolts around here. Another plus is if your running a super duty front you'll have the same bolt pattern as the front(with the 10.5). Oh and factory disc brakes in the 10.5

 

Fab 9 is going to be stronger but cost 3 times more.

Shave the 14 bolt and you have more clearance then a sterling

I agree with you on the bolt pattern and disc brakes. That would definitely be nice. But it's pretty cheap to put discs on a 14 bolt.

 

A shaved 14 will have about 1/2" over a stock Sterling. So not much gain really. I'm not sure how much a Sterling can be shaved though. Another up side is the 1410 flange on the sterling. Where on a 14 bolt you have the lovely 1350 yoke with shitty straps.

Axle choice really comes down to what's available and cheap. I know another cheap axle is the Dana 60 out of an e250. Disc brakes and 35 spline shafts, semi float is really only down side.

 

Ff 14 bolt gets my vote.. They're cheap, plentiful, huge aftermarket.. larger ring and pinion.

 

14bolt, the pinion bearing is tits and a drunk 10yr old can setup the gears. My friend shaved one where he has more tube to bottom of the diff clearnce then a d44 and he didnt touch the ring gear. Plus the after market support for the 14bolt has exploded, and you can find them in 63" wide flavor in the cab and chassis models if you dont want to go full width. Downside is the tubes will spin if you dont weld them up.

 

Thought you guys might get a kick out of this even though it isnt a Tacoma. This Ranger is on 42s right now and recently broke an adapter in a parking lot. Still pretty cool considering it is turbo'd too though...

 

Jeebus. I'd like to see the build thread for that thing. It's actually not too bad looking since it's not lifted 4 feet in addition to the tires.

 

It looks like a ranger version of rctoy's ride.

 

I'm like 99.99% sure I found the build thread, but I can't see the damn pictures.

http://www.fordrangerforum.com/project-logs/68856-tbarrs-04-a.html

 

Pretty sure that's his, that offroad park he was at in one of the pics is local. All in all the truck is pretty dang sweet, I think his latest wheel and tire choice might need a bit of a reevaluation until he can beef up the axles though.

 

Among other things...

 

Ooooh, hadn't seen that. Scary, the weight is outside the frame rails too. I thought the commentary from other members of that forum was the funniest part though. Body lifts are pretty popular there for some reason.

 

if you count that it's tall on 42's and whit then yes.

as far as all that axle BS goes i have a sterling 1.25 and a 1.5 with all the brake hardware i also have a for 9" axle but i still went with the FF14. Stronger is better than ground clearance any day. I can drag my diff over a rock but if the rear wheels aren't turning i'm shit out of luck.

 

Yea, obviously the guts are different.

 

Another vote for the 14B FF. You can shave them a little more cost effectively using a Barnes high clearance diff cover and not have to turn down the gears. That's the route I went and gained 1.25" of clearance. The shave took all of 15 minutes and I actually could have done it faster.

 

i was more meaning the faggy light bar the ford has and lack of armor.

 

Starting to collect parts for a sas with leafs. Looking for an 84-85 yota front axle, front drive shaft, 79-85 yota 4 cylinder transfer case, IFS Steering box from 86-94 toyota pickup and a t 100 oil pan if anyone has any leads or knows any deals. Been searching craigslist but you guys know your stuff over here and wouldnt mind a little help.

 

The for sale forum in on pirate4x4 is your friend. That's where i found a bunch of parts. Ih8mud has some deals as well if you know what Cruiser parts work on minitruck stuff.

 

Thanks, have been checking pirate4x4's for sale section as well. Nothing has come up yet but have only been looking for about a week.

 

I have saved a few grand so far buying used and snagging free and discounted parts from local people. You just have to have patience and not be any real time schedule.

Oh and try to find an fj60/62 front axle. You get the bigger 9.5" diff, the outers/steering use mini truck parts, and with IFS hubs the width matches the stock tacoma rear. Plus they are still relatively cheap because they aren't that popular of an axle for swaps and stuff like that.