14 bolt ff vs D70

[westsidek20]

Hi everyone,

I'm swapping my 10 bolt front for a D60, the guy I'm buying the D60 from is giving me a good deal for the D60 front and a D70 back for $550.

I currently have a 14 FF and thinking of swapping the rear for the D70 because it has the same gear ratio of the D60 (4.88) I am planning on running big tires on it 40's maybe, so if I do the swap I wouldn't have to invest in changing gears on the 14FF.

I've read in different forums crossed ideas about the 14FF being stronger and parts being cheaper vs a higher ground clearance and some say stronger axle the D70.

What info can you guys provide?
What's better, keeping and investing on the 14 or swapping for the D70?

[Engineer]

I have never ran a D70, but the 14-bolt FF has held up for years in my '77 Chevy K-30 sled puller.

You are probably doing the right thing using the 70 since the 70's gears match your front. However, if I were building from the ground up I'd use the 14-bolt FF every time.

The 70 has a .040" larger ring gear, but the 14-bolt has a third pinion bearing, so from an engineering standpoint the 14-bolt get the nod in the strength department. But essentially I'd say strength in the real world is a wash.

Gears in the 14-bolt FF are WAY easier to set up if you have to change them.

[Captkaos]

I would use the 14FF, due to the 3rd bearing.  What did the 70 come out of?

[westsidek20]

I'm not shure, really didn't think of it until you mentioned it, i guess i was so excited just to have found a D60, they are not common around here and the ones i have found are very expensive, since $550 just for the D60 is a good deal to me, getting both axles was incredible.

The guy selling me the axles was doing a rockcrawler project and wasn't able to complete the build, he mentioned that they should bolt right up on the Chevy ( he's an experienced builder)

I'm really leaning towards the 14FF the problem is more money for the gears and I'm shure that once I'm there, I'm going to want to ad a locker to it (even more money! Lol)
A plus side on the 14FF there's more parts if I break something and they are cheaper then the parts for a D70.

I wanted to know if there was a really good reason to place the D70, not just because it had the gears. You think the 14FF is equally as strong as a D 70?

[bigchevyc30]

well i would think since right now its is cheaper to run the 70 then why dont you do that till you get your gears and locker for ur 14ff so as then you will be able to still drive your truck even when you replace your gears in the 14ff.

[Captkaos]

If it will fit, I would run it.  or see if you can sell it for enough to get the 14FF to match.

[westsidek20]

I'll try and get more info within the week and post updates.
I browsed in YouTube and found a couple of K5 using the D70.

[pholliday1]

Big Chev hit the nail right on the head. Run the dana 70 now, that will give u time to setup the 14ff. The locker your after for the rear is way cheaper for the 14 than the 70. Unless your running 44's or bigger the strength issue is a mute point. Iv'e setup many differentials and the 14ff is cake compared to the 70. Just a guess but the most common rig with 60/70 danas are the Dodge pickups.Is your 60 a kingpin style axle?

[fitz]

Is the Dana 60 from a chevy?
Is it a SRW or DRW?
The only D60's around my way that sell that cheap are the DRW's.
Also make sure to get the front sway bar plates if you can.

[westsidek20]

Well guys I guess this is another "to good to be true" scenario ,
Went to see the axles, popped the lid, found out they weren't the gear ratio I expected, so the D70 is out, I'm keeping the 14ff and will change gears on it ( which isn't so bad, I think that's the better path)
Now the D60 is a DRW, what advice can you give me?

[pholliday1]

Sell it. Have different dually rims for the front then the back or swap out the front hub housing to srw, none of those it what you wanted to hear sorry

[westsidek20]

I'm going to work with the D60 and the 14 ff.
I've been reading about cutting/shaving the DRW to turn it into SRW.