ramv
Full Member
Not a one ton axle in this generation. The 1 tons got the 11.5" AAM, along with all 8.1 and diesel pickups. Only the Avalanche and Suburban 2500s and 6.0 2500HDs got the 10.5" axle. Same with '03+ Dodges. 2500s with Hemis, V10s and STD output Cummins got the 10.5" AAM (different housing then ours) and HO Cummins and all 3500s got the 11.5"
Go to the junkyard, there are plenty of older (last generation) 3/4 and one tons with 14 bolts. Lots of bent axles in the duallys, especially the C&C. It's a cast housing with relatively thin axle tubes and quite a bit weaker than other axles with regards to bending. The third pinion bearing and unique spline cut,shape and alloy of the axle shafts make it very resistant to torque failure (not counting the G80/Gov lok which tends to blow up, especially when the axle is bent).
GM ran Dana 70s prior to the AAM 11.5" being developed in a lot of heavy payload applications. They have heavier housings and tend to stand up to load better. However I think the 14 bolt is less likely to break a ring and pinion or axle shaft. (Since I have a collection of broken Dana 70 shafts along with a few ring and pinions around the house and have never seen a broken 14 bolt shaft or r+p). Motorhomes and a lot of crew cab duallys got the Dana 70. Some in the late 90s got the 14 bolt, but I only saw that in 454 trucks and not 6.5 TD. (Not saying it didn't happen their specs are really varied) I have even seen a few mid 90s SRW with Dana 70s.
The highest rear axle GAWR I have seen on the (AAM 10.5) 14 bolt is 7500 lb and that was only on previous generation duallys. All of 2001+ are rated to a max of 6084 lb but that is tire limited. I have seen 8600 lb ratings on the D70.
Regardless, in an Avalanche or Suburban, I can't see hurting the rear axle without spacers. 2" on either side is a bit scarey in my opinion. Its the same as going to a wheel with around 3" of backspacing which I wouldn't do either. I have hauled well over 3000 lb of rock in the back of mine and scale around 6000 lb on the rear axle with some of the trailers I tow, so I personally don't want to chance bending it. That would ruin my day.
Edit: I did a little research. There is a lot of different observed thcikness of tubes on the 14 bolt, by gnerally speaking they are about 3/8" and have a diameter of 3 3/8" The standard Dana 70 had 3.5" tubes with 1/2" thickness and the Dana 70HD (which is used on most duallies) had 4" tubes with 0.5" thickness. They ahad a 10,0000 lb GAWR. The standard 70s are 8600 lb IIRC.
So I wouldn't call the 14 bolt 10.5" a one ton axle. However its very suited to 3/4 ton use especially in lower torque vehicles such as gas powered. I personally think its a good compromise since the 11.5" hangs down further and has more rotating mass. I am sure you can get away with wheel spacers and not have any problems, but it definitely is loading the axle outside of the factory specs in its more likely to fail mode.
Go to the junkyard, there are plenty of older (last generation) 3/4 and one tons with 14 bolts. Lots of bent axles in the duallys, especially the C&C. It's a cast housing with relatively thin axle tubes and quite a bit weaker than other axles with regards to bending. The third pinion bearing and unique spline cut,shape and alloy of the axle shafts make it very resistant to torque failure (not counting the G80/Gov lok which tends to blow up, especially when the axle is bent).
GM ran Dana 70s prior to the AAM 11.5" being developed in a lot of heavy payload applications. They have heavier housings and tend to stand up to load better. However I think the 14 bolt is less likely to break a ring and pinion or axle shaft. (Since I have a collection of broken Dana 70 shafts along with a few ring and pinions around the house and have never seen a broken 14 bolt shaft or r+p). Motorhomes and a lot of crew cab duallys got the Dana 70. Some in the late 90s got the 14 bolt, but I only saw that in 454 trucks and not 6.5 TD. (Not saying it didn't happen their specs are really varied) I have even seen a few mid 90s SRW with Dana 70s.
The highest rear axle GAWR I have seen on the (AAM 10.5) 14 bolt is 7500 lb and that was only on previous generation duallys. All of 2001+ are rated to a max of 6084 lb but that is tire limited. I have seen 8600 lb ratings on the D70.
Regardless, in an Avalanche or Suburban, I can't see hurting the rear axle without spacers. 2" on either side is a bit scarey in my opinion. Its the same as going to a wheel with around 3" of backspacing which I wouldn't do either. I have hauled well over 3000 lb of rock in the back of mine and scale around 6000 lb on the rear axle with some of the trailers I tow, so I personally don't want to chance bending it. That would ruin my day.
Edit: I did a little research. There is a lot of different observed thcikness of tubes on the 14 bolt, by gnerally speaking they are about 3/8" and have a diameter of 3 3/8" The standard Dana 70 had 3.5" tubes with 1/2" thickness and the Dana 70HD (which is used on most duallies) had 4" tubes with 0.5" thickness. They ahad a 10,0000 lb GAWR. The standard 70s are 8600 lb IIRC.
So I wouldn't call the 14 bolt 10.5" a one ton axle. However its very suited to 3/4 ton use especially in lower torque vehicles such as gas powered. I personally think its a good compromise since the 11.5" hangs down further and has more rotating mass. I am sure you can get away with wheel spacers and not have any problems, but it definitely is loading the axle outside of the factory specs in its more likely to fail mode.
