After further inspection i found out my front 10 bolt is actually a dana 44, so i have 12 bolt rear + dana 44 front, my long term goal is to find some 14 bolts and lock them but since money doesnt grow on  trees where i live, i am going to get a mini spool for the back and maybe for the front, here is my question. If i spool the front i know it will handle like *** on the street, but i was wondering if as long as my locking hubs are on free wheel wont it handle just like the open diff  

A spool in the front will TOTALLY suck off road!!! It will guide hard and you will get a lot of torque whip in wheels turning. Even in rear it is a bit of a bear. Go with a Detroit or something if you want in rear or front but not a spool.  

Good answer from SnoMan.  The front should only have a selectable locker.  I have a detroit locker in the rear of one of my 1 Ton's and I like it off road and don't mind the wheel slip in the turns on road.  Just be carefull when on ice or snow packed roads.  

am i missing something here, my understanding was that a detroit or any other locker that isnt of the selectable variety is locked fulltime, so what is the difference other than strength, compared to a mini-spool, wouldnt it handle exactly the same as a detroit or a welded diff(which other than reliability i dont hear alot of complaining about). do detroits power wheels at different speeds in turns?   If i could i would have selectables front and rear but that would at the least cost around 1000 bucks per axel which i dont have, but for 69 bucks for a mini spool for the d44 and 86 for the 12 bolt and i can install them myself in a couple hours.  Plus all the money i will save can better be used in finding a set of corp 14 bolts.  

First off, GM never made a 14 bolt front, only rear.  The front is a Dana 60.  A detroit locker will slip in turns if the load/traction is great enough.  The truck I have the detroit locker in runs empty or light load most of the time so one rear wheel will slip on the pavment in a turn.  When a detroit locker slips you will hear a click sound.  It is like spring loaded course splines.  Personally I would not use a spool if you plan to drive on pavment.  Maybe you would want to consider a detroit E-Z locker.  It is very similar to a regular detroit locker.  Summit Racing has them listed for approx. $370.00 for the 12 bolt.  You should be able to find a 10.5 14 bolt relativly cheap, but make sure it has 4:10 or lower ratio.  The ones with 3:73 gears have a different carrier and you would need to change the carrier to switch to a 4:10 or lower ratio.  You can put the 8 bolt hubs on your D44 until you find a D60.  

The carrier break on a 14 bolt is at 4.10/4.56, not 3.73/4.10. Also even then this is not a deal stopper because you can find quality "thick" 4.56, 4.88 and 5.13 gears to use on 4.10 and down carrier. BTW, the LockRight is a tuff drop in locker that is fairly cheap and very sturdy.  

Snoman! Did you actually just give a mild endorsement for an automatic locker? I am proud of you.
Spools and lockers are totally different. Spools are locked 100% of the time, and you will NOT like it.
An automatic locker can be locked and unlocked by judicious and inteligent use of the throttle. I've got an ARB/Detroit in my Dodge and dual detroits in my Wrangler. There is a mild learning curve for a locker equiped rig on the street, but it is not particularly difficult.  

you said in a previous thread i started that the powertrax lockright (lunch box locker people refer to them as) was junk.  A friend was telling me that most 14 bolts come standard with 4.56's.  Also, what is a good price for a 14 bolt or d60, and how much is too much, i seen a 14 bolt in our local paper 2 weeks ago for 150 bucks which seems like a smoking deal but i didnt jump on it and im sure it is sold already.  

79tubeblzr:
you said in a previous thread i started that the powertrax lockright (lunch box locker people refer to them as) was junk.  A friend was telling me that most 14 bolts come standard with 4.56's.  Also, what is a good price for a 14 bolt or d60, and how much is too much, i seen a 14 bolt in our local paper 2 weeks ago for 150 bucks which seems like a smoking deal but i didnt jump on it and im sure it is sold already.

Let me clear the air a bit here. Myself personally, I do not like replacement type lockers or Detroit style ones because I like to be able to fully power wheels in turn at differing speeds as the lockers mentioned above are 2wd same speed or 1wd with outside faster wheel coasting. But, compared to a spool, they are a BIG improvement! In a front axle a spool would be wicked to live with. Wheels would not be able to turn different speeds in a turn and it would effect guiding plus Ujoints are not constant speed in a turn so there would be a extreme amount of torque wrap up in the drive axle and steering will be tight and lots of feed back under high torque conditions and increased turning radius too as well as greatly increased likely hood of broken axles and Ujonts in front axle from severe torque bind. To me the only locker I would ever use would be a selectable one. Next your friend was wrong about most 14 bolts came with 4.56's. 4.56 was standard in old one tons but 4.10 is the most common with 3.73 next then 4.56 then 5.13. The 14 bolt is a very strong axle and above a D60 in strength. It was born in 1973 as a replacement easier to make and more modern replacement for the old Eaton Rockwell HO52/72 12 inch rear axle that GM had been using for many years. This axle was really tuff and I have personally never seen one busted. They only came in two ratios, 4.57 (yes not 4.56) and 5.14 (yes not 5.13). 4.56 was standard on 3/4 tons and 5.14 on 1 tons. If you are looking for a very strong OEM rear axle a HO72 would be a very good choice. Far above a D60 and above a 14 bolt too and D70 as well and maybe a D80 too. (I would place a 14 bolt and D70 close together in strength) The HO72 did have a Detroit locker available for it and it has a removable pumpkin and a large fully welded rear housing so it is easy to ID. It is a massive looking rear axle. This baby even had a thrust pad to prevent ring gear/carrier distortion or deflection under extreme starting loads! (this is something that you only saw in VERY serious truck axles back then)  

So this HO72 sounds like a very good axel, i have never heard of it or ever seen it used in a truck in any magazine either, is it a rare find, and how much am i looking at for one at a salvage yard?  So i should be looking for pre 73 3/4 and 1 ton gm trucks. Also a buddy was saying when i go to check out some salvage yards to look for a wrecked chevy z71 rear end as they have a mechanical locker, what do you think of these units?  One more question about the powertrax type lockers, im thinking these would be kind of like having posi but better as the wheel with the most traction spins even in turns instead of only 25% power. And by the way thanks a ton, you cleared up some big misconceptions and probably some big headaches.  

I know there are up to 5:38 gears available for the 4:10 carrier, but I didn't know the break was 4:10/4:56, so thank you for that information.

I have one of those Eaton rear ends in my 71 Chevy 3/4T and I wouldn't want to trade it for anything.  I just didn't think there was currently any other gear options or lockers for it.  I would like to know where to find gears and lockers for the Eaton.  

79tubeblzr:
So this HO72 sounds like a very good axel, i have never heard of it or ever seen it used in a truck in any magazine either, is it a rare find, and how much am i looking at for one at a salvage yard?  So i should be looking for pre 73 3/4 and 1 ton gm trucks. Also a buddy was saying when i go to check out some salvage yards to look for a wrecked chevy z71 rear end as they have a mechanical locker, what do you think of these units?  One more question about the powertrax type lockers, im thinking these would be kind of like having posi but better as the wheel with the most traction spins even in turns instead of only 25% power. And by the way thanks a ton, you cleared up some big misconceptions and probably some big headaches.

Those HO72 rear axles were used from 50's up thru 72. It is built like a anvil. The reason you do not see them mentioned is because there is no after market gears for them to speak off and they are either 4.57 or 5.14. On more thing, they have a center mounted pinion rather than low mounted one like on a modern rear axle so they work better with lifts. YOu will have to likely weld some perches on axle for springs but no big deal. On Z71, I am not aware of any Z71 having a mech locker in them ever. Some Z71'a had a 9.5 inch 14 bolt semi floater which no only is stronger but has a bigger carrier and stronger GovLoc because of it and this might be where this mech locker rumor started.  

wow you guys really know whats going on in the world of trucks i'm glad i came upon this site. this info will help me also when i start my hunt for axles.  

Is there any way to put 6 lug axles in a 14 bolt rearend? I would like to keep my tires and wheels that I already have. Thanks in advance  

rugerone:
Is there any way to put 6 lug axles in a 14 bolt rearend? I would like to keep my tires and wheels that I already have. Thanks in advance



No easy way or practical way with a 14 bot 10.5 rear axle but it is real easy to do with a 14 bolt 9.5 rear axle and they can be found with 6 and 8 lug hubs and only require axle shaft change to change bolt pattern. This is not possible on 10.5 14 bolt