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Polishing a turd...throwing money at 14 bolts

redneckengineered

redneckengineered

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Jun 1, 2020
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The Land of High Horsepower and Low IQ
This is for rockyota83 making 14 bolt tech great again...

Did this build about two years ago but figured the new board might want to see it. After my wife bent a spindle for the second time on her 1st gen 14 bolt I was over it. Decided to see how much money I could spend on one to make one throttle proof. Obviously 1.5" axle shafts, spindles, and 3.5" axle tubes are for haters and losers. So the plan was to start with 4" tubes, unit bearings, and 40 spline and go from there. ECGS is a great company which I support so I decided to use them for the build. My partner and I run Diddy's Big Block Race Shop which is a big Mark Williams dealer and we personally worked with MW to develop these parts and bring them to market. I also happen to think they are the best. Full disclosure.

ECGS was not handling MW at the time but they agreed to take on the build. We settled on ECGS's fully shaved, 4" 3/8" wall tubing 14 bolt. I shipped them weld cups, brake parts, 40 spline chromoly spool, billet yoke, and redrilled unit bearings and let them work their magic. A little while later this showed up.

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Where's the tech? Take this shit to noob :flipoff2:

But really, tha'ts hawt
 
Looks like a killer axle to me! It looks like the tubes were welded to the housing with regular MIG wire though while the shave plate got stainless or nickel? Curious on that. I would personally prefer standard 1/2 ton chevy calipers and some type of standard(ish) rotors as well, but I get it. Again, looks like a great axle that I'd be proud to have under my rig! Mark Williams is top notch...
 
With the help of my friend and business partner Chris wizzo (chief fab guy, shock tuner, master rewirerererer, and expert in all things) the installation was pretty simple. He was able to cut the truss off the old axle to reuse and I had ordered new shock, suspension and swaybar tabs from WOD so it all went together quickly.

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The last thing to come together was to install axle shafts. ECGS sent me shaft measurements so I had a set of 40 spline 300m shafts whipped up by Mark that are works of art. The weld cups, drive flange pucks, shafts and retaining rings are a whole system designed by MW to work together and is really trick and clean. Weld cups also include a built in seal so you can forget about the headache of coming up with a sealing solution.

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The ECGS shaved 14 has more clearance than her front HP60 which measured 13.5". The only thing about the whole build that I am a little disappointed in is the 14 bolt shave. The bottom bolt plate is already beat up and slightly leaking. Oh well. So over my 14 bolt career I've had no shave, 13 bolt shave, and full shave with plate and the only one that has turned out to be 100% bombproof is no shave. Moral of the story, keep it simple let that ditch digger do its thing, fuck it!

Parts used in build...
Housing - https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/c-1206371-complete-axle-assemblies-chevy-gm-14-bolt.html
ABS block off - https://markwilliams.com/50289.html
Brakes - https://markwilliams.com/71900.html
UB redrill - https://markwilliams.com/50299.html
40 spline spool - https://markwilliams.com/14b-spl-40.html
Yoke - https://www.markwilliams.com/39083.html
Weld cups - https://www.markwilliams.com/50295.html
Shafts and drive flange kit - https://www.markwilliams.com/50265.html
 
DesertCJ said:
Looks like a killer axle to me! It looks like the tubes were welded to the housing with regular MIG wire though while the shave plate got stainless or nickel? Curious on that. I would personally prefer standard 1/2 ton chevy calipers and some type of standard(ish) rotors as well, but I get it. Again, looks like a great axle that I'd be proud to have under my rig! Mark Williams is top notch...
Click to expand...

You'd have to ask ECGS but that's how we've always done it in the holler so it's all good with me. That's the 1st upgrade to a junkyard 1st gen housing around here, hit the tubes with the mig to keep them from spinning. Really the welds to the housing are secondary anyway, I know some places send retubed 14 bolts out the door with plug welds only.
 
That’s awesome. The seals in the bearings cups is killer. I had a great experience with Mark Williams unlike branik which is allergic to the regular guys money.
 
redneckengineered said:
The last thing to come together was to install axle shafts. ECGS sent me shaft measurements so I had a set of 40 spline 300m shafts whipped up by Mark that are works of art. The weld cups, drive flange pucks, shafts and retaining rings are a whole system designed by MW to work together and is really trick and clean. Weld cups also include a built in seal so you can forget about the headache of coming up with a sealing solution.
Click to expand...

so if i understand correctly the seal in the bearing keeps the drive slug dry and you dont rely on the drive cover to keep the oil in?
 
redneckengineered said:
The ECGS shaved 14 has more clearance than her front HP60 which measured 13.5". The only thing about the whole build that I am a little disappointed in is the 14 bolt shave. The bottom bolt plate is already beat up and slightly leaking. Oh well. So over my 14 bolt career I've had no shave, 13 bolt shave, and full shave with plate and the only one that has turned out to be 100% bombproof is no shave. Moral of the story, keep it simple let that ditch digger do its thing, fuck it!

Parts used in build...
Housing - https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/c-12...m-14-bolt.html
ABS block off - https://markwilliams.com/50289.html
Brakes - https://markwilliams.com/71900.html
UB redrill - https://markwilliams.com/50299.html
40 spline spool - https://markwilliams.com/14b-spl-40.html
Yoke - https://www.markwilliams.com/39083.html
Weld cups - https://www.markwilliams.com/50295.html
Shafts and drive flange kit - https://www.markwilliams.com/50265.html
Click to expand...

What's the reason behind not liking the 13 bolt? Leaking I assume? Asking because I have a 13 bolt cover on my axle.....just haven't shaved the housing yet(still being built).
 
redneckengineered said:
You'd have to ask ECGS but that's how we've always done it in the holler so it's all good with me. That's the 1st upgrade to a junkyard 1st gen housing around here, hit the tubes with the mig to keep them from spinning. Really the welds to the housing are secondary anyway, I know some places send retubed 14 bolts out the door with plug welds only.
Click to expand...

Not knocking it. Just asked because it's interesting to me. I TIG welded my tubes to the housing on mine with 309L ss filler. I'd say time for you to throttle down but if you're denting the shave plate it sounds like you already have been!
 
redneckengineered said:
The ECGS shaved 14 has more clearance than her front HP60 which measured 13.5". The only thing about the whole build that I am a little disappointed in is the 14 bolt shave. The bottom bolt plate is already beat up and slightly leaking. Oh well. So over my 14 bolt career I've had no shave, 13 bolt shave, and full shave with plate and the only one that has turned out to be 100% bombproof is no shave. Moral of the story, keep it simple let that ditch digger do its thing, fuck it!

Parts used in build...
Housing - https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/c-1206371-complete-axle-assemblies-chevy-gm-14-bolt.html
ABS block off - https://markwilliams.com/50289.html
Brakes - https://markwilliams.com/71900.html
UB redrill - https://markwilliams.com/50299.html
40 spline spool - https://markwilliams.com/14b-spl-40.html
Yoke - https://www.markwilliams.com/39083.html
Weld cups - https://www.markwilliams.com/50295.html
Shafts and drive flange kit - https://www.markwilliams.com/50265.html
Click to expand...

I wonder if you welded a piece of 1/4" AR plate underneath and ran it beyond the seal surface a little if that would help?
 
YotaAtieToo said:
I wonder if you welded a piece of 1/4" AR plate underneath and ran it beyond the seal surface a little if that would help?
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yep, i bet once the pinion is rotated to where it is supposed to be rocks are running along the shave and grab the diff cover trying to rip if off.
 
On my first full shave I made an AR plate skid to add to the new bottom piece. Second shave I did I used the skid from Ballistic Fab. It had to be trimmed some to get the carrier installed but worked good with the bent up lip in the back. Neither leaked in the 2-3 years I ran each of them before selling.
 
love this 14b build :grinpimp: if i was to build a 14b this is pretty much exactly how i would do it:smokin:

and yotaatietoo is correct, weld a piece of ar to the bottom so the bottom hangs down below the diff cover and it will greatly reduce it leaking, ive had to do this to all my diff covers, mandatory that the cover is up above the bottom of the diff or they leak

i bet jr4x wouldnt break this 14b :flipoff2:
 
another thing to mention is that ECGS has brand new never used 14b diffs so anyone wanting to build a brand new 14b without using a junkyard donor you can and not have to go with a drop out 3rd style 14b:smokin:
 
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rockyota83 said:
love this 14b build :grinpimp: if i was to build a 14b this is pretty much exactly how i would do it:smokin:

and yotaatietoo is correct, weld a piece of ar to the bottom so the bottom hangs down below the diff cover and it will greatly reduce it leaking, ive had to do this to all my diff covers, mandatory that the cover is up above the bottom of the diff or they leak

i bet jr4x wouldnt break this 14b :flipoff2:
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I was thinking about running it past the mating surface~1/4" I would think it would be damn near impossible to bend 1/4" AR with only a 1/4" hanging out there, especially when it would be resting on the cover.
 
I bought a Ballistic Fab shave kit back when I built my buggy and never used it. I didn't trust the welds holding up for the life of the axle with all of the beating that area takes. I only did a slight angle trim on the lip and the rocks have taken most of the rest of it.

I like the idea of covering it with AR plate but I wonder if the plate will eventually break at the weld like I have seen other hard steel do. I know that a professional welder could probably make it live but my welding skills couldn't.
 
mobil1syn said:
yep, i bet once the pinion is rotated to where it is supposed to be rocks are running along the shave and grab the diff cover trying to rip if off.
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I envision a piece of AR that travels past the cover mating surface, protecting the cover from wanting to be peeled off.

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