Quote:
Originally Posted by chris989
Therein lies my problem.
While reading some internet forums I thought the AAM was was a different axle. The post must have been talking about the Ford/dodge axles compared to GM.
I currently run a 9.5 SF with 4.56 gears,, It is in a small block suburban with 35s and does well. It is not a crawler or high HP build. I had a 14bolt before and decided not to use it due to ground clearance. I was considering the new axle for the disk brakes.
Thanks for the help.
Chris
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Eventually the 9.5 Semi-Foating will probably force the issue. They aren't noted for longevity and 35" tires will not help even if you just drive it.
The difference is the outer axle bearings. The SINGLE 9.5" bearing is noticeably smaller than the full floating pair of taper roller hub bearings. The 9.5" diff bearings are somewhat smaller as well but that's not as big a deal as the single bearing hub end.
The difference between a single parallel roller bearing that's transferring some of the load to the diff and C-Clip and the pair of much larger taper roller bearings riding on the outside of the full floating axle bolted to the hub is the full floating hub and the big axle tube take up all of the side load from the tires with no load being transferred to the diff along the big fulcrum called a semi floating axle. This is what makes the 10.5 & 11.5 so much tougher.
The differential itself isn't the problem. If GM had made the 9.5 full floating with two taper roller bearings riding on the outside of the axle tube inside a hub it would easily put up with 35" tires.
IIRC the 9.5 & 10.5 14bolt center castings are similar in size. It's been a while since I had a 9.5 to look at tho.
I can't see where the 9.5 would have significantly more ground clearance than the 10.5" axle. I would think that the 35" tires would make a larger difference in ground clearance than going to a 1" larger 14bolt axle.
The pinion and diff bearings are larger but those are on the center-line of the axle. 1" larger ring gear diameter is 1/2" larger on the radius... this means the OD of the ring gear is only 1/2" further from the center-line of the axles at any given point around the circumference. That might or might not translate to a larger housing.
The contact face of the pinion gear is larger but that's from the center-line of the axle again so it won't affect ground clearance.
The larger axles do also have larger pinion yokes so you'll need to mod your propshaft to mate with it. Either a hybrid Universal joint or cut and weld a new larger yoke onto the shaft or get a propshaft from a full floating truck.
This is a semi floater compared to a big truck full floater with a bolt in spindle rather than a machined axle tube but it does graphically show the difference.
