The Lone Ranger – Kage’s ’94 X-Cab Leaf SAS and Bed Bob

[Kage]

unsure who makes it but saw it on 4x4 extreme where they but a 14 bolt into a rig & they installed a kit that would allow for more clearance. You would have to cut the pumpkin & weld in a plate & have the ring gears outer edge ground down. I beleive it allowed for 2" of clearance.

Ballistic Fabrication

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I don't think I'd ever send any money their way, and for what it is, its retarded simple to shave one

It's cheaper and easier to just run a Sterling or D70 to get the same clearance stock along with the same strength. 14 bolt is a damn boat anchor.

I lost all of 3/4" of ground clearance going from my rear D60 to the 14 bolt. Really isn't a big deal at all, though I can see if you were running less than 37" tall tires how it could be an issue.

about the only advantage I see for the 14 bolt is the rear pinion bearing behind the gear which no other rearend has that I know of???? I have a 76 F250 & have broke 3 D60 rears due to HP at the rear & lift kit. WAs thinking of looking for a sterling or D80 from a newer Dodge truck

You're forgetting a few other benefits. Cost (you can pick up a 4.56 14 bolts for $150, often with a locker), big ole stock shafts, Removable Pinion (which makes it real easy to put a pinion gaurd on it), and disc brakes can be done for about $200.

Bang for the buck, its damn hard to beat the 14 bolt.

It has a pinion support, it is worth the extra weight for the extra beef. I shaved mine for free, I now have a 13 bolt.

Ditto, of all the things on the truck, the 14 bolt is the one item that I have zero worries about breaking. I've held off on shaving mine as I was worried about leakage afterwards, and it wouldn't gain me that much extra clearance due to my pinion angle.

The "14 bolts are boat anchors" comments rate right up there with "Radius arms will unload and kill nuns" comments in my experience. Usually when I get hung up, its not solely the 14 bolts fault, its the conbination of sitting solidy on both Diffs

No photos yet (Forgot my dang camera) but we went out this past weekend to Washita. The truck did well, and even managed to make it home under its own power. I have manged to roach both motor mounts again, so once I get those swapped out it'll be ready for SMORR here soon.

 

[Josh40601]

Are you going with the 4L ruff stuff poly mounts? Did you chain your engine down? I can't remember.

14 bolts are nice. I prefer a 9" over them, but you have to put a little money in them to get them to the strength level of a 14. And their 5x5.5, so there is another downfall for them. But I like'em

 

[cdawall]

Bang for the buck, its damn hard to beat the 14 bolt.

I think the E350 D60 is damn close. Stock with 32 spline shafts and 35 spline shafts fit without machining the hubs (the 32 spline are damn beefy still). 99+ factory disk brakes, master cylinder is also bolt in. Heavy tubes and the pinion flange bolts straight to the stock rear shaft. Has the speed sensor plug as well.

Does have a major downsides depending on what you are doing with it. The only locker for 32 splines is welding.

I lost all of 3/4" of ground clearance going from my rear D60 to the 14 bolt. Really isn't a big deal at all, though I can see if you were running less than 37" tall tires how it could be an issue.



You're forgetting a few other benefits. Cost (you can pick up a 4.56 14 bolts for $150, often with a locker), big ole stock shafts, Removable Pinion (which makes it real easy to put a pinion gaurd on it), and disc brakes can be done for about $200.

3/4" is still clearance and the D60 can be shaved a bit to make that more like 1-1.5". FF D60's are damn strong as long as the crap 30 spline shafts get tossed. However holy hell is the 14B strong stock

The "14 bolts are boat anchors" comments rate right up there with "Radius arms will unload and kill nuns" comments in my experience. Usually when I get hung up, its not solely the 14 bolts fault, its the conbination of sitting solidy on both Diffs

I have no issues with them. Honestly its rare for people to get stuck on a 3/4" difference. I just prefer the sterling and dana axles over it. It is very common to watch 14B drag over damn near everything when they are out wheeling

 

[Kage]

Are you going with the 4L ruff stuff poly mounts? Did you chain your engine down? I can't remember.

I have the Ruff Stuff mounts, but I have not installed them as it looks like a royal pain to get the motor side mount off of the 4.0 on the Drivers side. And I had read through Bray's saga of trying to get them to work in his truck so I put off messing with them. I will probably give them a go after the SMORR run since I probably need to redo the tranny mount at the same time.

The motor is chained down, it just bends the bracket I'm using to attach the chain to

I think the E350 D60 is damn close. Stock with 32 spline shafts and 35 spline shafts fit without machining the hubs (the 32 spline are damn beefy still). 99+ factory disk brakes, master cylinder is also bolt in. Heavy tubes and the pinion flange bolts straight to the stock rear shaft. Has the speed sensor plug as well.

Does have a major downsides depending on what you are doing with it. The only locker for 32 splines is welding.

Yup, I had a '99 E350 D60 under this truck in the first version. I didn't want to weld the end (too much street time for that), and about the only locker options were to go ARB at $1k, or 35 spline shafts and swap out the carrier (about $1k that way too). So in the end, I just traded it off.

...3/4" is still clearance and the D60 can be shaved a bit to make that more like 1-1.5". FF D60's are damn strong as long as the crap 30 spline shafts get tossed. However holy hell is the 14B strong stock

I have no issues with them. Honestly its rare for people to get stuck on a 3/4" difference. I just prefer the sterling and dana axles over it. It is very common to watch 14B drag over damn near everything when they are out wheeling

If I needed a speed sensor connection, I would have gone with a steriling, since I didn't, the cheaper option seemed better

 

[Kage]

7th Offroad trip - Washita Mx:

I didn't have my camera, but my friend grabbed a few with his phone. Minimal damage for me this trip out (Broken door handle, and roached motor mounts). The CJ that was with us managed to sheaer the bolts off his high steer arm on the back side of the park, so we made a long afternoon of dragging him back out. Turned out to not be that big of an ordeal, but it took some time:

Travel:

Group Shot:

Videos:








Link to all the photos

I'm ready for SMORR!

 

[RangerSVT]

Looks like you had a good time. I count down the days til SVT is done so i can go wheelin again...

SVT

 

[Kage]

Looks like you had a good time. I count down the days til SVT is done so i can go wheelin again...

SVT

Quit goofing around with V8 swaps and get it going again then!

 

[RangerSVT]

I am, just little by little. Got the hydroboost hooked up, only thing left is trans mount, charge shocks, driveshafts installed, and relocate battery to bed

SVT

 

[Kage]

8th Off Road Trip SMORR for SIJA JJ 5/5/12​

The wife and I made the trek down to SMORR for the 2012 Jeep Jam put on by SIJA, which was also occurred the same time that the Ford Invasion was going on. We covered 13 miles in the park mostly running around on trails that I hadn’t been on before (some 2’s and 3’s with some 4’s for good measure).​

Since the wife came along, that means that there are some photos of the truck for a change.​

We headed out from Hartville Mo early Saturday to wander over to the park:

Travel:

Wound up bending the inner bead on a wheel while playing ‘rock hopper’. I’m hoping some video show’s up as supposedly I had all four tires in the air at one point.

Pit Crew working on a downed XJ:

Videos (click on the picture):
​

​

We wound up quitting for the day mid afternoon due to the XJ blowing apart his pinion on Larry’s hill. Other than that, it was a pretty good trip with the truck performing decently (tires and gears are on my list of wants). I’ve got some cooling issues that I need to sort out (Truck seems to be running way hotter than it should, even on the highway).​

Link to all the photos. (Clicky)​

 

[Kage]

3rd Road trip to Ha Ha Tonka State Park 5/6/12

Since we were near SMORR, the wife wanted to go check out the castle ruins in Ha Ha Tonka State park. So after a hearty breakfast at Coops Cafe (next to the Americas Best Inn in Seymour – Both are recommended), we turned the truck north to the park.

Heading to the Park:

Park hikes:

Castle Photos:

Spring Photos:

Link to all the photos (Clikcy)

The castle is worth the time to walk up to if you’re in the area, pretty neat!

 

[Josh40601]

Looks like a frickin blast! Man I can't wait to get the yellow truck out again!

 

[brinker88]

Man I wish I had trails like that close to home.

 

[Kage]

Looks like a frickin blast! Man I can't wait to get the yellow truck out again!

Wut wait? Make up your damn mind what you're going to do with that truck. You're worse than me when it comes to flip-flopping on ideas

Man I wish I had trails like that close to home.

SMORR's not really a close drive, but its still doable as a day trip. It's 4hrs one way from where I'm sitting, where most of the other parks are 2-2.5 hours out. Well worth the drive though as they have enough 'easy' stuff to take it easy on, or 'hard' stuff that'll easily dump you on your lid

 

[escort_gts]

What is this that you use? Is it an app for a phone or what?

 

[Josh40601]

Wut wait? Make up your damn mind what you're going to do with that truck. You're worse than me when it comes to flip-flopping on ideas

Get with the times brother! The ranger will be wheeled again. It won't see the caliber trails I'll take the Explorer on, but it will still hit some dirt.