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Story & photos by Tim & Mike Rogers – TMR Customs
Are you running or dreaming of running a 14 Bolt axle under your rig? Follow along as we detail how you can achieve near Dana 44 clearance with nothing more than simple hand tools and a weekend worth of fabrication. Our TMR Customs “15 Bolt Conversion” will provide you with nearly 2-in. of additional clearance, the equivalent of moving up 4-in. in tire size!
The full float 14 Bolt rear axle is a great choice for both weekend wheelers and competition rigs. It’s cheap, incredibly strong, readily available and has tons of aftermarket support. There is however, one major drawback, it has terrible ground clearance. The 14 Bolt has a huge lip on the bottom of the housing, leaving it prone to snagging every rock on the trail and stopping you dead in your tracks.
The TMR Customs 14 Bolt Shave Kit comes with everything you need to cure your clearance issues. The kit consists of a bottom plate that welds onto your housing, a secondary plate that welds onto your existing diff cover and a detailed step-by-step instruction manual.
Step 1 - Mark the housing at the proper cut height based on the instruction manual, then cut the housing down using your preferred cutting method. We use a porta-band saw as it makes quick work of the housing. Many of our customers have used band saws or angle grinders to achieve the same result.
Step 2 - Bolt your existing differential cover to the diff, and cut the diff cover down to match the cut height of your modified housing. Again, we use a porta-band saw to make the cut.
Step 3 - Machine down your ring gear as per the instruction manual if desired. We offer two versions of our shave kit. One that requires ring gear machining and one that does not. For those of you with easy machine shop access we recommend the ring gear shave to achieve maximum ground clearance. For those of you without machine shop access and possibly a tighter budget, you can skip the machining of the ring gear.
Step 4 - Bolt the two plates together and properly locate them on the modified diff cover and housing. After achieving proper alignment, the plates are welded to the housing and diff cover by closely following the details in the instruction manual.
Step 5 – After welding, a proper cool down of the housing is required. At the shop, we simply wrap it in welding blankets, and allow it to cool down over a period of several hours. Another common method of cooling used by our customers is to submerge the housing in play sand.
Step 6 - After the housing has cooled overnight, it’s time to unwrap it and take a look at your handy work. You can now reinstall the ring and pinion set as per the manufacturers instructions, and seal the housing. We recommend Permatex “Right Stuff” gasket maker for a leak free seal.
With nothing more than our $149.95 Shave Kit, hand tools, and a weekend’s worth of work you now have more clearance than a Dana 60 and loads more strength. Time to take your new “TMR Customs 15 Bolt Axle” out on the trails and put it to the test!