Found a used rear end for $250

[Torque Junkie]

at the local pick your part.  It's the complete axle assembly w/ differential, without the axle shafts

 

My question is, is how hard would it be to swap the axles (and put bigger lift blocks under there while I"m at it) and then put my old axle shafts in there.

 

Thanks!

 

-Mike

[Guest]

As far as Ive ever seen, anything involving axles is a pain in the ass... Do yourself a favor... Spend some money to save time and stress and take it to someone who does it for a living.. :thumb:

[MountaineerTom]

I had the axle shafts out of my '91 2wd once, and it was very easy to do.  Just a couple c-clips were all the really held it in.  Not sure what the difference in your truck, being older and 4x4, would be.

 

Pick up a Haynes manual for your year.  The one I had for my '91 covered it really well.

[Torque Junkie]

Pick up a Haynes manual for your year.  The one I had for my '91 covered it really well.

Cool, thanks. In fact, I own a Haynes for it I just forgot I had it until you mentioned it, LOL!

 

Randy - I stil havn't ruled that out yet either

 

-Mike

[Larry]

Oookay…what kind of rear axle is it?   A semi-floating 10 bolt, 12 bolt, 8.5” ring gear, 9.5” ring gear or a 14 bolt full-floater????  An axle housing missing the axle shafts is not considered complete axle nor is it a good deal especially if it is only a semi-floater.

 

If the axle is for your 79’ Chevy K10 the best thing you can do is ditch the originally equipped semi-floating 10 bolt all together and swap in a 14-bolt 10.5” full floater then swap the front axle brake rotors to 8 lugs to match the rear.  You’ll also have to swap the front brake rotor backing plates as well and get four new wheels with 8 lug pattern rather than the 6 plus shorten your rear drive shaft but in the end it will be worth it as you will never break another axle again.   I did it on my short bed K10 and have never regretted it.  Everybody looks at my truck and says they didn’t know GM built ¾ ton short beds back in 78’ and I tell them that GM didn’t but I do….

[Torque Junkie]

See my problem is is I'm trying to get out of debt from fixing this #### truck already, so I surely can't afford to do all of that.  Not only would I have to swap out all that I would also have to buy new 8-hole rims and have my tires mounted on the new rims.  

 

I don't know if it is a semi or full floater, but I know the one I have is a 12 bolt, and the replacement is also a 12 bolt.

 

Unfortunately becuase I can't afford to upgrade, I have to find the cheapest possible route to get a working rear end underneath my truck.  At this point, I'd rather have a working equivilant-to-stock replacement and work on getting the interior fixed up than beefing up the rear end real tough.  When I crawl back out of debt and get on my feet more financially I can reevaluate.

 

Thanks for the advice though.    Maybe I can come across a complete 4:10 rear end assembly axle shafts and all in one of the other junk yards in town or around the area for 3-400.  

 

-Mike

[Torque Junkie]

OK Update.   I've now got 2 options:

 

1) Junk yard A: Used front & rear 3.73 COMPLETE axles from a K5 in good condition for $500

2) Junk yard B: Used but newly rebuilt 4:10 COMPLETE rear axle for $450.

 

I'm thinking option 2 for 2 reasons.

Reason A) I recently had the hubs repacked and axle U-Joints changed on the front axle.

Reason B) Half the labor by not having to swap both axles.

 

Option 1 also would be nice because the lower gear ratio would increase my gas milage by roughly 10%.

 

However 4:10 gears would be nice when I put 35" tires on her next year.

 

Decisions Decisions

 

Any suggestions?

Reason C)