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Need Axle Dimension (k5 swap project)


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Guys, I am on the verge of swapping in a rear axle from our 2014+ trucks into my '89 K5.  One of the biggest reasons I stopped going down this path last year was not wanting to buy new wheels and tires to clear the K2XX brakes as my K5's sitting on 33x12.50 with 15" wheels.  Fast forward to today, I'm kind of over 15" wheels and need new tires anyway. I have original Ko's on it and they're old.  So I'm looking at 17" x 8" American Racing Outlaw II's and running the new Jeep Rubicon KO2 LT285/70R17 in a load range C.  Few reasons I want to do the 12 bolt 9.5" swap is because by the time I buy all the parts for the 10 bolt, I'm in it for a small fortune and still have a 8.5/8.6" gear, drum brakes and the rear axle is narrower than the front axle which has always driven my type A self nuts.  A lot of the K5 guys do 1.25" wheel spacers, but that is not for me. And I'm restoring this K5 to be a daily driver of sorts so I want a nice axle and brakes. I'm currently dealing with a wrecking yard that has a 2015 K2XX truck with frontal damage only, and the rear axle is a GU6 3.42 and has the G80 locker, 60k miles. Without having to go home and take the tires off the rear of my truck, does anyone know the width of our axles from WMS to WMS? From what I read online the K5's front axle is 67" and the rear is 64-3/8".  If anyone could save me the hassle of taking tires off tonight that would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

Edited by FL335i
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Not re-gearing.  My k5 came with 3.42's stock.  So a GU6 K2XX axle with 3.42's matches the front.  And for the size of tire I'd be running, plenty of gear. That's one of the attractive parts of this for me.  It's a complete, ratio matching, G80 locking diff with monster disc brakes, and late model.  The wheel and tire combo I am switching to will be lighter than what I currently have now with the 33x12.50's on 15" rims.  And the truck drives fine now. 

Edited by FL335i
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Measured mine last night w/out taking the wheels off.  Came up with 69.00" to 69.25".  +/-.  Call it 69.  The front axle is 67.  Stock rear is 64".  So this swap would make the rear 2" wider than the front.  With the body lines and from what I measured off the k5 fenders it would fill the wells nicely. 

Edited by FL335i
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