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1/2 to 1 ton Pickup truck conversion


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Posted

I was given a 1979 Chevy Scottsdale 1/2 ton 4X4 by a Family member, and cosmetically the truck was an eyesore...but it runs!!

 

The truck has a SBC an "LS9" to be exact, a 4 speed muncie and NP205 Transfer case.

 

So being I'm always looking to improve things, I was able to find a 14 Bolt 10 1/2" ring

gear rear end, and a Dana 44 with 8 lug Hubs cheap ( $500.00 for both..in reasonable

condition)

 

I have found that in making the swap I also got new "U" Bolts for the rear axle, and a

new "U" bolt spring plate..I'm now doing shopping for the best price for a new

Driveshaft to fit the "!350" "U" joint used by the GM 14 bolt and to keep things simple

and not to spend more money swapping out the Transfer case yoke, I'm going to keep

the existing "U" bolt size .

 

What I have found baffling is that when I went to buy a new "WARN" locking hub for the

front axle ( which is supposed to be a 3/4 Ton) WARN actually calls it a 1 Ton axle,

and the same problem occured when I went to go to a local wrecking yard to get a replacement hub........I told them it was a 3/4 ton...but they disagreed showing me

hubs that look like my 1/2 ton hub.....

 

The Hub in Question is about 4 1/2 inches in diameter...and the "WARN" locking

mechanism mounts on a sast extension, instead of directly on the hub itself...

 

I would welcome any comments on this 3/4..or 1 ton hub..

 

 

Richard.....Reno, Nevada

Retired US Navy

  • 6 months later...
Posted

got any pictures, i have seen this only one other time. we have an old 1973 farm truck that has a dana 44 8 bolt with the larger 1ton hubs. i have just recently swapped out my dana 44 3/4ton with a dana 60 1ton on my 79 chevy, on the 3/4 ton dana the hubs were only 3.5 inches in dia. your best bet may be to find a set of oem spicer lock out hub from a junk yard. they are better quality anyway, i had warn hubs on both the 3/4 and 1ton axles and destroyed the splines on both. never had any trouble with the spicer hubs yet.

 

 

 

I was given a 1979 Chevy Scottsdale 1/2 ton 4X4 by a Family member, and cosmetically the truck was an eyesore...but it runs!!

 

The truck has a SBC an "LS9" to be exact, a 4 speed muncie and NP205 Transfer case.

 

So being I'm always looking to improve things, I was able to find a 14 Bolt 10 1/2" ring

gear rear end, and a Dana 44 with 8 lug Hubs cheap ( $500.00 for both..in reasonable

condition)

 

I have found that in making the swap I also got new "U" Bolts for the rear axle, and a

new "U" bolt spring plate..I'm now doing shopping for the best price for a new

Driveshaft to fit the "!350" "U" joint used by the GM 14 bolt and to keep things simple

and not to spend more money swapping out the Transfer case yoke, I'm going to keep

the existing "U" bolt size .

 

What I have found baffling is that when I went to buy a new "WARN" locking hub for the

front axle ( which is supposed to be a 3/4 Ton) WARN actually calls it a 1 Ton axle,

and the same problem occured when I went to go to a local wrecking yard to get a replacement hub........I told them it was a 3/4 ton...but they disagreed showing me

hubs that look like my 1/2 ton hub.....

 

The Hub in Question is about 4 1/2 inches in diameter...and the "WARN" locking

mechanism mounts on a sast extension, instead of directly on the hub itself...

 

I would welcome any comments on this 3/4..or 1 ton hub..

 

 

Richard.....Reno, Nevada

Retired US Navy

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