DerekTheGreat
Forum Regular
Hey all!
Backstory/rambling:
I've got an '89 K1500, RC/SB 350, 5 speed with 3.73's. Truck currently has about 235k miles. I might end up towing a car trailer occasionally and hear nothing but bad things about the 10 bolt.. I think the rear end is original and it's been flawless in the 10k miles we've driven it. Not to mention last year I replaced all the brake hardware, turned the drums and changed the fluid.. I never intended on swapping it as I've heard the 14 bolt I need/want is pretty much made from unobtainium so tried to push it from my mind. Welp.. Went to a yard this past Saturday and whilst searching for horns and a headliner (found both!) for my truck I spotted something... Big ole pumpkin, counted me 14 bolts and then went looking for the RPO sticker so I could justify not pulling it. Nope. donor truck is a K1500, RPO sticker listed: "G80" and "GT4." Umm, how could one say no to this?? What are the odds I found it and what will then be the odds of finding it again in under a year? Unknown mileage as someone removed the cluster, truck I think is a '95 to '98. I could not spin the tires by hand, it's a Michigan truck and so the axle was crusty as frig so I suspect the Gov-Bomb did what it's notorious for or (if I may be so lucky) it just has sticky brakes. If I were to nab it, I'd have it gone through by a local diff shop, sand blasted & painted and then I'd redo the brakes and such myself as I'm one of those weirdos who like drum brakes and finds them rather fun to change out.
Why yes, I did search:
I read through Jared Jackson's thread "10 bolt swap to 14 bolt (6 lug)" to discover its best to pull an axle from another K series truck and also saw where Jcribb mentioned it's best to also grab the spring perches and fresh u-bolts before doing the swap.
Please help me with my ignorance:
So here are the questions I was hoping you fine folks could help me with, as I've never swapped or pulled a rear end before. I read a lot of stuff on here and you guys pull of stuff like it's no big thing but to me, everything is a big deal..
1) Do I need to pull the front axle from that truck too? Will I run into any problems if I don't? I thought I read somewhere that front and rear ring & pinions are matched..
2) What should I check for before pulling the axle? I plan on taking the cover off but aside from looking for metal bits inside the housing or chipped gear teeth I might as well be staring at the sun.
3) Anything else I should take?
4) Would you do the swap or go through the trouble of taking the axle?
Thank you for reading and for your input!
Derek
Backstory/rambling:
I've got an '89 K1500, RC/SB 350, 5 speed with 3.73's. Truck currently has about 235k miles. I might end up towing a car trailer occasionally and hear nothing but bad things about the 10 bolt.. I think the rear end is original and it's been flawless in the 10k miles we've driven it. Not to mention last year I replaced all the brake hardware, turned the drums and changed the fluid.. I never intended on swapping it as I've heard the 14 bolt I need/want is pretty much made from unobtainium so tried to push it from my mind. Welp.. Went to a yard this past Saturday and whilst searching for horns and a headliner (found both!) for my truck I spotted something... Big ole pumpkin, counted me 14 bolts and then went looking for the RPO sticker so I could justify not pulling it. Nope. donor truck is a K1500, RPO sticker listed: "G80" and "GT4." Umm, how could one say no to this?? What are the odds I found it and what will then be the odds of finding it again in under a year? Unknown mileage as someone removed the cluster, truck I think is a '95 to '98. I could not spin the tires by hand, it's a Michigan truck and so the axle was crusty as frig so I suspect the Gov-Bomb did what it's notorious for or (if I may be so lucky) it just has sticky brakes. If I were to nab it, I'd have it gone through by a local diff shop, sand blasted & painted and then I'd redo the brakes and such myself as I'm one of those weirdos who like drum brakes and finds them rather fun to change out.
Why yes, I did search:
I read through Jared Jackson's thread "10 bolt swap to 14 bolt (6 lug)" to discover its best to pull an axle from another K series truck and also saw where Jcribb mentioned it's best to also grab the spring perches and fresh u-bolts before doing the swap.
Please help me with my ignorance:
So here are the questions I was hoping you fine folks could help me with, as I've never swapped or pulled a rear end before. I read a lot of stuff on here and you guys pull of stuff like it's no big thing but to me, everything is a big deal..
1) Do I need to pull the front axle from that truck too? Will I run into any problems if I don't? I thought I read somewhere that front and rear ring & pinions are matched..
2) What should I check for before pulling the axle? I plan on taking the cover off but aside from looking for metal bits inside the housing or chipped gear teeth I might as well be staring at the sun.
3) Anything else I should take?
4) Would you do the swap or go through the trouble of taking the axle?
Thank you for reading and for your input!
Derek
