Rear axle swap/upgrade - Suggestions?

[justin93]

I have a '93 K15 350 sbc, 4l60E trans, 1/2 ton 6.5 ft short box, with drums in the rear.

I recently have been pricing gear swaps for my truck and have had the same number come up from 3 different shops
1800$ front and rear 4.88's with master hardware NO DIFF INCLUDED...
I paid 1700$ for my truck after registration and smog and have 5200$ in it total with cost of purchase. so this doesn't seem to be the most cost effective job to me.

This doesn't seem to be worth swapping the front and rear parts as I feel there is a market out there for rear axle upgrades with all new hardware gears and everything already installed.. I'm just not sure of what to look for..
Dana 60 ? 44? 10 bolt 12 bolt ? Not sure of what i should look for.

Also, If by swapping out the rear end what will I need to modify to have the new one correctly set? Or suggested direct swaps would be more ideal.

I know solid axle setups cost an arm and a leg and i would like to keep my IFS suspension setup as well as i already replaced the front end with upper lower ball joints, steering arm, center link, pitman link, idler arm(s) all from MOOG new shocks and all those good stuff.

Not sure what might be the best bang for the buck but my rear end has 3.73 gears and im running 35" tires and was looking to move up to 38's eventually and it's putt - ing around with the 3.73's as well as my gas being wasted and transmission winding up.

Im sure some of you with a plethora of experience may have some more ideal suggestions and i would appreciate any and all suggestions!

Thanks in advance

 

[boy&hisdogs]

Okay, first off let's tackle the front end. You just have to regear it. Your only factory options are 3.42, 3.73 and sometimes 4.10. No other diff will fit without major modification.

For the rear, only the 14bsf of of another OBS is a direct swap. Anything else and you will have to move spring perches, shock mounts, and find adaptions/conversions for the brakes and U joint/yoke. The factory gear ratios for teh rear are the same as the fronts.

Now, you can find the older style 14 bolt FF under the CUCV trucks. They have 4.56s and a detroit locker. Moving the spring and shock mounts isn't all that bad, all you have to do is cut off the old ones and weld on new ones. The problem here is that the 14bFF only came in 8 lug. There is no known way to convert your six lug front to 8 lug (I spend months researching, trust me) without custom machine work. To convert the rear, you need either conversion hubs ($$$) or custom machine work again. The rear isn't as bad. You have to fill and re-drill your lug holes and turn your hubs down a little.


The nice thing about leaf springs is that you can make any axle work with a couple hours of welding. The front is what kills you. You're stuck with the dinky little 8.25 unless you want to SAS.

I'm going to 4.10s so I'm going to find a 14 bolt semi floater with factory 4.10s so that it will bolt straight up, with nothing but a conversion U joint. I'm just going to have the front re geared because it's just not worth to get one from a yard since you have to split the case to look at the gears anyway. You'll have to re-setup the gears when you put the case together so it's actually more work that just using the one you have, not to mention the cost of the new diff.