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10 bolts be ok with street on 33's? UPDATE #44

blackk5350

blackk5350

1/2 ton status
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uPDATE POST 44
i dont think i have time (college) to swap axles these coming months. could i do a 4" lift with 33's on stock 10 bolts. possible 4.10's in the 10 bolts. would that we "street safe aggressive" not burning tires but driving somewhat aggresive? would i need to beef anything up? the only offroad i would be doing would be easy trails and mud? Or should i go with a taller gear.(stock gear now i think 2.xx
 
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yea you are fine. 4.10s would be my choice.

Mine had 3.08s in the stock 10 bolts when i got it with 36s and the guy beat the crap outa it and they were fine.
 
sounds good. i live in a small town hopefully it wont be to much for a mechanic to install the gears for me? front and back. This is just temporar until i get my degree then i should have a nice garage to do the 3/4 ton swap in her!!!:waytogo: I do plan on driving a little crazy through town. gotta raise hell before i leave!!!
 
gear replacement isnt cheap, figure 100-200 a piece for the gears themselves, and then labor for the shop to do it. Ive never had it done but ive had friends pay for it in the range of $600-1000. At that point it almost makes more sense to go 3/4 ton that would already have the right gears in it.
 
wage92 said:
gear replacement isnt cheap, figure 100-200 a piece for the gears themselves, and then labor for the shop to do it. Ive never had it done but ive had friends pay for it in the range of $600-1000. At that point it almost makes more sense to go 3/4 ton that would already have the right gears in it.
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Ugh ill have to get a quote today great...
 
a lot of times its cheeper to buy axles with the gears you want and bolt them in over gear swap/setup jobs.
 
sweetk30 said:
a lot of times its cheeper to buy axles with the gears you want and bolt them in over gear swap/setup jobs.
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gu near me wants 300 for a 14 bolt and dana 44 front. should i get those? the thing that scares me is hooking up the brakes right. ive never bleed brakes before...
 
Ive been running 10bolt rear with 33" for 10 years. Ive even got a Loc-Rite locker and have no problem being aggressive on the street, of course motor has alot to do with it. Ive got a tired 305cid, so its not a power house.
 
ya my buddys old short bed 4" & 3" body with 38x12.50x15 tsl was never ending on motors . 1 year 7-8 motors . his old 10 bolts lived just fine with 3.08 .

if play right and build right you be just fine .
 
blackk5350 said:
gu near me wants 300 for a 14 bolt and dana 44 front. should i get those? the thing that scares me is hooking up the brakes right. ive never bleed brakes before...
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Nice thing is you can leave the front calipers hanging and probably bolt right up to your axle. You'll need longer lines to flex it at all. What I would do is do the axle swap, pinch the rear soft line with vise grips, bolt it all up, make sure your front brakes work, and limp it to the shop with the rear brakes still clamped, and get the brakes bled there if you don't feel comfortable doing so. We use the vise grip trick as a ghetto line lock for burnout pits around here.
 
I think the real problem comes with G80, the gov-lock.

I scattered my 10 bolt with 33's on the street, but I'm fully confident stating it was because of the gov-lock. I suspect an open diff 10 bolt will handle quite a bit of abuse.
 
blackk5350 said:
gu near me wants 300 for a 14 bolt and dana 44 front. should i get those? the thing that scares me is hooking up the brakes right. ive never bleed brakes before...
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Yes, this is way cheaper any easier than swapping gears, plus, if you are installing a lift, it is ALL work that you are going to have to do anyway. The brakes are easy to bleed, you just need a helper.

Ps. Don't clamp brake lines with a vice grip. It is hard on them, and will cause them to braek down where they were clamped.

Martin
 
I think you'd be perfectly fine running stock axles with 33's. My k5 has 35's with stock 10 bolt axles and I used to beat the hell out of it for about 5 years when it was my daily driver. I've never had a problem and last time I had my cover off the diffs they really weren't bad at all just slight wear on yes teeth but its 20 years so I'm not worried about it

I would just stick with the stock axles and maybe save up for the 3/4 tons
 
14 bolt and d44 would be great for what you want. You can beat on them all day and they wont break. And they will most likely have 4.10 or lower gearing.

Downfall is you will need 8 lug wheels...
 
Take the plunge and bleed your brakes. I remember being in your position 10 years ago. Fearing getting dreaded air in the lines. Its really not a big deal at all. if you need it explained feel free to ask.
 
That's a great price for those axles. Jump on em and you will be much happier in the end. Next step later would be a 60 front then you can get all the more hardcore. Gearing is going to be usually 400-700 plus parts. Can get you up to 1000 plus per axle and still be 1/2 ton. 33s will work fine but as was said if you are putting a lift in why not put the new axles in at the same time. Just check them over really well before you put them in and see if any seals are leaking and the bearings look good. 3/4 ton from that era with Dana 44 usually had 373 or 410 gears as well.
 
I ran 32's and 33's on my stock 10-bolts with 3.73 gears and Gov-lock for many years and ran it hard on the street. Not a lot of power but was constantly at full throttle. Never any trouble with it until after the truck was stolen and beat on in the local river flats (found covered in mud and dented by trees, and stripped down). Rear end blew up shortly after getting it back from the shop and when they pulled the cover the rear axle was full of mud and water. I had played in the mud but never had it submerged so 99.9% sure it occurred during the theft...guess that is were the saying "drive it like you stole it" came from:doah:

Had the rear 10-bolt rebuilt with a Truetrac and 4.10's and ran it with 33's and then 35's, including getting into off-roading. Insurance paid for it as part of the theft claim but hindsight being 20-20 I almost could of gone to 1-tons for the same price. Won't say I beat on it but did run it pretty hard and never broke the rear axle. However I did break the front end several times. Upgraded to a 14FF including rebuilding it (kept the stock gears) and swapping to disk brakes for maybe $350 total and never looked back.

Basically, swapping in junkyard axles is typically much cheaper and easier than changing gears plus once you install a 14FF rear you are done.
 
For every sucess story of half ton axles, ther is a story about them breaking under normal use. I shattered an open 10 bolt with 31x10.5x15's.

Martin
 
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