Wow, pretty tough to sort out the good from the bad information in this thread!
I have personally went from the stock 10-bolts, to a 14FF rear and swapping the front from 6 to 8-lug (had previously regeared it to 4.10 so it matched the 14FF I bought), and then swapped the front 10-bolt to a D60....so I've been down this road before.
I would recommend getting a matching set of 3/4 ton axles for the gearing, of course assuming your current front axle does not match. The lowest common gearing in a 1/2 ton is 3.73 with a lot of 3.08 and 3.42 gears. 3/4 ton is pretty common in 4.10......as you stated it's cheaper and easier to get a complete front axle with matching gearing and bolt it in versus regearing the current axle and converting it to 8-lug.
The 14FF (full-floater) is a completely different axle from the 14SF (semi-floater) with the only thing in common being both happen to have 14 bolts holding on the diff cover. The 14FF is substantially stronger, however the 14SF is substantially stronger than the stock 10-bolt and should hold up fine to moderate tires and usage with no problems.
A REAR axle from a 3/4 ton truck of the same era/model run will bolt up to a 1/2 ton truck with new correct sized u-bolts, spring plates, and addressing the rear u-joint. Most 1/2 ton auto trans trucks had 1310 (older) or the 3R/S44 (newer) u-joints at the rear axle, while most 14-bolts use a 1350. Conversion joints (i.e. S44 on one side and 1350 on the other) are easy to come by and not much more expensive than regular joints.
The REAR axle from a 1-ton has differently spaced spring perches that will need moved for a 1/2 or 3/4 ton truck.
The FRONT axle from a 1-ton post '76 would be a D60 and it is a direct bolt-in with the proper u-bolts and spring plates. However, a front D60 can be literally both 10 times more expensive and 10 times harder to find...and without serious trail use and bigger tires planned not worth it (unless you found a steal).
A 10-bolt or Dana 44 front really doesn't matter as they are the virtually identical in strenght, with my personal opinion going towards the 10-bolt since they are newer and easier to find. The Dana 44 front has not been used since the late-70's, while 10-bolts were used up to the last of the straight axle GM trucks ('87 pickups, '91 burbs).
Regarding the comment about 6 and 8 lug front axles using the same rotors.....come awn' now. Let me see somebody try to put a 6 LUG rotor onto an 8 LUG hub
. 8-lug rotors are larger in diameter, and thus the caliper mounts are "taller" and put the caliper out further from the centerline of the axle, thus causing clearance issues with most 15" wheels. This is the reason why GM used at least 16" rims on all factory 3/4 ton 8-lug trucks. However, 15" wheels CAN be used .......
But enough, this dead horse has been kicked multiple times now (probably once a week to be more precise).
[ 5 and 6 lugs for 2WD and 4WD half-ton, respectively, and 8 lug for all 3/4- and 1-tons.]
) These are found on 3/4+ tons trucks up through, I donno, the early 80's; after some point they were only put on high-GVWR trucks.
) ... I said (in part)
... just haven't hard them apart side-by-side.
