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86 k5 questions

Thanks guys for the info. I've been trying to read as much as possible to get ideas but that's turning out to be very expensive. It's reminding me and giving me new things to buy and do.
 
I here you. It all adds up,and snow balls out of control. That's why a lot of people just make there own parts,Igeuss.Best to amass parts slowly over time,that's what Idid.I figured it would be best to do a lot of research and do it right the first time, rather than having redo everything and add cost/frustration. If I were you the first thing Iwould do is get rid of the half ton rear. Do the junk yard crawl for a full float 14 bolt. You want the one from a suburban.They have the spring perches in the right place, but a 1 or 3/4 ton truck you would have to cut off the spring perches and reweld in the right locations, then regear the front 10 bolt to match the back/ find the parts to make 8 lug. of course it would be better to find a matching pair of axles from the get go lol.You might find someone on here that has done the 52 swap and wants to sell their old lift kit. A buddy of mine has a k10 and didn't want to spend a lot to lift it , he decided to get a 1 inch body lift and 1 inch zero rate add a leafs from offroad design.Clearenced the front fenders slightly for 34 inch super swamper ltb tires , looks pretty good. although the truck has no balls at all with the stock gearing in the axles , unless he puts the t- case in low and the trans in L1. LOL
 
I here you. It all adds up,and snow balls out of control. That's why a lot of people just make there own parts,Igeuss.Best to amass parts slowly over time,that's what Idid.I figured it would be best to do a lot of research and do it right the first time, rather than having redo everything and add cost/frustration. If I were you the first thing Iwould do is get rid of the half ton rear. Do the junk yard crawl for a full float 14 bolt. You want the one from a suburban.They have the spring perches in the right place, but a 1 or 3/4 ton truck you would have to cut off the spring perches and reweld in the right locations, then regear the front 10 bolt to match the back/ find the parts to make 8 lug. of course it would be better to find a matching pair of axles from the get go lol.You might find someone on here that has done the 52 swap and wants to sell their old lift kit. A buddy of mine has a k10 and didn't want to spend a lot to lift it , he decided to get a 1 inch body lift and 1 inch zero rate add a leafs from offroad design.Clearenced the front fenders slightly for 34 inch super swamper ltb tires , looks pretty good. although the truck has no balls at all with the stock gearing in the axles , unless he puts the t- case in low and the trans in L1. LOL
 
I agree and that's what I'm trying to do. I'd rather have a stack of parts waiting and tear it all down and do it all at once. It may happen somewhat in stages but when it comes to drive train I'd rather do it once and be done. I've got a gut feeling that's impossible because I'm sure at some point I'll find something bigger and better but that's the route I'm trying to take at this time. Unfortunately where I live going out to the junk yard is pretty much an all day thing. I have one small junk yard somewhat close by but to get to anything of decent size it's at least an hour or more one way. Of course I could consider ordering parts but shipping is stupid expensive for the big stuff. Right now I'm just hunting around on Craigslist to maybe spot something close by, but most of my funds right now are being put towards the beginning of my shop and preparing for uncle Sam to take a chunk from my hind parts.
I've been watching some of the YouTube videos you mentioned and diy offers some pretty good stuff. On that note the roll cage video. Is the cage over the back really as low as it looks? For the most part my munchkins will be all that's riding in the back but should I have an adult in the back I don't want them to end up with a concussion.
 
lurch08 said:
I agree and that's what I'm trying to do. I'd rather have a stack of parts waiting and tear it all down and do it all at once. It may happen somewhat in stages but when it comes to drive train I'd rather do it once and be done. I've got a gut feeling that's impossible because I'm sure at some point I'll find something bigger and better but that's the route I'm trying to take at this time. Unfortunately where I live going out to the junk yard is pretty much an all day thing. I have one small junk yard somewhat close by but to get to anything of decent size it's at least an hour or more one way. Of course I could consider ordering parts but shipping is stupid expensive for the big stuff. Right now I'm just hunting around on Craigslist to maybe spot something close by, but most of my funds right now are being put towards the beginning of my shop and preparing for uncle Sam to take a chunk from my hind parts.
I've been watching some of the YouTube videos you mentioned and diy offers some pretty good stuff. On that note the roll cage video. Is the cage over the back really as low as it looks? For the most part my munchkins will be all that's riding in the back but should I have an adult in the back I don't want them to end up with a concussion.
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Yes the rollcage is really low. Part of the problem is the seat I installed was tall and then the bracket I made really made it taller. I could redesign it and lower it quite a bit. For my kids right now it works.
 
The kit itself looks great and pretty straight forward. I've got in mind of replacing the seats with something from a late model (im wanting something with the l.a.t.c.h system, my daughter is still in a car seat so that would make it SOOOO much easier) so I'm glad you said something about the seats so I can plan for that.
 
4xfrankie said:
I here you. It all adds up,and snow balls out of control. That's why a lot of people just make there own parts,Igeuss.Best to amass parts slowly over time,that's what Idid.I figured it would be best to do a lot of research and do it right the first time, rather than having redo everything and add cost/frustration. If I were you the first thing Iwould do is get rid of the half ton rear. Do the junk yard crawl for a full float 14 bolt. You want the one from a suburban.They have the spring perches in the right place, but a 1 or 3/4 ton truck you would have to cut off the spring perches and reweld in the right locations, then regear the front 10 bolt to match the back/ find the parts to make 8 lug. of course it would be better to find a matching pair of axles from the get go lol.You might find someone on here that has done the 52 swap and wants to sell their old lift kit. A buddy of mine has a k10 and didn't want to spend a lot to lift it , he decided to get a 1 inch body lift and 1 inch zero rate add a leafs from offroad design.Clearenced the front fenders slightly for 34 inch super swamper ltb tires , looks pretty good. although the truck has no balls at all with the stock gearing in the axles , unless he puts the t- case in low and the trans in L1. LOL
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3/4-ton axles have matching perches, it is just the 1-tons that have the narrower springs. So 3/4-ton axles of any square-bodied sort will be a bolt-in swap.
 
Is your truck road-worthy at this point? I would suggest that first, before tearing into anything, you drive it around for a while and get a feel for what it's like and what you want it to become. That will help guide the build process so you don't wind up changing your mind a bunch of times 1/2-way through the build.

There's no reason that you *need* 1-ton axles for your purpose. 35" tires are probably pushing the limits of what a 1/2-ton rear will handle well, but lotsa folks have done so. Its longevity is a function of how hard you beat your rig.

But the good news is that 3/4-ton axles are cheap and easy to swap. 3/4-ton rigs after about 1980 have 9.5" semi-float rear ends, whereas earlier 3/4-ton rigs got the 1-ton 10.5" full floating axle. Either one will be fine for your purpose, but the 9.5" 14bsf is easy to fit with 6-lug hubs (so you don't have to buy new rims), while the 10.5" 14bff is only offered in 8-lug configuration. The larger 14bff housing also eats away at ground clearance.

I chose to use the 14bff, not because it's great offroad (it's heavy and hangs down too low), but because it's very easy to rebuild and maintain. For my rig, that was worth losing 2" of ground clearance.


GM didn't make a 3/4-ton front axle, they just stuck 8-lug hubs on the stock 1/2-ton axle, so it's even easier to convert a front end from one lug pattern to the other. Most of the cost of buying 1-ton axles is in the Dana 60 front. The 14bff rear end is about as cheap as axles get.

For your situation, since you're pretty sure you want deeper gears, I would get a matching set of 3/4-ton axles and swap them both out (rather than trying to regear & convert your front end). This should set you back $200-$300 (whereas the 1-ton sets would set you back much more). I don't think you can regear your current 1/2-ton axles for that cost, unless you found a donor truck.
 
campfire said:
3/4-ton axles have matching perches, it is just the 1-tons that have the narrower springs. So 3/4-ton axles of any square-bodied sort will be a bolt-in swap.
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You are right , I got my 14 bolt ff out
campfire said:
3/4-ton axles have matching perches, it is just the 1-tons that have the narrower springs. So 3/4-ton axles of any square-bodied sort will be a bolt-in swap.
Click to expand...
You are right I got my 14 bolt ff out of a3/4 ton suburban , so it fit because it was a3/4 ton and not because it was a suburban?
 
I've got to address the fuel leak and pull out the front seats to see exactly what's going on with the floor, but over all yeah its road worthy. Other than what's going on with the floor it has nothing other than a little surface rust. The frames solid and everything on the truck works as expected. It's got problems but I have no concerns driving it. It's pretty much been my daily driver since the day I bought it. Its given me time to really see what all does need to be done to it. Since the start of this post I've decide to go with 3/4 ton axles with lockers(still undecided on the locker I want to use) since it seems to be the most straight forward and should be plenty strong enough for what I'm wanting to do with the truck. I'm leaning towards a Shackle flip and probably 52 inch springs in the front because that should give me close to the lift I want/need for 35's So with doing the b52 I'll be moving the front spring mount forward, right? If that's the case can the original bumper be modded to fit? I haven't yet found it in my readings but I still want to run a full bumper of some sorts and I can't help but wonder if the axle gets moved forward will that not cause issues with the tire getting into the sheet metal when it's compressed?
 
In my OPINION ,the bumper will be ok,like I said,B-52 is adjustable , so you can put itwhere u want
 
your bumper will be ok, like I said b-52 is adjustable ,so you can put the tire where you want,EZinch also helps ,this is my OPINION
 
Sorry for the double post ,i'm having trouble w/ computer for some reason
 
4xfrankie said:
You are right , I got my 14 bolt ff out

You are right I got my 14 bolt ff out of a3/4 ton suburban , so it fit because it was a3/4 ton and not because it was a suburban?
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Yep. 1/2-ton and 3/4-ton spring spacings match regardless of platform (from 1973-1987/91). And, since there are no 1-ton Suburban, all Suburban axles will fit a 1/2-ton.
 
yeah, if you do not do much four wheeling, you might not even want to upgrade to full float axles .I have just seen to many failures with the 10/12 bolt axles ,seen a c clip failure and the axle /wheel & tire and all come out ! that can be pretty dangerous.Your driving style also dictates how much stress you put on components,too so if you have a light foot you might be ok with a10 bolt. My last 12 bolt pinion gear exploded on a hill climb ,and that was the third one I put in that truck. Ithought Iwas takin it easy.The 14 bolt full floater has a 10 and a1/2 inch ring gear, and a huge pinion gear supported by 3 pinion bearings. these 3 pinion bearings provide less deflection for the pinion itself.The full float design compared to semi float- there are no c- clips to fail, the load /weight of the vehicle is transferred to the housing and not directed as much toward the axle shafts them selves(does this sound right, CAMPFIRE?)If you happen to break an axle shaft the shaft will not be ejected from the vehicle. They are heavy ,though and the center section hangs down pretty low and can catch on rocks and such , but it can be shaved.
 
campfire said:
Yep. 1/2-ton and 3/4-ton spring spacings match regardless of platform (from 1973-1987/91). And, since there are no 1-ton Suburban, all Suburban axles will fit a 1/2-ton.
Click to expand...
You have never heard of aK30 suburban?
 
lurch08 said:
It's got problems but I have no concerns driving it. It's pretty much been my daily driver since the day I bought it. Its given me time to really see what all does need to be done to it.
Click to expand...

Good. That's what I was getting at. There are a lot of things that people will tell you you've just GOTTA have, but different people have such different uses for their trucks that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to things. So figuring out your particular needs and priorities will make our input much more useful. :thumb:


lurch08 said:
So with doing the b52 I'll be moving the front spring mount forward, right? If that's the case can the original bumper be modded to fit? I haven't yet found it in my readings but I still want to run a full bumper of some sorts and I can't help but wonder if the axle gets moved forward will that not cause issues with the tire getting into the sheet metal when it's compressed?
Click to expand...

If you move it forward, it will want to contact the front fender first. Lift will help some with this, but you will be best off with it centered in the wheel well. If you move just the forward mount, the axle will shift forward. You can correct this with a Zero Rate or EZ Inch. These are 1" blocks that get attached to your spring pack. They come with 3 offset holes, so you can choose to slide your axle forward or backwards. So if your springs move forward and your Zero Rate moves the axle backwards you should wind up somewhere close to stock location. :cool:

You also have the option of moving both ends of your springs. If you move both mounts you have the option of picking whatever center point you wish. The downside of this is that it's more work to move both ends. But you do have options if you're worried about it.
 
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