axle swap

[mybeast]

I'm going to swap out my 10&12 bolts for a Dana 60 front and corp. 14 rear. does anyone know if this is a fairly straight forward swap. no custom fabracation, do i half to replace the master cyl. and booster at the same time. I'm going to put in a skyjacker 8" lift at the same time. any advise/ideas would be helpful.

 

[rich'90]

I just finished a rear axle swap with a 14bolt. It was pretty straight forward. Needed new U-bolts and a different u-joint. Have yet to work on the e-brake but the rest of the brakes work fine with no mods. I imagine the front is a little more difficult but I will tackle that when I have the money.

go heavy or go home

 

[Chris Demartini]

<font color=blue>You need a 14 full-floater from a 73-87 3/4 ton truck to bolt up to your 79. If you do find a matched set of 1 ton axles, you will need to re-weld the spring perches on the rear, but at least you wont have to change gears which is expensive. The front will bolt up, but you need to change the brake hoses.
As for the suspension, I have heard good things about Skyjacker, but spring rates vary drastictly with lifts that high. What do you want to do with your truck? What size tires are you runing? For the rear, do NOT get blocks, no matter how short. They all cause wheelhop, which is a bad thing. I have 2" blocks in the rear (for now) and I have horrible wheelhop. Get an ORD shackle flip in the rear and use softer 4" springs. The truck will ride better. Also, avoid 16.5 wheels, they have no bead retention lip. Got any other questions?</font color=blue>

http://www.chrisd71k5.coloradok5.com <font color=blue></font color=blue>