Dumb Q Regarding Gear Swap

[Polaris]

Alright, I've never taken a differential apart. I want to put better gears in my 10-bolt; not sure I can afford to go 3/4 ton right now or anytime real soon but I'm running 2.73 gears with 33" tires and a 700R4 tranny. NOT an ideal situation, and I'm putting a plow on the truck for the winter. I want to call around looking for gears but I need to know, do the axle splines affect anything? I think they do. I have a 30-spline axle. Does that limit the years and models that I can get the gears from? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nofeartruckin00]

'88 is the break year, with 28 splines before, and 30 splines after. So '89 and up is definite fit, but i can't remember which way '88 went, 28 or 30.

 

[Shaggy]

<font color="green"> If you're not swapping the carrier, then it doesn't affect anything. So long as you get the gears from a full-sized 10 bolt (not the baby one like in the S-10s), then you should be fine unless you're going to swap the whole carrier. The spline count you're talking about is the number of splines on the axleshafts where they slide into the carrier. </font color>

 

[Polaris]

That is exactly the reply I was looking for! That opens up the possibilities. I don't see any reason to replace the carrier. We have a spare set of 10-bolts sitting in the junk pile. I will have to ask hub when he gets home. I look at diagrams and repair manuals but it doesn't make much sense to me. I learn a lot better by just doing stuff, but can't afford much down-time on this truck since it's my dd.