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Going to look at a rear axle today UPDATE: It's in my backyard!

ccarley

ccarley

1/2 ton status
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Aug 29, 2010
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Location
Rohnert Park, CA
The 10 bolt in the back of my '89 Suburban is clunky, howling slightly, has a gov-bomb, and the pinion seal is leaking.

In my search for a new/used rear axle, I found one down the road from me taken out of an '82 K5 (supposedly): a 12-bolt with the same gears.
It's already pulled from the truck, and is super cheap.

I do have a couple of questions though. Will the spring perches be in the correct spot for my Suburban? I would imagine they are, but just wanting to check. I'll be bringing my tape measure with me when I look at it too.

What about the brakes? Will the brakes from the earlier K5 work fine for my Suburban? Or, would my current brakes, from the 10-bolt, swap over to the 12-bolt?

Before the axle goes in, of course I'll be freshening it up. Probably installing a locker of some sort. I'm not "hardcore" with this rig, but having a rear locker in the snow and mild mud that we see really helps.

Now, I realize that nobody really recommends the 12-bolt as an upgrade to the 10-bolt. But, I want to keep my 6-lug pattern right now, since I just bought tires a few months ago. It will help keep things simple. And, for the price of an axleshaft, I'm getting the whole thing, where my current 10-bolt needs bearings, shafts, seals, etc.

Thanks for any advise in advance!
Clay
 
Last edited:
ccarley said:
The 10 bolt in the back of my '89 Suburban is clunky, howling slightly, has a gov-bomb, and the pinion seal is leaking.

In my search for a new/used rear axle, I found one down the road from me taken out of an '82 K5 (supposedly): a 12-bolt with the same gears.
It's already pulled from the truck, and is super cheap.

I do have a couple of questions though. Will the spring perches be in the correct spot for my Suburban? I would imagine they are, but just wanting to check. I'll be bringing my tape measure with me when I look at it too.

What about the brakes? Will the brakes from the earlier K5 work fine for my Suburban? Or, would my current brakes, from the 10-bolt, swap over to the 12-bolt?

Before the axle goes in, of course I'll be freshening it up. Probably installing a locker of some sort. I'm not "hardcore" with this rig, but having a rear locker in the snow and mild mud that we see really helps.

Now, I realize that nobody really recommends the 12-bolt as an upgrade to the 10-bolt. But, I want to keep my 6-lug pattern right now, since I just bought tires a few months ago. It will help keep things simple. And, for the price of an axleshaft, I'm getting the whole thing, where my current 10-bolt needs bearings, shafts, seals, etc.

Thanks for any advise in advance!
Clay
Click to expand...

Good luck with this . The brakes will work if the lines will hook to them . dont forget the tape measure
 
Thanks for the info!

I was able to go in the light rain & take a look. The spring perches were exactly where I needed them, and the axle was in better shape than I thought. I was expecting a pile of rust, but only the drums are rusty. One drum is stuck, no biggie.

Now I need to unload it! It's in the back of my Suburban. I have a buddy helping today (my wife is pregnant, not sure that she could help unload it anyway). We'll be pulling the cover to see what it has inside, then I'll be doing some parts ordering :)

Hopefully I can get this installed before our next *scheduled* trip to Tahoe. We rented a cabin in the woods for my birthday, late in January. As long as I don't beat myself up at work too much I think we can get it done!

Parts list:
Conversion U-joints
Aluminum cover
(don't kill me for saying this now) Lunchbox Locker
Brake shoes
Gear oil
New vacuum bleeder (mine split in half)
Oh yeah, satin black paint

Now, I only say lunchbox locker because this is not a hard core wheeling rig. It's a mild core wheeling rig. We're not hammering it on rocks, or drifting through corners, or doing donuts in mud holes. We might go through the occasional mud hole. Most of the driving we do with this is jacked fire roads, with cat-tracks & potholes everywhere. Sometimes we might drive in the sand, but we're not jumping dunes. This is our backcountry exploring rig, just need it to survive!

Clay
 
Thanks Munepit! Good info.

It would really be nice to perhaps have some info on this swap on the tech article page... Or at least what you need to go from axle to axle. Or even just the specs.

Clay
 
OK, got the axle out this afternoon, and the cover & drums off.

There is some old thick oil in there, as well as a gov-loc...

I guess I'll keep the gov-loc for now. I was hoping for an open diff, so I could install a lunchbox locker, but I guess this will work for now.

Clay
 
dont fear a gov loc. the hard part is over . you know you got one. now drive it smart and it will last. dont spin a tire till it slams in. if you feel it spin let up on the gas a bit and you should fell it pop in . then go for it.

its when people beat the tar out of them lettin them slam in every time that will tear them up for sure.
 
SweetK30 is right, I didnt know I had one or even how it worked until BOOM, and with a hole in my diff cover and tons of noise I limped it home. It's a great piece, when you know it's there.
 
Thanks guys.

I do like the theory behind the gov-loc, and the one I currently have in the 10-bolt works great.

At this point, I think I'm going to get the new cover for the axle, it needs one anyway, clean it up, and maybe even re-use the brakes since they look decent. Replacing the shoes of course, since they are open right now. Maybe the wheel cylinders too. And hard lines on the axle.

I'm going to take a look at the e-brake cables; I recall reading that mine won't work on the older axle, but I just need to figure out what I need to order for that.

I'll be taking photos of the whole process ;)

Clay
 
even faster. pull the c-clips on the shafts.

remove shafts.

remove whole backing plate with brakes.

swap on to new axle

install new axle seals

install new wheel cylinders.

put back together

blead and fill and drive it.

10 bolt brakes swap to 12 bolt or vise versa. :woot:
 
sweetk30: I think you are on to something! Sounds better & better the more I think about it.

Almost have all my parts! I need a U-bolt strap kit (well, 2 really, one for the toolbox you know), and a new vacuum bleeder.

Photos so far:
Reference 10 bolt, under the truck right now:
DSC_0257.sized.jpg


The new axle, still in the back of the Suburban after I picked it up:
DSC_0249.sized.jpg


Pulled it out, and drained/ pulled cover off to find this:
DSC_0252.sized.jpg


Got the new cover today, placed it to see how it would look:
DSC_0254.sized.jpg


Apparently it holds more fluid than stock! And you can see me in the photo too!
DSC_0256.sized.jpg


Getting cleaned up & some satin black on it:
DSC_0259.sized.jpg


That's it so far. Rain expected this weekend, so I'm not doing it yet. I will get the straps first, the bleeder tool, and some more brake fluid as well as 90-weight for the "event". Need to empty my oil container too, since I'm going to be draining the old axle to get the shafts out to save the brakes :)

Clay
 
yep mechanic for 10+ years will do that for correct info and TIPS on swapin. :D

and that oil and gov-loc look CLEAN not solid black crap like most. :waytogo:
 
So today we are going to dig in to this project. I've got all my parts, and tools ready... But I'm only nervous because it's Sunday, and I'm driving it to work tomorrow!

It's just an axle swap though, right! Should be pretty easy. A buddy is coming over to help with it today too, bringing another floor jack.

So it should be easy, right?!

Heh, we'll see!

Clay
 
Well, it was pretty easy. We got it in!

The U-joints are original on my driveshaft, so that sucked to get the old one out. Stupid plastic retainer that you just mash through? Lucky I had a mini torch to melt it a bit.

One bleeder screw was jacked on my brakes, and the other one doesn't match. Why would they match? I guess I was expecting too much! LOL!

So far, spin around the block confirms the rear end is tighter than the old one. No more "clicking" through dips or bumps. There's a little rumble at 20 mph, but I'm hoping that's surface rust needing to go away... or it's just the tires... we'll see. Today is the bigger test, as I drive it to work!

Thanks for all of the advise.
Clay
 
OK drive to work done.

It's a howler. On that note, I'm hoping to visit my buddy who sets up rearends either this weekend or next. Hopefully we can get it fixed before I leave for Tahoe later this month.

This axle makes the vehicle feel so much better though! The shafts have little to no play, so the handling is way better. Less noise over bumps too.

Now, on the way home, something else happened though. The gov-loc locked up around a corner. I wasn't gassing it or anything, it was a gentle curve I took at maybe 20 to 25 mph. All of a sudden, I wasn't turning as sharp, and when I pulled into my driveway, a rear tire chirped. I was able to get it to unlock by putting it in neutral, and relaxing the pressure on it I guess.

Clay
 
OK, bearings shims etc. (master rebuild kit!) ordered, and scheduled to work on it Sunday! Sweet.

I guess for now, I'm going to tie down the fly-weights on the gov-bomb so it won't lock. Oh well... I guess I'll order a new diff at some point. It sure is weird for it to lock up while going down an easy curve in the road, but I can see how it would do that if the spring on the fly-weights is worn out, causing them to fly out too easily.

Clay
 
I gotta tell ya, everything you have on your rig, I want on my Suburban, right down to the 12 bolt rear. I'm planning on a 4" lift with 35's myself and I too have to get a new rearend. So when I get to do my own build thread, I swear I'm not copying you, you just got there first. :haha:

That's a beautiful Burb you have, it's actually my screensaver. It's serving as inspiration for Fillmore's build.



Fillmore88 020.jpg

Fillmore88 020.jpg
 
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