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how do you swap an axle?

8

87sm465np208

1/2 ton status
Joined
Aug 28, 2002
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Location
illinois
my axle is past rebulidable, and finding a decent one at a junk yard would be cheaper, how do you do it? im planing on puttin another 10 bolt under it, only 125$ around here, so now its just me finding the axle, now i just gotta find an axle with 3.73's, gotta be a 6 lug 12 bolt, or a 5 or 6 lug 10 bolt, if its a 5 i can just put my axles and drums on it, if its a 6 i will have spare axles and drums, so my big question is how do you do it, and how long does it approxomitly take ( like your guys first time swaping) man this sucks, i broke my carrier in half on my gov loc, your help would be greatly appreciated right now, since i never replaced one of theseee before.

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thank you /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

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I swapped from 12b to 14b FF in 2 hours and 15 mintues. I imagine you could do it a bit quicker just goin from 10b to 10b. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
it all depends on how motivated you are and how much those darn U-bolts have rusted...... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
true dat...mine are going to have to be cut right out when i go to do my lift..guess its a good thing they come with them eh?
 
Experience is everything.....

The first time doing anything will probably take you TWICE as long as people tell you.

You need to learn which parts come off, how to setup the jacks so they don't get in the way....how to get the truck high enough that you can actually get the axle out from underneath.....how rusted the U-Bolts are and if you'll need to by new parts....etc.

Everyone likes to brag about how fast they can do swaps, but without KNOWING that you have all the right tools, parts and ability....give yourself a WHOLE DAY. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
yeea, my dad is never home to take me to any junk yards to look for axles, and my mom wont, my friends are working, i dont have any family around here /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif, im [censored] for the most part, unless i take it to a friends family members auto repair place, and have them just put an open carrier in it with new bearings, just reuse the ring and pinoin, im in a rock and a hard place /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif, i have no ideaa what im gunna do, and if i goto the salvage yard i gotta look for one, which means i gotta take off the cover and take a chance to see if the stamping of what gear ratio is gunna be faceing right at me /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif. i dont knwo what im gunna do now.
 
make sure you get new u bolts and if you do just cut the old ones out if they look real bad if not just hit them witha good impact wrench and it should do the trick!
 
10 bolt to 10 bolt should be an easy swap/i say easy because all parts will interchange if the brakes arent too good on the other axle.the thing about getting a junk yard axle is if you dont replace everything or at least inspect it you may have anether exploding axle on your hands.when you go to pull it make sure you can spin both axle shafts and check the case to make sure everything feals tight.before you put it under i would take it apart and clean it out first and check to see if it all looks good.just a sugestion.
 
yea im going to the salvage yard tomarow morning, turns out i have 3.08:1 axles /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif, commen axle i guess, but what should i bring with, do they cut off the shock mounts, that would be a real PITA for me, i need some info on what the procedures are, thanks.

p.s. i plan on getting an axle with an open carrier, i dont want to deal with this crappy POS gov-loc sh*t

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that is really high gearing.are you sure that is what you got?the only thing i took with me is a craftman deep well 1/2 inch socket set,a crescent wrench,vice grips,and maybe a 2 foot piece of pipe as a breaker bar.the ubolts might be rusted to get off thats why i say breaker bar.maybe a flat tip and a crosstip screwdrivermake sure the truck is set up to wheree it cant fall over.i was taking a tranny out of a camaro in the junk yard and it fell over with me under it.luckily they dont weigh much and i held it up until a couple of other guys came over and helped me get it up.i think i had one of those adrenaline rushes because i held that thing for a few seconds until the other guys came over.i was lucky but it can happen if you are not carefull.so that is the first and foremost thing to do is get the truck stable.then take the lower shock off then take one ubolt off at a time.pull the drum and disconnect the ebrake or just cut them off with the vice grips like i did if you dont need the cable.if you want the drums most yards will charge extrea for them.make sure you bring a floor jack also to lower the axle side by side when you are taking the ubolts off.after you lower it drag it out from under the truck and hopefully they have a wheel barrow or hand truck so you dont have to drag the axle across the yard to pay for it.then go home and inspect all the parts and clean up the internals before you put more gear lube in there.thats all i can think of.good luck and happy hunting /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
cool, yea i have 3.08:1 gears, yea they cut the u-bolts off the truck, i just gotta find one that has 3.08 gears and is in decent shape with an open carrier. i got an assortment of tools that should suit my needs, both 3\8's and 1\2 inch, i just gotta find a good one so i can get this thing going again. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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yea im probly gunna look at the blazers there, i dont know if they have any 1\2 ton 4x4 trucks. ill see if they have the ratio and open difff im lookin for. wish me luck /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

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What size tires are you running? If you're running 33's to 35's, now would be a good time to improve your truck. I would go ahead and get a rear axle with 3.73's instead of 3.08's, then find a matching front axle to go with the rear. Your truck will drive SO much better with the 3.73's. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

I would suggest 4.10's, but those are pretty rare in 1/2-ton axles. They would be much harder to find. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
yea that would be nice, but im trying to get the truck going again, and i went to the junkyard today to look for a rear end, didnt find one, found one, and it was the same ratio, same everything, except it was a GOV-BOMB, wasnt in to terribly bad shape, but it was a gov-loc, i want one with an open carrier, so i dont blow it again, and the other junk yards want 400$ or 250$ for the rear end, i dont know what to do, im not going to put another front axle on my truck i dont want to [censored] with it that much.
 
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