CK5
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How many of you are running 1.5" spacers on your 12 bolt rear axle?
- Thread starter CK5
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2" on the rear 12b and 1 3/4 on front D44
elyon
1/2 ton status
2" spacers on my 14 bolt. I swear it improved my trucks handling characteristics. Looks a heck of a lot better as well.
Interesting issue I have that is related to this question. I don't run spacers and because of that, my rear axle fits onto my trailer, but my front does not. 
Every time I need to trailer the blazer I have to swap out one of my front tires for a skinny spare just so it fits on the trailer.
Every time I need to trailer the blazer I have to swap out one of my front tires for a skinny spare just so it fits on the trailer.
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Even thou I run smaller spacers on the front, my front is still wider than the rear. Maybe it;s a stability / handling thing.
Wider front axle better tracking
Wider front axle better tracking
Even thou I run smaller spacers on the front, my front is still wider than the rear. Maybe it;s a stability / handling thing.
I've always been told they were narrower in the back to help with the turning radius.
On my 86 I run 1.5" on a 14SF, on my 98 14FF I run 2" on the rear. No problems at all.
I am now running 2 inch spacers on the front of my dana 60. With the h2 rims I had no turning radius and my tires were rubbing my link arms.
I skipped the spacers on my suburban. I went with a complete axle swap to a 2005 Silverado disk brake rear end. Six lug, disk brakes, parking brakes, and it is 4 inches total (2 inches per side) wider than the stock axle.
I skipped the spacers on my suburban. I went with a complete axle swap to a 2005 Silverado disk brake rear end. Six lug, disk brakes, parking brakes, and it is 4 inches total (2 inches per side) wider than the stock axle.
Nice! What size wheels are you running? I'm wondering if my 15's would clear the brakes on that axle.
-Rob
Nope, minimum is 16. And if you go with my front brakes you'll wanna look at doing 17" rims. The 17 inchers I'm running pretty much look stock on the full size truck. I have different rims now, just waiting on tie money to install.
BTW, I'm running four piston Hummer H3 front disks and calipers in the front. If you eventually want the Hummer brakes in front you'll need 17's anyway. Might, and I mean might be able to run a 16 in front but rim selection would be critical. I like to do things as a system and make changes once instead of several times. The rims that work perfect with the rear axle swap and the front brake swap are the Black Rock 937 rims.
You can see in this side shot how the 17 inch rims really don't stand out and pretty much look like a stock size.
BTW, I'm running four piston Hummer H3 front disks and calipers in the front. If you eventually want the Hummer brakes in front you'll need 17's anyway. Might, and I mean might be able to run a 16 in front but rim selection would be critical. I like to do things as a system and make changes once instead of several times. The rims that work perfect with the rear axle swap and the front brake swap are the Black Rock 937 rims.
You can see in this side shot how the 17 inch rims really don't stand out and pretty much look like a stock size.
Figured I'd add, it was an easy swap both front and rear. For details check my "pure chevy sex" thread. But suffice to say, even the u joint was the same. Also gets you larger 14x1.5mm lugs and easier maintenance on brakes and axles.
Miller time
Registered Member
Is this a 14bolt?I skipped the spacers on my suburban. I went with a complete axle swap to a 2005 Silverado disk brake rear end. Six lug, disk brakes, parking brakes, and it is 4 inches total (2 inches per side) wider than the stock axle.
i think its a modern version of whatever the 10 bolt is now days. Might be wrong though.
Did you have to do anything special to mount it up? Looks like maybe the perches had to be welded on? What about the shock mounts?
Did you have to do anything special to mount it up? Looks like maybe the perches had to be welded on? What about the shock mounts?
Yep, modern 10 bolt (8.6 chevy) rear end. Disk brake rear out of a 05 silverado. Wider width, just removed the bump stops on the axle. The new spring pads go where the bump stops are on the axle. The u-joint is the same also. The parking brake was pretty easy to match up to my burbs cable. A brake hardline extension to switch sides from passenger to drivers side allowed me to even run the silverados brake lines. Find my "pure chevy sex" thread and get the BEST brakes you can do on a half ton square body.
ETA: also moved and raised the shock mounts, but kept their relative location.
ETA: also moved and raised the shock mounts, but kept their relative location.
Very nice. I'm probably going to look at going with a 3.73 or 4.10 setup with one of the later gm 14 bolts that has the disc brake setup on it but this will probably be easy to find and if I find one with a 3.73 setup it might be the easier of the two to go to (and probably afford). I had a really good deal on one the other week but I was low on cash and it probably got sold because I have not seen it pop up on craigslist again.
I'd love to see about swapping in a rear from a '14, or '15 Chevy half ton. GM upgraded the rear diff to 9.5"...and a 12 bolt cover.
