i have issues

[transman731]

i have just rcently bought my 88 k5,and am getting ready to start working on it.
my problem is that it has 2:73 gears in it. i have yet to drive it because i bought it with a bad tranny. if i put 33'3 or 35's on it, it will be a dog.
this is going to be a daily driver and i will most likely not be doing any serious wheeling with it,(i have other things i'm planning on tearing up). i am not against re-gearing it but is it worth it? all work is being done by myself (i own a transmission/auto repair shop) and parts wouldn't kill me.
i have looked for 14 bolt ff and they are like "hens teeth" around here. i have a 2 rear 14 bolt sf at the shop (1 is 94 2500 and the other is in a 3500 van). if i am going to do all that work i would prefer to put in ff.

if i re-gear the 10 bolts and put in chrome moly axles will they hold up to daily driving/mild wheeling ?

if i were to put the 14 sf rear in, can i just re-gear the 10 bolt up front and would that hold up.

if the 10 bolt up front would work, is there a way to make them 8 lug ?




sorry to ramble on, and any help on this would be appreciated. i have finally got the money to start working on it and like to have all my "ducks in a row" before i start projects. i have plenty of shop space but any room the blazer takes up costs me money. (in more than 1 way)
thanks in advance.

 

[4X4HIGH]

i have just rcently bought my 88 k5,and am getting ready to start working on it.
my problem is that it has 2:73 gears in it. i have yet to drive it because i bought it with a bad tranny. if i put 33'3 or 35's on it, it will be a dog.
this is going to be a daily driver and i will most likely not be doing any serious wheeling with it,(i have other things i'm planning on tearing up). i am not against re-gearing it but is it worth it? all work is being done by myself (i own a transmission/auto repair shop) and parts wouldn't kill me.
i have looked for 14 bolt ff and they are like "hens teeth" around here. i have a 2 rear 14 bolt sf at the shop (1 is 94 2500 and the other is in a 3500 van). if i am going to do all that work i would prefer to put in ff.

if i re-gear the 10 bolts and put in chrome moly axles will they hold up to daily driving/mild wheeling ?

if i were to put the 14 sf rear in, can i just re-gear the 10 bolt up front and would that hold up.

if the 10 bolt up front would work, is there a way to make them 8 lug ?




sorry to ramble on, and any help on this would be appreciated. i have finally got the money to start working on it and like to have all my "ducks in a row" before i start projects. i have plenty of shop space but any room the blazer takes up costs me money. (in more than 1 way)
thanks in advance.

A 14ff out back would be your best bet. If they are that hard to find in your area then the next best would be a 14sf. If you decide to go with 33" tires and it is mainly a daily driver i would go with 3.73 gearing but if you go with 35's i would run 4.10 gears at a minimum. The pinion gear starts to get pretty small at 4.56 or numerically larger so i would stay away from that unless you find a 14ff. The front axle won't be too big of an issue since it doesn't gets used as much on a daily driver.

To answer your last questions, if it is a daily driver/light wheeler i don't see a need for any aftermarket shafts at all.

Yes you can just regear the front 10 bolt to match a 14sf or 14ff gearing.

Yes you can convert the 10 bolt from 6 to 8 lug pretty easily, all you need is the caliper bracket mounts and the 8 lug hub/rotor assembly (maybe spindles also depending on the year of the hub/rotor assemblies since there was a 1st and 2nd design spindle which used a different inner wheel bearing).