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Maximum size of tires for gm 10bolt axles ?

T

thierryben

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Hi guys , I need your advice , because in france nobody knows the K5 full size ,

on my Blazer K5 of 1990 I have in front and rear 2 axles in gm 10 bolt 8.5" with 30 spline ,

what is your opinion ? what is the maximum size of tires that I can use without risk of breaking my axles or diff in exterm offroading use,

I preapare this chevy for doing offroad in france and I think to put a detroit locker in the rear axle and a detroit true trac in front ,

and an other question ( the last :wink1: ) it's for the references for order my locker and true trac , do you think that the rear and the front differential are the same on my axles ?


many thanks by advance from france

thierry
 
There is a moron where I am that has 49" Iroc's. Never see's offroad but still. Lot of people say 35s, but if you don't wheel hard a 37/38 might work.
 
I've always heard 35" if you're going off road with the stock 10 bolts. That's what I run and I haven't had any problems. I'm a pretty conservative driver. If you're going to run lockers, you proabably don't want to go much bigger.
 
Thierry,

I'd stay in the 35" range as a maximum size. Keep in mind when you put lockers in those axles you are going to add a lot more stress to the u-joints and inner axle shafts so breakage is going to be more likely than if you just ran 35's on 10-bolts and open diffs.

You can add chromoly shafts and beefier u-joints to reduce your chances of breakage, but keep an eye on the costs of those parts.... it's easy to spend a lot of money before you even realize what is happening.


:usaflag:
 
I agree with 35s. 38s if you know how to behave and play in mostly mud. I ran 38s for like 5 years with only one front shaft breakage. I now have them under a s10 with 33s with a locked rear and I beat the crap out of it. No breakage yet
 
33" tires over 200k on the axles.

35" tires - 2 blown 10 bolt rears in 3k miles. didn't go wheeling once either

waiting for good weather to put in my 14 blot sf :D
 
I would say 35s if you don't mind breaking an axle sometimes.

33s if you want it to more reliable
 
33s IMO are the max for 10 bolts if you are going to beat on it.
I run 33s locked front and rear with few problems. I have tried 35s and it is pushing the limit on 10 bolts.
 
im going to test my 3/4 ton d44 with my 37" boggers. I dont expect it will last long but there cheap so if it lasts a couple runs i will be happy.
 
I would not go larger than a 35" tire and i would discourage putting any type of locking diff up front, the rear won't be a problem as long as you keep a light skinny pedal. The front being open you can simply apply a small amount of brake to make a wheel work better.
 
i ran my 10 bolts with 35's for about a year i gave them hell and i had no problems with the axles themselves just 2 busted rear drive shafts, a busted slip yolk, and my passenger side axle tube looked like it was bending. i guess i just got good luck tho but now i got 1 tons :D nothing like not having to worrying about axles exploding.
 
I watched a 1973 K20 break a Dana 44 on the very first hill it tried to climb after installing a locker and 37x12.50x16.5's.Martin
 
33's if your are going to beat it hard...I've ran 35's for several years without being too rough on the 10 bolts...I will be stepping up to 37's on my 3/4 tons with open front.
 
Kinda OT but I was looking through a box of older 4x4 magazines(about '89-'95) and there were SO many guys running 10 bolts, 12 bolts, & D44's with 44's it was amazing.....

I am going to throw 44's on my 10 bolts for awhile but I'll just baby it around untill I can find 3/4 Tons....... would rather look cool first, add beef later lol! People will give me crap but IT'S A PROJECT

-John
 
OK , many thanks for your advice , I will put 35" on my K5 and a ratio of ring and pinion in 4.56 .

for the rear a detroit locker , and for the front , I'm thinking for a detroit true track , detroit locker say that his trutrac is very smoothly in work , do you think that it's a good idea for my front axle ? if it's very smoothly there is no problem of breaking for my front axle with the 35"?

and I have find my tires , I have heard your advice and I have buy in France 4 BF Goodrich Krawler in 35/13.5/15

I join a pics of my new tires:

 
A friend of mine ran a 91 F/S Bronco on 35's with true-trac's front and rear. He never had any problems out of it. He'd follow guys with lockers front/rear around all day long. Just apply very slight brake if it starts to slip and it'd lock right back up and pull, even with one front wheel in the air.
 
I think the gear ratio might have something to do with it too. Teeth on a 456 gear are smaller then a 308 gear. Wheb I ran the 38s it was on a 373 gear and I did basically fields of mud so there wasn't much traction. The one time I broke the front shaft was giving half a pedal in 4low on gravel
 
i would say for a complete truck that hasn't been lightened, you're looking at 33s for peace of mind. you could run 35s, but you're always gonna have it nagging in the back of your mind.

a member here (cybersniper ?) built a cab truck on 40s with 10 bolts and kept it together, but it only weighed 2,600 pounds.
 
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