Need a little direction and advice

[ntx78k5]

Have a 78 K5 with a 350 TH350 NP203, Danna 44 front and a 12 bolt rear with 342's. Economically and strenght wise what is the better route? upgrade the Tcase and if so which one? and upgrade the existing axles to 411 or 456?

Or is there a Tcase that is a direct replacement where I wont have to have new drive shafts built and upgrade to used 3/4 ton or 1 ton axles with the proper gearing?

Am I making sense? havent had any caffine yet today....

 

[PsychoticDeadGuy]

what are your goals for your truck? i would say if you want to run tires any bigger than 33" go with 3/4 or 1 ton. i would recomend the 14bff for the rear just because its so beefey and sooo strong. but its also a bolt in axle. works great for me. from what i have heard, the np203 is a pretty good t-case.

 

[ntx78k5]

Goals for the truck are to stay with 35's, good trail rig, a little mile crawling on those trails. Mud for hunting season and to be able to drive it to and from the trails.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

You won't hurt the t-case any, so unless you really hate full time 4wd leave it in there. As far as axles, many people have had good luck with 35 on the stock 12 bolt/dana 44, but others break them every time out. If you want to upgrade, swap the rear out for a FF 14 bolt. I want to tell you to just wheel it until you break something, but you really need to regear with 35's (for power, mileage, and the life of your tranny). I would try and find a junkyard 3/4 ton Chevy (3/4 ton dana 44 front, probably a FF 14 bolt rear) that has 4.10 gears. It will be cheaper and easier to just swap both axles (changing gears is exensive if you don't know how to do it). You will need to change to 8 lug wheels, but it is pretty much a bolt on swap.

 

[beater_k20]

actually, for 35s, i might even consider a 14SF, simply for the fact that it has better ground clearance, and is plenty strong.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Yep, the 14 bolt SF would be plenty strong for 35's, so you can go that option too.

 

[ntx78k5]

actually, for 35s, i might even consider a 14SF, simply for the fact that it has better ground clearance, and is plenty strong.

14SF ??

 

[Chaddy]

SF mean's semi float and FF mean's full float. The difference between the 2 is the SF can come in a 6 lug pattern so you wont need to change rims and it has better clearance than the FF but the ring gear is smaller, your tire can FALL OFF if you break an axle. The FF has a bigger ring gear and a spindal-hub set-up so the wheels arent bolted directly to the shaft so your wheel cannot fall off if you break an axle and as far as clearance you can shave the FF down and get pretty much the same clearance as a SF. I know there is a lot more but I just woke up.