[pic] How common are...

[pvfjr]

...S-10 10-bolts with 4.56's? The RPO codes said this thing had 3.42's, but we suspected that it may have been modified, so we decided to double check the bad rear end before we got a replacement. The pinion used to have 9 teeth (now has 7) and the ring gear has 41, so 4.56 ratio. Check out this carnage!

Random magnet found at bottom of case, full of shavings, and two pinion teeth.

So how hard is it gonna be to find a replacement axle for this. I'm thinking that these axles can't be too common among S10 blazers, but I don't know.

 

[87BrnRsd]

I dont nkow how common they are but I see a lot of s-10's driving around so it shouldnt be too hard to find. Oh, and GM puts that magnet in there to collect metal shavings so they dont float around and kill the gears. The adhesive they use to glue it down isnt really that strong, so if something hits it and knocks it loose, it gets chewed up by the gears.
BTW- I dont think gm put 4.56's in anything except the military axles with the detroits in them. It could have been a replacement ring and pinion set.

-Harrison

 

[pvfjr]

Well it wasn't an open carrier, though I don't know what it was that was in there. That magnet was loose, but was at the bottom and didn't look chewed up, but there's two teeth busted off so something happened in there.

I've never set up gears, so what are our options here? I'd prefer an axle replacement. I found a 4.10 axle, which wouldn't be bad, but then I'd have to swap the front to match, and that's a whole other world I don't know about.

It's kinda weird, being IFS and all. Seems like it has automatic hubs, though it doesn't even look like it has hubs. I'm not sure what's in there, though it seems like an open diff. It seems like it has hubs that are disengaged unless the transfer case is in gear, so we had to get 3 wheels off the ground to figure out what gears the front had! You never know about those PO's.

 

[Hossbaby50]

4.56's can be found in some GM trucks other then the military K30's. They are rare but they do exist. If you find a K30 with a 6 cylinder you will probably have found a truck with 4.56 gears.

My roommates 66 Chevy C10 has 4.56's in it. It is a 6 cylinder truck. Alot of the old chevy's like that had 4.56's in them.

As far as S-10's go I doubt they ever came with 4.56's. You will probably have to order a new set of gears from a drivetrain place or internet or the like.

Harley

 

[pvfjr]

I think I've found a set of 4.10's, sounds like that would be the cheapest way to go. Then I could just swap the whole rear end and put the gearset in the front. What would I need to know about regearing the front end? Never had anything to do with the front of an IFS S10 like this, don't know what I'd be getting myself into.

 

[1979jimmy350]

you have to take the entire front differantal out of the truck to swap the gears. It is a long process

 

[pvfjr]

Well we have to work out of an auto hobby shop, and can't leave it there while it's all taken apart for a long time. So can it be driven without the front diff? Seems like it should be able to. Do I have to remove the drive axles, or do they disconnect from the diff somehow. Is the diff bolted to the frame or something? I really don't know how this works, but I'm never afraid of diving into something (not my rig anyway).

 

[1979jimmy350]

no you can not drive it with out the diff you have to pull both thte axles then unbolt thte dif from the frame. One way a lot of people will do it so there car is not down for a long time is just buy a front diff from the junk yard and put the gears in that . then when you go to swap the stuff all you have to do is unbolt the old and bolt in the new. Then you could sell your old front diff because with 4.56 not being offerend normaly you might be able to get some money for it

 

[big83chevy4x4]

i think it would be alot easier to swap the gears in the rear than it would be to pull the front diff, swap gears, and install diff. it took me 1 day my first time setting up gears.

 

[MEPR]

IFS is complicated but i have tore the whole front end of 3LUVs down to bare frame. Only diference is that the S-10 has bigger diff and A arms on the bottom instead of traction blades like the LUV. We could do it, only problem is its a long proces and you cant be rushed so the auto hobby shop would probly be a bad place to tear it down at

 

[pvfjr]

no you can not drive it with out the diff you have to pull both thte axles then unbolt thte dif from the frame.

Don't the A arms and everything hold the wheels on? I don't see why the diff and drive axles need to be there. I'm just talking about driving across the street to a different parking lot and leaving it.

And yeah, I could swap the rear gears, but I wouldn't trust anything in that housing after the thrashing those missing teeth gave it. Besides, I'd still be stuck with the problem of finding 4.56's, which is probably a bit much for the tires that this will run anyway.

Maybe we could just pull the front diff from the same donor as the rear axle, and swap it out. Would be a little less work. Or we could just put 4.56's in the rear and ONLY use the 4WD when we're REALLY slipping around a lot. Then we could worry about 4.10's for the front when we get a straight axle... Hmm, well I should probably run it past the owner.

 

[R72K5]

factory in GM 1/2 tons and smaller were 3.73 and less(numerically)

4.56, 4.57 and such were in the eaton and dana axles 3/4 ton and up

now if you found say a datsun or toyota or chevy luv pickup or something alot of them were 4.10 axle,



but not GM

altough there is a very uncommon ratio of 4.11 in gm full size trucks, hard to find, in the 67-72 years it required ordering 3 speed manual plus overdrive unit, rare to find an example of,


and just cuz was 6 cyl dosnt mean crap
it all depended on year make model engine trans combo, etc,

good luck

 

[MEPR]

you can run the truck whith out the CVs and diff. You will just have a HUGE hole in the back of the knuckle where your CV should mesh whith the hub. You upper and lower ball joints hold the steering knuckle onto the A-arms just like they do on a solid axle to the tube. The CVs have no relationship to the load bearing of the front end.
Heres a quick rundown of what youll have to do to drop that out...
Jack truck up and pull off tires, you might need 2 sets of jack stands for the quick and fun way of taking out the ball joints. Set the truck on set of jackstands and set the second set about 2" below the lower A-arms. Now unbolt your calipers and lower ball joint. Now grab your biggest hammer and hit the lower controll arm a few times. It should come off and hit the jack stand (the other option is to completly unload the torsion bars, i did this my first time and its a PITA). Now you can swing the knuckle up and slip the CV out of the hub. Do this on both sides then unbolt the diff supports and it will come down. If the S-10 front end is like the Isuzu ones the frame brakets that hold the entire assembly up will also hold the CVs into the diff, so you have to pull them out as an assembly. Its realy not as hard as you would think, at least not on a LUV...