re-gear stock axles or upgrade

[letsbefamous]

hi all...

i just bought a 82 k5 blazer with a 6.2l diesel... its an NA motor, the only upgrades that i know about are kennedy fast glow plugs and custom dual exhaust... my question is this... should i regear the stock corporate 10 axles, or upgrade to a corporate 14/dana 44 set... the truck isnt going to be a real serious trail truck, its more of a restoration project.. it has a 4 inch lift and 33 inch tires right now.. and i will most likely make it a little higher, leaning twards an 8 inch lift, and 35's... it will be taken off road, but not all too often, its more just for looks and to pull my friends out of ditches, etc...

any advice is greatly apreciated...

thanks

 

[MattK]

you'll be just fine with 35's. if you do upgrade, just go with a 14 bolt rear. a 44 isn't really much of an upgrade from a 10 bolt.

 

[78 k5]

What he said. Replacing a 10 bolt with a D44 is not an upgrade. But the 14bff would be a good swap and they are a dime a dozen. With 35's I wouldn't gear any more than 3.73 or 4.10.

 

[tRustyK5]

If it has the 700R-4 I'd go with 4.56's. Good gears are the best 'wake up' for the 6.2...

I'd stay away from 8" of lift though. You don't need any more than 4" to run 35's anyways and anything over a 4" lift gets a lot more spendy with driveline mods among other things. Also the higher the lift the more 'tippy' things get...

I run 39.5's with 5" of lift...with just a scoach of fender trimming.

Rene

 

[MarcS]

What tRusty said... I have 4" lift, 35"s with 4.11's 10 bolts and a 700r4. It's like stock performance. Could have went to 4.88's no problem. I have a gas 350 though. Not sure what is a good RPM for the 6.2, small blocks like 1800-2500 RPM. I'm sure the diesel is lower though. Somebody here will know.

The 10 bolts should be fine with that setup and not going crazy off-road but don't rule out a 14 bsf for a rear upgrade someday over a 14 bff. It's alot lighter in mud and sand and much stronger than a 10b.

 

[letsbefamous]

thanks a lot for the input... its actually got the 4l60 out of a 91 in it... so, one more question... where is a good place to get a set of 4.56 gears for it?

 

[MarcS]

I got my stuff at Randys Ring and Pinion Click here
Got a good deal and really nice, informative sales people, no pressure.

 

[tRustyK5]

What tRusty said... I have 4" lift, 35"s with 4.11's 10 bolts and a 700r4. It's like stock performance. Could have went to 4.88's no problem. I have a gas 350 though. Not sure what is a good RPM for the 6.2, small blocks like 1800-2500 RPM. I'm sure the diesel is lower though. Somebody here will know.

The 10 bolts should be fine with that setup and not going crazy off-road but don't rule out a 14 bsf for a rear upgrade someday over a 14 bff. It's alot lighter in mud and sand and much stronger than a 10b.

The 6.2 makes peak fuel economy at 1700-1800 rpm (cruise) but is just as happy running at 2700 rpm...just get's correspondingly worse fuel mileage.

4.56's, 35's and 4L60 (700R-4) at 65 mph is turning a hair under 2000 rpm. Nice for the tranny, and in the good economy range. Should have plenty of grunt around town too.

rene

 

[Z3PR]

Last set of 3/4 ton axles I bought cost a whooping $250.00. If you can find a set of 3/4 with the gears you want, might be cheaper then just doing the 14 bolt and regearing the 10 bolt.