TeK said:
alright works for me. The truck was originally a heavy half truck which I assume(we know where that leads though) has 12 bolts f/r.
if its an 86 K5 and the axles are factory, it should be 10-bolt front and rear. There is no 12 bolt front axle... those are rear-end only, though if you're not the original owner other axles could have been swapped in. Just for your own sake, you should check out the tech section here on ck5 and use the "axle identifyer" thing so you know what you have. Other than knowing where you want to be, knowing where your rig is now is pretty much the most important thing to know.
I have a 14 bt for the rear and a front dana 60(if i ever go pick it up).
if you ever want to run 42s, the ff14b / D60 are the axles to have... go get 'em!
Its a 350 small block w/ what I assume is a 700r4(square pan and the inside cluster(original) has overdrive.
the 700R4 is a decent transmission, it has the lowest 1st gear of the common GM automatics and it has OD. The greatest enemy of the 700 is heat, for some reason they have a nasty habit of having their lives cut short due to excessive heat. Best mod you can make with a 700 is a big azz tranny oil cooler. B&M makes very nice stacked-plate all-aluminum ones that work great.
T-case I'm not sure about.
not sure if they used the np208 in 1986 or not... thats what my 85 had. At some point they went to either a 231/241. These are all decent cases, but the later is the most desirable. All of them come from the factory with slip yokes on the rear output which is not what you want. Thankfully, slip-yoke-eliminator kits are common for the 31-41.
The truck is gona be my daily driver. Still not sure if I wana do some muddin w/ it. Another rig will come later after I finish some of my other projects(never enough time right?).
if its gonna be purely offroad only and you're going to build another 'wheeler later on... what I'd do is swap the ff14b into your 86, but keep the 10 bolt. Regear the diffs to offset the newt tire size and get them 42s. A 10 bolt front is a decent axle... and driving on a street should be a problem even with tires that size. If thats all its gonna be used for, just save the 60 for the offroad beast.
As far as the amount of lift goes, are you willing to trim fenders? Fitting 42s can be done with as little as 4" of suspension lift if you are... and can require an un-godly amount of lift if you aren't.
j
