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what do i need to get to bolt up 8 lug wheels to my stock 6 lug 10 bolt fron axel?

J

jaybuller

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I have just picked up a matching 3.73 set of 8 lug rears for my blazer. i pulled them out of a 90 suburban. the rear is a 14 bolt and the front looks like a dana 44.... or 10 bolt? not sure the difference it looks just like my stock 89 10 bolt 6 lug. any ways i am going to swap out my stock 10 bolt rear for the 14 bolt 8 lug. so now i need to swap in the 3.73 gears out of the 8 lug d44 and also i need to make my stock 10 bolt a 8 lug. Can i just take the 8 lug part of the d44 and bolt it up in place of the 6 lug? will all else be the same? i dont want to swap in the whole thing because its rusty and all the ball joints and steering on mine are all new! so i just want to swap over the 8 lug parts to make mine a 8 lug!!! confusing i know but i just wandered if anyone ever did this? and if they knew if it would work. Thank you all
 
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ah ok thanks.... to bad all that stuff on the new 8 lug axel is all rusty!!! mabey i should just dissasemble it all and sandblast it and then put it all back together on the d44? that way i wont be messing with swapping out the gear set too? its the brakes and stuff that are rusty on the d44....
 
just had an idea... can i just swap ou the 14bolt 8 lug axel shafts for some 6 lug shafts? that way i wont have to buy all new wheels and tires... how bout those 140 dollar 8 lug to 6 lug wheel adapters? they are 2" thick so they would make the rear track width match the front as well? but i dont know about long term ability to hold up as far as wheel bearings go and stuff.....
 
Assuming you have the 14-bolt semifloating rear axle (also referred to as the 9.5" 14-bolt). You can change shafts and drums to 6-lug but you need to verify what you have and get matching parts.

For the front axle from the '90 it would a 10-bolt if stock, and if it looks like your current 10-bolt than it's a 10-bolt. D44's have a distinctly different diff cover shape. It's pretty simple to swap the 8-lug to 6-lug stuff.....if you can repack wheel bearings you can do this as it's just a few more bolts. Regardless of how rusty the 8-lug axle is the only thing to be concerned about are the rotors, and new ones are pretty cheap at any auto store.
 
rotors are fine, its the rest of it... the dust plate, brake caliper and mount... its all rusty and flaking off every where..... yes i do have a 14 bolt sf 9.5 8 lug. and the new 8 lu front is a 10 bolt. so all the stuff on the fronts should swap over just fine i would think. Including all my new unjointed up shafts in my 6 lug front 10 bolt. as for the rear what do i need to get the 6 lug 14 sf axel shafts out of? is it out of a 2wd newer model 2500 truck? i would think those are the narrower 14 bolt sf...
 
One member here did a 14bsf swap to 6 lug, said it was a pain. Measuring axle shafts, ordering, getting wrong ones, ordering again, etc. I don't know every detail just remember he had a rough time with it.

The point I was going to make is, you have all the stuff to make the front 8 lug already. Just do that. This also gets you larger brakes for the front. You basicially swap everything from the brake backing plates/caliper brackets on out. Everything from the knuckles in is the same including the axle shafts. Oh, wait, the new axle is out of a 90? It should have the 30 spline inner axle shafts, so keep that in mind.

Here's another option for you, since the new axle has the larger 30 spline shafts. Put that housing with it's gears and axle shafts under your truck. Swap over your knuckles with the new ball joints in them, then put the 8 lug stuff back on. Replace the axle shaft u-joints and mod for full circle clips while you have it apart, this is cheap insurance. Have the existing 8 lug rotors turned on a lathe before reinstallation and get some new pads. Even new calipers are only 15 bucks unless your originals are good to go. Your original 6 lug calipers will swap over to the 8 lug. Did I miss anything?

I recently did the 3/4 ton axle swap on my own K5 and am VERY budget minded. If there is a way to upgrade for the cheapest amount possible but still be worthwhile, I will find it.
 
I believe he's talking about a '90 Sub and '89 K5. You can pull the shafts to verify but the '89 likely has the same 30-spline inner shafts, and now you have a spare set (slightly hard to come by because not a lot of trucks were built with a front 30-spline 10-bolt).

You can keep the same calipers and don't even had to open up the brake lines during the swap.
 
Ya know, for some reason, I thought his K5 was older like 85ish. I dunno why. Probably because I read about all the different trucks here and it just blends together after a while.
 
thanks guys, i did pull the guts out of both front 10 bolts. they do both have 30 spile shafts... i left my original 10 bolt under the truck, took the 3.08 gears out of it, all the 6 lug stuff also. then took the 3.73 gear set out of the new 10 bolt, all the 8 lug stuff and have it all in a big pile. i am going to reuse my stock calipers, and my stock manual locking hubs( if they fit) they look like they will. I also need to pull the limited slip out of my rear 10 bolt(looks like an eaton has the springs and clutch packs) deffinatley not a govlock... to see if i can put the front 3.73 gears on it and run the posi up front.... i fifgure i have it might as well use it if it fits... havent tried it yet though so i dont know if the rear 10 bolt posi will work up front. the new 14 bolt rear has a open diff so i think i am going to buy a trac lock or similer.... not sure yet on that though.
 
The rear posi should work assuming it is also 30-spline.

Don't even think about a Trac-lock, even though they don't make them for 14-bolts. Detroit True Tracs are decent limited slips, but any limited slip is only good if you do mostly daily driving with light wheelin'.
 
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