school me a little bit please?

[creamsicle68]

alright guys, so i just bought a 68 chevy k10 4x4. im not completley new to the trucks, but im more of a dirtbike a quad mechanic than i am trucks. well anyway. i was just wonderin if you guys could give me a little help on what is actually under my truck. like as far as rears and trans and transfer case go? its a 68 4x4 with a 4 speed (granny 1st) whitch from beeing around the site sounds like a sm465? is this right? also i have no clue what transfer case i could have. so if anyone could give some insight on what the truck should have came with( the drivetrain is all orginal). also i was told the truck came with a heavy duty package? would that just be suspention or would that give it beefier rears as well? and finally with the 4x4 and the hd package(if there was one) is there any insight to what gears i could be running? it turns 35's w/o even struggling and i start in 2nd gear so im guessing the gears are pretty low? or is that just the trans?

sorry for the long post and stupid noob questions, but im still tryin to figure out what im doing with the truck and these forums haha
Thanks , Dalton

[Yukon Jack]

The front axle will be a closed knuckle Dana 44, rear axle should be a corporate 12 bolt. SM465 has reverse down and to the right, if it isn't that pattern than it will be the SM420. Transfer case will be the Rockwell T221.

[creamsicle68]

alright thanks a ton man. im findin a ton of info around the site but was just curiouse about those certain things. and yea the pattern is as you describe for the sm465. ive never heard of that transfer case tho. are they strong? i mean with rockwell in the name ide assum its tough but ya never know lol

[Yukon Jack]

Rockwell's main problem is limited parts availability. The are strong, some will say not quite as strong as the NP205, but strong. They have straight cut gears so they are loud. They definitely don't like to get low on gear oil (Imagine how I figured that out)

For your axle ratio, an easy way to figure it out is to mark your driveshaft with a white chalk mark and a mark a tire. Have someone move the truck forward as you count how many driveshaft rotations there are per tire rotation. A little more than 3 roations equals 3:08 gears, 3 3/4 rotations and you have 3:73 gears, a little more than 4 rotations equals 4:10 gear, 4 1/2 rotations equal 4:56 gears.

[LkyDevilz72]

Hell, if you finally got the steering arm off, you should just install crossover steering and save the hassle.