88 3/4 ton suburban axle shaft the same as a 88 1/2 ton?

[jonzcustomshop]

looks like the u joint is wiped out on the axle shaft of the 88 3/4 ton suburban front axle I am using... I have a "parts" axle out of another 88 sub, but it is a 1/2 ton... any chance that they are the same?
both axles have a 10 bolt cover, and for all I can tell look the same except for the different hubs...
both are the manual style (you get out and turn to "free" or "lock")

this is the short axle shaft that has the bad u joint.

or? would it be just as easy(or hard) to just replace the u joint on the current axle?

[obijuan]

somewhere around that year gm went from 28 to a 30 spline ten bolt. its a 50 50 shot.


probably a direct swap, but then you could swap spider gears as well. id stick with 28 cause theyre a whole lot more common.

[DirtyLarry]

The axle shafts should be the same but the u-joint is very easy to change as long as the axle shaft ends didn’t get wasted when the joint failed. All you need is a bench vise and a hammer to replace those u-joints.

[jonzcustomshop]

thanks, I guess that will be step 1 , no reason to take 2 apart if I can fix the 1.

[special-K]

Yeah,if the u-joint just wore out,I'd replace it. If they break while you're giving it he!! or one breaks and you continue to run with it,there's a good chance the axle yoke got beat into an egg shape and that is axle replacement time.