Easy rear end swap?

[ijasond]

I just finished the paint & upholstery on my 61 suburban & I'm once again realizing that if I'm going to drive this thing much, I need two things: power brakes & higher gears. I've got everything I need for the brakes on the way from CPP, but I don't know what to do about the incredibly low gear ratio that these trucks were so famous for. Can I just swap the rear end for a later model one, or is there more to it than that. I don't want to take my local mechanic's advice when someone here has probably done exactly what I need to do. (I was planning to keep the 6 lug drum/drum set up) Any help would be appreciated.

[LAFNATU]

I was fortunate enough to find a 12 bolt rearend out of a 67, it had the self adjusting brakes. All I had to do was cut the old spring pearches off and reatatch some new one's in the apporpriate places... then the gear options are endless....

[slepysal]

I am going to do the same thing .I scored a 1967 rear end off of my brother in law. He had converted to 5 lugs, but still had the 6 lug axles. Is yours a automatic, or stick ?
lafnatu: any tips on the rear brake hose,and parking brake cables ?

[chevroletrestoguy]

A good website for you to visit would be
www.drivetrainspecialists.com

[LAFNATU]

The brake hoses were no problem, i just cut off the support for the tee in the line and welded it to my axle. as for the E-brake i havent hooked it up yet, becareful when cutting the old pearches off, i cut into my axle trying to get as much off as i could to avoid all the grinding, i dident break thru, so i just welded the cut mark and ground it smooth. the whole process took me about 4 hours, O i would also recomend you purchase new u-bolts while your at it, i thought mine were o.k. untill it was time to take them off, they wouldnt come off so they got cut....

[slepysal]

thanks for the tip. How did you set the pinion angle ? What track bar did you use ?

[LAFNATU]

I used the original bars, for the pinion angle i just inserted the drive shaft into the tranny and rolled up the axle to match the drive shaft.

[LAFNATU]

Woops: I used the bar off the 67 cut and added about 3/4" to it.

[shade67]

I would look at a 67-70 gmc- it should have the correct perches on it so you won't need to cut yours off. measure yours first then the one from the donor to double check it and Just bolt it in.

[slepysal]

Originally Posted by shade67

I would look at a 67-70 gmc- it should have the correct perches on it so you won't need to cut yours off. measure yours first then the one from the donor to double check it and Just bolt it in.

not for the 60-62 (63?) the perches and trac bar mount difrent. Had it been a 64 it would be a fast bolt on . Same for the early axles. You can get 5 lug axles for 64-66 but not 60-62 . ah the lovley world of my 60.
See you at the bbq !