Axle Help..

[wario26]

Hope that this hasn't been addressed yet. What axles do you guys recommend for a 1970 4x4 SWB. Another question which vehicles can I find your recommended axles. I am going to go junkyard shopping.
Thanks for your responses.

[Mike C]

For what? The ones in it work just fine...

Did you break it? Does it need to be stronger or just a stock replacement? Do you want less gear? More gear? Does it need to bolt in or can you weld perches and shock mounts? Do you want 8 lugs instead of 6? Is keeping the 6 lug so you don't have to get new wheels and tires an issue? Do you want to stay drum or discs in the front?

No exactly clear on what sort of help you need...

[wario26]

Thanks for the response Mike. The deal with the truck is that the axles I have are all drum and I wanted to go at least disk front and drum rear. I don't know if you had a chance to look at the pics that I have uploaded. The axles seem to be from a scout or something similar. I have the a 44 front and 60 rear. What bothers me the most is not being able to find a disk kit for the front since it's a closed knuckle and another thing I might not be able to find wheels for them. I have no idea what gears they have and it really doesn't matter to me since it's a project restoration gift for my daughter.

[Mike C]

I see the one picture of the side of the truck. Sure the truck is not a 69? It would have had closed knuckles. 70 is an open knuckle drum brake truck and you can swap the knuckles from a later 44 along with the discs and axle shafts.

You said this is a shortbed truck? If so it should have the 12 bolt rear and the 44 front. Obviously the easiest is to find a 71-72 donor for both axles. Any of the 71-87 front axles will bolt in, perch and shock mount work needed on the 73 and up rear axles. Dana 44 up until around 78-79 and corporate 10 bolt until 87. 91 in the Suburban and the Blazer.

If all you want are discs, grab a 6 lug disc front from any year that has the same gear ratio that your truck currently has in the rear.

Please supply some pictures of the front and rear differentials as well as the knuckles on the front so we can better identify.

[jeffahart]

I also had to 1970 aardvark one year dana 44 axle. It need rebuilt so I scrapped it and put in an axle set off a CUCV. Look into a Military CUCV 5/4 ton axle swap, it will give 4.56 ratio. Although it may be overkill for what you want, it is a great option that you should study and give consideration as long as you are doing axle research.

[OrrieG]

Is your daughter going to use it for a mall cruiser or off-road use? Lots of highway use or around town? I think 70's 1/2 ton autos were 3.70 ratio, 4 speed 4.11. I have 74 axles in mine with 3.70 ratio with 28" tall tires which seems to be the best combination of around town/highway/off-road for me.

[kwmech]

I'd keep the 12 bolt rear and put disc brakes on the front, done

[wario26]

Thanks for the reply KW,

The deal is that I can't find any aftermarket wheels for these axles due to the bolt pattern. 6 x 7" or 6 x 177.8. Any other ideas that you think might work?

[wario26]

Just for info the front is a Dana 44 with 4.89 gears and the rear is a Dana 60 with 4.88 gears. Hopefully you guys can help me out.

[Mike C]

6 on 6.5" is GM's bolt pattern with large center hole. Please provide pictures of your front and rear axles before we go any further. If someone has completely swapped in some bizarro setup you should start over.

Once again, what is your level of skill? Can you weld? Are you able to set pinion angle and relocate shock mounts? These trucks are easy to modify with some tools and skills and need to know where you are at.

Any 71-91 Blazer or Suburban would be a suitable donor. Or if you are going to buy wheels any 8 lug truck from 71-91 would be an acceptable donor. I would look for a mid 80's 4x4 2500 Suburban for the semi-float 14 bolt and the 8.5" 10 bolt. Re-located spring mounts and fab new shock mounts. Done. By 8 lug wheels that you like. Wind up with much newer components and heavier duty brakes.

[kwmech]

How are you measuring the bolt pattern, never heard of anything different than the standard 6 lug pattern, which is 6 on 5.5'' the 8 lug is 6.5 center

[kwmech]

Never mind, caught the pics in the other forum

[special-K]

post pictures here if you'd like some help. Doesn't sound like you have anything original

[andrewmp6]

On the bolt pattern did you go center of the lug to center of the lug ?If you went from outside edge to outside edge that will throw your numbers off.They do sell tools to make it easier like http://www.made4uproducts.com/cart/p...?prod=80-21692 Or a pcd gauge is 10 bucks on ebay you use it on a rim but will tell you the bolt pattern or anything really.

[72K20super]

I just swapped out every thing from the knuckles out on mine when I did it. It is cheap to do since any chevy Dana 44 parts should work and are readily available at wrecking yards. Maybe I just got lucky but I think this fairly common.

[wario26]

Thanks Gents. Been a while since I have logged in . I just removed the odd lug pattern axles and got some Chevy 6 lug from a junk yard. They look pretty good. I will be discarding the ones I took off.