4wd rear swap questions

[Brimow525]

OK, I am new to this stuff and want to make sure I do it right. Truck is a 70 K20 with D44 in front (drums) and a Eaton rear. 4:10 gears. I want the truck to be a safe daily driver and have had a VERY hard time matching parts for the brakes a such. So I bought a set of rears from a 86 K2500 with 103,000 miles on it. 4:10 gears, with the leaf spings. 10 bolt in front and 14 bolt (non full floater) in the rear. I have taken apart the front axle, just the calibers and dics. Going to get the disc turned, new calibers, bearings and seals. Now the questions are..
1. Should I mess with the front axle u joints near the calibers? They don't "look" bad, but they look kinda hard to get at and replace. Going to be plowing with this truck. Not off roading.
2. Will the springs bolt right up to my 70 frame? I wanted to keep the newer springs. More leafs.
3. Can I have the rear shock mount moved to the other side to the axle with ease?
4. What is a good reliable locking hub to get for this setup?
5. Will the steering bolt right up to the 70 system?
Thats all I can think of at the moment. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Brimow525]

no takers huh?

[stan79chevy]

i think you could put the shock mount wherever you want and it shouldnt be a problem. all the other stuff im nor sure about but i think the 73-87 springs are longer. dont use spicer hubs the ones i had stuck all the time and you would have to rock the truck back and forth to get them unlocked

[Brimow525]

ttt...

[red450ih]

Put a 14 Semi float in place of an eaton? I would keep the eaton in the rear. There is noway I would pull it to put a 14 bolt Semi-floater in it's place. If the eaton ever gave up on me I would replace it with a 14 bolt Full Floater.


The ring gear diameters are as follows:
14 semi float 9.5 inches
14 Full Float 10.5 inches
Eaton Full Float 12.25 inches


Keith

[Brimow525]

Well, techically I could keep the eaton rear. Its the same gearing as the newer front rear I got. It's just SOOO hard to find the drums for it. Plus the spring pack on the newer rear has 2 more leafs that the old one. But it is something to consider.

[Brimow525]

OK, upon further thought, I think I'll keep the Eaton in the truck. My new question is, if I have to move the spring perches, how can I put them back on correctly so that my truck doesn't "crab walk"?

[Grim Reaper]

Originally Posted by Brimow525

OK, upon further thought, I think I'll keep the Eaton in the truck. My new question is, if I have to move the spring perches, how can I put them back on correctly so that my truck doesn't "crab walk"?

Measure, measue, measure.
You have to measure between the brake mounting flange and then set the pinon angle. The check by X measure from the sping purch to a fixed common point on the oposite frame rail. Really if the distance side to side is the same it shoudl not dog leg. If it does then the problem is usualy with the springs not the axle.

When you set the pinion angle you want to measure the down angle of the out put shaft of the tranny if it's a single peice drive shaft and set the up angle on the pion the same the trun the pinion down 1 degree to account for the pinions tendancy to want to climb the ring gear. Should run smooth. In the case of a two peice drive shaft you want the pinion agne to be the same as the angle on the middle U'joint at the carrier bearing. There should be no more then 1 degree if angle at the u-joint at the transmission.

[Brimow525]

I measured the front leafs on the newer axles and they are a 1/2" narrower than the original leafs. Can I move each side out a 1/4" and be OK? I have the measurements at the shop. If I remember I'll post what they are so you guys can point me in the right direction. Its a damn shame that the original axles are drums, I looked at them today and realized that the hubs are huge compared to the 86's hubs! Dana 44's. BIG difference.

[Grim Reaper]

That's an external hub and your replacement axle is internal. That replacement axle is strong. It has stronger axle shafts, it has bigger u-joints and the internal hub is just as strong as an external.

Factory front GM springs are 2.5 inches wide and aftermarket is pretty well all 2 inch . The aftermarket springs will come with a wide set of bushings to keep the spring centered on the spring hangers. The top plate at the axle with have a gap. Be carefull how tight you go. I have bent the top plates before. The Pin in the spring will center it on the spring purch.

TEST FIT THE CENTER PIN! some aftermarket springs will come with a long head center pin. This is for use with a degree shim. If you don't use the Degree shim the pin is to long and will bottom out in the hole before the spring comes in full contact with the Spring purch. ALWAYS check that before tightening the springs down.

[Brimow525]

OK, now I have a new problem... As I was replacing the lockouts, seals and such I noticed that the front rear was very hard to turn by hand. So I had planned to replace the pinion seal anyway, and as I took the seal off the outter pinion bearing fell apart. No biggie really BUT the inner pinion bearing was missing a roller! Now, is this something that I can replace relatively easy or does the whole innereds have to come out for one bearing and the reshim the whole rear? Or can I take the disc brake hardward off of the 86 Corp. 10 bolt and put it on a 70 Dana 44? I am so freakin' confused and a little peved that this is taking so long to do. I really want to have the truck on the road by the end of Aug so I can make sure all the bugs are worked out and put the plowing equipment on it. HELP PLEASE?

[Grim Reaper]

Ok lets clear up some terms here.
The pinion is what the drive shaft attaches too.
It sounds like your working on the hub assembly.

Just get new bearings. They are cheap.

Yes you can swap the hub assembly but you also need to swap the spindle if you do it. It would nto be a bad swap either. I think the 10bolt runs a little bigger wheel bearings the the D44. The brake caliper I thing will interchange between the two so you should be able to retain it.

http://www.coloradok5.com/8lugconversion.shtml

That is worth the read and has some good info on the bearrings and stuff. Ignore that it's a 8 lug. The imprtant part is it shows changing the spindle and you will need to do that if you use the hub off the 10bolt.

[Brimow525]

Thanks for the link. VERY informative. I started taking the spindles and axles off today but am having trouble with the driver side ball joints. I can't get them to unscrew. Bolt and stud move together. Any suggestions?

[Destructo]

The ball-joints are what holds the knuckle and axle housing together and are pressed in, so unless your taking the whole knuckle off I don't see why you need to take that off unless your replacing them.

But sometimes I try to use an impact wrench when I get a ball and socket type deal that likes to turn, sometimes tightening them down is a pain too if the nut won't spin very freely.

[Brimow525]

oh yea, Destructo. If I'm going to all this trouble, then I'm going to replace everything that I can. I might try the sawsall on the bolts to get them off.

[1969 GMC]

Originally Posted by red450ih

Put a 14 Semi float in place of an eaton? I would keep the eaton in the rear. There is noway I would pull it to put a 14 bolt Semi-floater in it's place. If the eaton ever gave up on me I would replace it with a 14 bolt Full Floater.


The ring gear diameters are as follows:
14 semi float 9.5 inches
14 Full Float 10.5 inches
Eaton Full Float 12.25 inches


Keith

Actually, the Eaton he is probably referring to has a 10.5" ring gear. The 12.25" ring gear axle was an option in one ton trucks, and is called the H110. The diff cover of this axle was welded on instead of bolted on.

But I agree, I would keep the Eaton too. Actually, I am going to swap out my 30 spline dana 60 for one with a detroit locker.