3/4 ton Axle swap to 1/2 ton

[TheDude]

Hello,
I have a 3/4 ton and I don't see any reason to work with it, its too expensive and there aren't many options for parts. Will the 1/2 ton axle swap in directly? Do I need to replace the springs too? Anyone have a good idea where to find an axle?
Thanks!

[Dan Bowles]

I've got 3 but that doesn't help you...

KuztomKlaus on the HAMB did it on his 1 ton panel truck. There were some things he heated to modify. PM him for direction.

[raycow]

What year are we talking about here?

Ray

[Dan Bowles]

Good point, I was assuming AD.

[mr48chev]

We need to know what you are working on before we can give any real suggestions. I checked your profile and you don't have any vehicles listed.

[Chevy51]

I was just checking some of the projects, and thought I would comment on the 3/4ton straight axle. I actually replaced the 3/4ton axle with a 1/2 ton axle, and it bolted right back up,but I didn't change the springs,might change them in the future. I have the 1/2 ton springs. Thought I would wait and see how the ride will be with the 3/4ton,springs. I just made the change a few weeks ago, and the weather around is not co-operating too well. Good Luck.

[LostMy65]

What happened to TheDude?

What did you end up doing?

[TheDude]

Sorry to have gone MIA. The system never sent me an email when you guys responded. Anyway, the truck is a 1947 3/4 ton. What I have sorta decided to do is just go for the s10 chassis swap. The ez chassis shop fella said it should just fine. What do you guys think? For a practical daily driver, the s10 kit seems to be the easiest way to upgrade damn near every part of the truck.

[mr48chev]

Do what you like but that kit sounds pretty spendy to me. One of the guys here on the board was kind enough to share his design for cab and bed mounts with us that any metal fab shop or fairly handy home fabricator/welder can make up for a decent price. The rest of it most of the guys just fabricate or solve themselves or with help from guys on the board. Search the project forum and you can get a good handle on it. The kit may make things a lot quicker for your 1600 bucks though. It would mean no hunting wrecking yards or modifying existing parts. Several guy on here have used them and have been real happy with them. They are way out of my price range unless I borrowed the money to buy one. I'm not totally frugal on my truck project but everything that goes on it is paid for up front and some of that cash takes some time to gather up.

To answer your original question a lot of guys have done just that in the past and changed 3/4 tons to half tons. A couple I knew years ago used 55/59 rear ends out of half tons to have open drive and simplify things.

[TheDude]

Thanks for the reply. I understand about the budget, my project is on hold for a while. Eventually I want to use the truck for work, so I figure whatever gets it on the road the easiest, and produces the best daily driver, is the option i want. So basically I am fighting a narrow time window for the build, a low budget, and I want a solid daily driver. What do you think?

[55dude]

if you go the s-10 route just use the mount from the s-10 instead of buying a kit, you got fab skills and when you see one of the kit they sell for $1500 you will understand what i mean. if you have ever used a welder correctly body mounts are simple, i have a 59' sitting on a 70' 3/4 ton frame a whoever did it used pipe and it works great and simple as hell. if ya ever looked at any old fords henry used wood between the body and frame.