I have a 1982 K10. Front and rear axels are both 10 bolts, NP208 t-case, 700r4 trans, strong Vortec 350. I'm a Noob, and I need help. The truck is a clean slate right now and I'm open to most ideas. I like my sheet metal so I'm not real receptive to hacking it up. I'm on a limited budget, and everything I do must be street legal. My climate is usually dry (sand) but finding places to go wheeling is anything but hard. My goal is 6 inches of lift or less with 36" or larger tires. I also don't want to break my axels every time I go out and wheel. So if you have any good ideas let me know. I have some ideas I can discuss later. So please, help out a newbie.  

For starters you need to replace rear axle with a 9.5 inch 14 bolt semi floater which can be had with 6 lug hubs. It would be solid with 36's even with a locker. Up front you should get by for a while with front axle as long as you do not lock it. Better plan on  some 4.88 gears too or deeper to go with it if you want tranny to last a while and for it to be able to get out of its own way reliably.  

Well here's my idea....put a dana 60 rear and dana 44 front to take care of strength but put 4.11 gears in because you said sand is what you have to play in.... and sand is all about speed and jumping so 4.11's are fine. But put a tranny cooler for that R4 to kepp it kool, oh and a 6 inch lift should do a fine job as well.  

"For starters you need to replace rear axle with a 9.5 inch 14 bolt semi floater which can be had with 6 lug hubs. It would be solid with 36's even with a locker. Up front you should get by for a while with front axle as long as you do not lock it. Better plan on  some 4.88 gears too or deeper to go with it if you want tranny to last a while and for it to be able to get out of its own way reliably."

I'm not afraid to buy a set of wheels to go with a 10.5 ring gear 14 bolt. They're readily available in my area. I've been blessed with a GM only scrapyard. I found a doner 3/4 ton truck, minus motor, with running gear intact. Dana 44 in the front, 14 bolt FF in the rear. I've been trying to do my homework on this sort of stuff, but ran out of info on things I needed to know, hense my post. I was thinkning along the same lines as far as gears, I knew they would be in the 4's at least. As far as lift, what is best, buying springs for the rear, or going with a shackle flip?  

"Well here's my idea....put a dana 60 rear and dana 44 front to take care of strength but put 4.11 gears in because you said sand is what you have to play in.... and sand is all about speed and jumping so 4.11's are fine. But put a tranny cooler for that R4 to kepp it kool, oh and a 6 inch lift should do a fine job as well."  


Sand is mostly what we have, but we do have occasional rain storms. Plus every week there's at least one farmer being paid not to grow, so they'll invite some people out to play in the mud and they'll invite some more people out. Pretty soon a mud bog is well underway. I like the axle idea, but I have no idea where to get a GM Dana 60 rear. 10.5" 14 bolts are the commonality. Shackle flip it, or spring lift it? Is my T-case going to be up to the task?  

A GM 9.5 semi floater is a very sturdy axle that is often overlooked. It is about the equal to a D60 and can be found 6 lug and 8 lug flavors (only a axle swap is needed to convert from one to other) also unlike D60's with 5 or 6 lug hubs, all 9.5's (6 lug and 8 lug) have a 3 ton capacity rated housing. Many jump to a 10.5 when it is really not needed. It also weighs about 75 lbs more than a 9.5 and has about 1 inch less diff clearance too. (weight is never a asset off road) A 9.5 is pretty solid up to 38's to 40's on a P/U. The other posters comment about 4.10's is kinda silly. If you plan to run sand a lot you want 4.88's or deeper. Sand pulls HARD on drive train and deeper axle gears gives you more torque to put into axle shafts in ever gear and lets you use tranny ratios better too. Why in the world would you want to have 20% less wheel torque available in every gear with 4.10's vs 4.88's??? Also with a 700R4, with 36's and 4.10's you would only be turning a bit over 1700 in OD at 65 and struggling so that gear would be basically worthless and you would have in effect a 3 speed tranny. (it is people using tall gears for tire sizes and trying to use OD and burning up tranny riding converter stall in OD that gives 700R4 a bad rap) Even with 4.88 you would still be turning only around 2100 at 65 in OD which is still a bit light with lift and tires but a WHOLE lot better than 4.10's. Some get in their mind that a 4.10 is the gear to have but the gear to "have" depends on tires size and vehicle, not a universal standard.  

That woke me right up. i really had overlooked the 9.5, I wrote it off as the weaker counter part to the 10.50. I didn't realize it was so tough. I understand what you mean about not going deep enough when choosing gearing. I know a lot of people that don't bother to gear the axles down, needless to say, they have serious problems. Thats way too low for highway driving, and i really don't want to burn up my 700r4. I love the low first gear.  Well i don't want to jump into the 5 range for gearing. What about a carrier style? Do I try and find a gov lock 9.5 or do I buy a spool or a locker?

How should I lift the truck? I've changed my mind a lot. (shackle or spring)

I'm thinging about running super swamper TSLs, or should I go with Iroks. How do those tires wear, about how long do they last on the street?  

When you think gear ratios, when you have a OD tranny the game changes because you can have your cake and eat it too with a OD tranny. With 4.88's you would have a tranny with 4 usable gears and even a 5.13 would be only turning about 2200 in OD at 65 which ain't squat. (BTW a 4.10 with same 36's and a non OD tranny would be turning about 300 RPM more at same speed. One more thought, a 700R4 with 4.88 has a over all start out ratio of 14.93 to 1 in first gear and a THM 400 with 4.10 has a over all ratio of 10.16 so you have about 40% more power in first gear AND a 300 RPM lower cruise with a with a 700R4 and 5.13 vs a THM 400 and 4.10's. As far as posi's the gov loc in a 9.5 is a lot stronger and more durable than one in 10 bolt which is know to grenade at times with big tires.  

When you think gear ratios, when you have a OD tranny the game changes because you can have your cake and eat it too with a OD tranny. With 4.88's you would have a tranny with 4 usable gears and even a 5.13 would be only turning about 2200 in OD at 65 which ain't squat. (BTW a 4.10 with same 36's and a non OD tranny would be turning about 300 RPM more at same speed. One more thought, a 700R4 with 4.88 has a over all start out ratio of 14.93 to 1 in first gear and a THM 400 with 4.10 has a over all ratio of 10.16 so you have about 40% more power in first gear AND a 300 RPM lower cruise with a with a 700R4 and 5.13 vs a THM 400 and 4.10's. As far as posi's the gov loc in a 9.5 is a lot stronger and more durable than one in 10 bolt which is known to grenade at times with big tires.  

Thank you for all your help. You've given me some really good advice that I will put to good use.  I have a(n) NP208 in the truck right now, will that hold to the power as well as the heavy tires?  I'm definitly going to gear it down, but will the transfer case hold up to the abuse?  

Tcase will do fine with deep axle gears. What is hard on tcases is big tires with stock tall gears and using low range to try to overcome it. Low range was never designed for that but many have not figured that out yet.  

So I can leave my stock front 10 bolt and it wont grenade? If I don't lock it, it won't break right? I mean I'm not asking for a guarantee or anything, but theoretically it wont break.  

If you leave it "open" (no locker) odds are  that it will likely survive for some time. If you want to improve odds even more, make a mental note to never "hammer" it hard with wheels in a tight turn as Ujoints in axle are not constant velocity and add some torque bind in tight turns under power.  

Duely noted. Any suggestions for my next front axle? I know a D60 is the holy grail but at this point I dont see myself spending $1200 on a front axle.  

well yes 1200 is a large price for a hunk of metal, but it's a dang near bullet proof hunk of metal. as for the lift, id do a shackle flip and dont spend any money on one just cut a hole in the shackle perch and flip the shackle over. this makes it a cheap if not free lift.