10 bolt to 14 Bolt, 9.5 sf swap

[randeez]

https://www.driveshaftpower.com/

used him a couple years ago to shorten a ds, had him check out the rear shaft last week... just glad he dont leave stuff sitting around a week before getting to it

 

[randeez]

 

[randeez]

We have axles, 8 bolt to diff, 33 spline to wheel hub

 

[randeez]

Its in... need some spacers for the cv axles

 

[randeez]

 

[randeez]

front driveshaft could be shortened another 1/2"-1", was a little tight getting it in but there shouldnt be any movement on it so not so worried about it.

cv axles: as it sits (full droop) driverside axle is about 1-1/2" away fully compressed, passenger side about an 1". at ride height may get back 1/4" or so. got a few emails out trying to locate some spacers. could chance driving it but i think they'd pop on full lock turning.

swapped out the motor mounts, i guess they sit the engine down lower so now headers sit on the front diff mount (unrelated to swapping 9.25ifs) but now ive gotta do something with them

edit: one more niche, the mounting bolts on the driverside - the front diff came with the bracket for a 3500 truck, i unbolted it and used those for attaching to the 1500 bracket. one of the bolts will thread thru, the other bottoms out before tightening up so it'll need to be shortened easy fix


if anyones keeping score....

front diff(with factory 4.10s) i think i paid $300/shipped for it
axles (had to buy 4 total lol , cheapy cardone axles not gm) about $225/shipped
spacers? probably another $100-150 ***$160 for spacers/harware
front driveshaft shortened $100

 

[randeez]

cognito coming thru with some spacers, they make 5/8", 1.2", 1.8". i grabbed a 5/8" and 1.2" should close up the gap pretty nicely.

hammered he hell out of the headers, flattened out a few runners and i got a little bit of clearance

 

[randeez]

And to finish it off....
Got it together and moved under it's own power, 1st time ina few weeks. Racing rain so didnt take many pics.
I need to set up the rear with the adjustable bars before I can do much driving tho

And again...many thanks to cognito they were awesome to deal with and no bs just wanted to get my junk back together. Couple lift companies I talked to couldnt/wouldn't help...very cookie cutter unless it was for this truck with this lift kit with blahblahblah they were just nope we got nothing, support was doing nothing more than searching online catalog also.

 

[randeez]

these have been kicking my ass for the past few days....

getting them on is relatively easy. been trying to set up the pinion angle, maintaining some clearance between the rear diff and the panhard bar, being as center as i can in the wheel wells, and of course keeping everything even so it would go the down the road straight.

tried to get it all set up with the springs in and just ended up fighting it to much so i ended up supporting by the frame rails, removing the rear springs/swaybar/shocks, put jack under diff on a dolly so it could go where ever. got everything all set up perfect, all i had to do was adjust the top bar a few turns to get the pinion angle good (few degrees negative the driveshaft) made about half a turn and bottomed out the front joint
had to lower it back down, remove top bar, shorten one end, put it back in, spend another hour or two getting it all set back in place perfect. locked it all down, made a little hammer adjustment to exhaust for panhard bar to clear (which i just threw on, after driving it the axle is kicked over to the passenger side pretty bad)

 

[kbuskill]

these have been kicking my ass for the past few days....

getting them on is relatively easy. been trying to set up the pinion angle, maintaining some clearance between the rear diff and the panhard bar, being as center as i can in the wheel wells, and of course keeping everything even so it would go the down the road straight.

tried to get it all set up with the springs in and just ended up fighting it to much so i ended up supporting by the frame rails, removing the rear springs/swaybar/shocks, put jack under diff on a dolly so it could go where ever. got everything all set up perfect, all i had to do was adjust the top bar a few turns to get the pinion angle good (few degrees negative the driveshaft) made about half a turn and bottomed out the front joint
had to lower it back down, remove top bar, shorten one end, put it back in, spend another hour or two getting it all set back in place perfect. locked it all down, made a little hammer adjustment to exhaust for panhard bar to clear (which i just threw on, after driving it the axle is kicked over to the passenger side pretty bad)

Sounds like tons of fun... I had thought about getting these to center my rear axle up in the wheel wells but haven't done it yet... may not now... lol

 

[67RS427]

Sounds like tons of fun... I had thought about getting these to center my rear axle up in the wheel wells but haven't done it yet... may not now... lol

They should be a direct bolt on. The arms are set in a jig at factory length before they are shipped... Only thing that needs the be adjusted is the panhard bar if you're lowered to move axle back over. He's having issues because it's a 14 bolt.

 

[kbuskill]

They should be a direct bolt on. The arms are set in a jig at factory length before they are shipped... Only thing that needs the be adjusted is the panhard bar if you're lowered to move axle back over. He's having issues because it's a 14 bolt.

My Burb is on a 4/6 drop so I would assume the pinion angle could use a little adjustment but not 100% sure.

Plus the reason for having these on a lowered truck is to get the axle centered up in the wheel well as lowering sucks the axle forward some.

 

[randeez]

do it.
sure the 14b didnt help any i'm still about 3/8" forward of center in the wheel well, back anymore and i have no room between the pumpkin and panhard bar. before it was a little over an inch but noticeable.

 

[randeez]

little update... the passenger side axle housing on the front diff was rusted pretty bad i didnt want to change it until i knew i could use the front diff and well ... it's been in and working pretty good for a few weeks so i guess i need to change it
I still have a very slight bit of vibration, nothing like before, could be any number of things cause i change stuff in bundles but i'm fixing/correcting it as i find it.
I grabbed some new rotors/pads for the front, while i was cleaning everything up i noticed the upper ball joint nut was just barely rubbing the cv axle right at the boot (looks like on both sides). if you dont have lowering spindles this wouldnt be an issue, I started with the passenger side (cause i was also changing out the axle housing) i cut the nut down a little bit 1/8-3/16" of an inch - with the drop spindles you need to cut the balljoint stud down anyway, my only concern was if the nut was locking with the indented top so i put some thread locker on it anyway. it cant physically back off very much before it hits the cv axle.

i'm going to go ahead and change the bearing/seal on the driverside as its a little loose feeling to me, i dont think it'll tighten up much but i've got to pull the axle and cut the balljoint nut down anyway so all i will have to do it pull the stub shaft and replace them

vibration may not even be drivetrain related, i think driverside header may be touching the frame, i've got to pull it out and "massage" it. also looks like my oil cooler lines are leaking so i'll order those and do everything on that side at once

 

[randeez]

 

[randeez]

 

[randeez]

little update...for the most part everything has been good for a while. early this morning i was out doing some dumb stuff, little high speed run with a bmw m suv he won

got home noticed a little grease working its way out from the inside of my front driverside wheel. pulled wheel and i would have thought the cv boot was demolished. started cleaning it all up, spun the axle a few times, i couldnt find anything wrong with the boot. kept cleaning up went ahead and pulled the axle out to look it over even better and there was the tiniest of slits in between bellows of the boot no idea how long it had been there for but runs this morning forced enough grease out to cover inside of wheel and fender liner.
the axle spacer i used on that side was pretty tight i may get ahold of incognito again and get the next smaller spacer in the mail or see if i can find someone with a lathe to take a little off - im thinking the axle may be in there so tight that it could have been pinched. ordered a new axle with different material for the boot i'll set it back up and hopefully all will be ok.

 

[Ryan Buck]

That's awesome, going to do that to mine someday too. Have you thought about putting in a 4x4 transfer case like the MP3024 from the 2500s?

Will that transfer case bolt up to the 4L60? I need to put a new T case In mine and I would prefer a stronger version if it’s out there. Wind it up to you what the NP246

 

[randeez]

im going to say no...the 4l60 has a smaller(and different spline) than 4l80 or 6l80s (which are the same)


pretty much zero problems after this swap also in case anyone wondering...hasnt really been driven much the past couple months but its been beaten when it has
will probably be going back to 3.42 gears after i get it back moving. doesnt really need the extra gearing of the 4.11 with boost

 

[swathdiver]

im going to say no...the 4l60 has a smaller(and different spline) than 4l80 or 6l80s (which are the same)


pretty much zero problems after this swap also in case anyone wondering...hasnt really been driven much the past couple months but its been beaten when it has
will probably be going back to 3.42 gears after i get it back moving. doesnt really need the extra gearing of the 4.11 with boost

Turbo motors don't like to pull on boost with gears for the most part. Back in the day with the Buick's, every time someone listened to the big block guys and swapped out the 3.42s for 3.73s or lower they went slower.