I have the 3.42 gears in my truck now, front AND rear obviously.... I know that the '97 Blazer comes with 4 diff gear ratios, ONE of them being a 4.10 ratio! Ah ha! Just what I need/want!

Here's a list of the gear ratio's available and their associated RPO code:
GT4 Rear Axle: 3.73 Ratio
GT5 Rear Axle: 4.10 Ratio
GU4 Rear Axle: 3.08 Ratio
GU6 Rear Axle: 3.42 Ratio

Question is... can I call around to diff junk yards and salvage yards and find those stock 4.10 gears and use them in the SAME differential (front and back) of my truck? Which, again... is holding the 3.42's/GU6 currently! I'm guessing the differentials are identical on ALL the diff gear ratios, so it should just "bolt" right in correct?

If I'm wrong.... where can I find the replacement 4.10 gears for front and rear online? Can't seem to find them anywhere! Though I HOPE HOPE HOPE I can use the stock ones, because I'm sure it'll put a lesser of a dent in my pocket!!!

 

Through my experience of going through 2 rear ends... they are the same. My 2.73 didn't look any different on the outside than the 3.42. And my 3.42 didn't look any different from my 3.73.

You should definitely be able to get a 4.10 axles, then swap them out and sell your axles for whatever you paid for the 4.10s. Or keep them. I believe I still have one of my front axles just in case I break another one.

 

So wait wait.... do I need AXLES? Or can I just change out the GEARS? Like lets say a "Pick n Pull" had a 97 Blazer with the 4.10 gears in it..... Could I open the diff and pull JUST the gears to put in my truck? Or do I NEED the ENTIRE axle and diff? Guess I needed to clarify a little....

 

Ahhh, I see what you meant now. Yes you can do that, as long as the Yard will let you. It would be just like buying a brand new set of gears online... only this is way cheaper. And you can still keep the old gears just in case. I'm a big fan of keeping things that I replace cause you never know lol.

I think it was the bolt right in part that made me think you were going to buy the whole axle lol. I'm only half paying attention to what I'm reading because I'm trying to make sure my little man isn't terrorizing the dogs too much

 

Haha gotcha.... and I'm glad you got what I was saying! Because yes, that's the whole point - SAVING the money and getting the same gears for MUCH cheaper!

Oh and I just looked it up.... I don't need anything but the Ring and Pinion either! The spider gears and everything can stay, those are the only two things needed to change to 4.10's! I read this on another forum....

 

See I didn't even know that... of course when I broke both my rear ends i HAD to get whole axles...

This is what having the wrong gears will do to you





And this is what doing a "Hole-Shot" will get you



Those are clickable pics BTW

 

Sooo... what are you saying? It's possible to find those stock gears (4.10s) from a junkyard and swap them on the rear and front of my truck right? And all I need is the ring and pinion.... correct?

 

Will these work? Obviously this is either for the front or rear... i can't tell, but since it says something about IFS I'm guessing FRONT! So if this is the front 4.10 ring and pinion, all I need is the back right???

http://www.ronsmachiningservice.net/...AZER-GM/Detail

 

i remember reading something about the rings etc in the rear wont fit in the front. I might be wrong though. So just make sure you put the ones in the front,in the front...lol

 

You'd have to get the front and rear gears and replace them in your truck. However, to do that you have to know a lot about how to install gears and from what I know, it's a bit of a pain to do. Also requires a few specialty tools that will probably end up costing nearly as much as you save by going with just the gears not the whole axle.

I'd say if you're doing it yourself, get the whole axle and be done with it. Much easier, and you already know exactly what you're doing.