K5 Axle Swap
 

I have an 87 K5 with factory front and back 10 bolts and factory lockers and gearing. As far as I know theirs no modfications to them. I saw on craigslist today a front axle (Dana 44) and back axle(12 bolt with factory lockers) for sale off a 70's K5. Just wanted your opinion if it is worth doing the swap, how much better they axles are and where the money is on each one. Also will they fit right on or will their need to be modifications. Thanks in advance and happy truckin'!

Here are the craigslist links
Dana 44 Front Axle
12 Bolt Rear Axle with Factory Lockers

I wouldn't bother. Both sets of axles have their strengths & their weaknesses, but unless you are getting them for free and/or you have to swap because of problems with yours, I wouldn't go through the hassle. That's especially true if you don't know if the two axles currently match.

That 12bolt is especially sketchy given that they guy had the cover off & couldn't be bothered to read the numbers off the ring gear to determine what was in it...

Thanks for the insight, im pretty green on the whole axle thing myself. What axle would I want to get if one were happpen to come up? also do you know where you can buy new axle shafts (Freinds looking at a truck thats cheap but needs one) for a 87 K5 10 bolt. Thank you in advance!

It really all depends on what you plan to do with it. If all you are going to do is drive it on pavement with the occasional off road excursion, then stick with what you have in there now. If you are going to go nuts off road with 35"+ tires, then you will likely want to start saving up for a Dana-60/14BFF swap.


As far as where to find replacement stock axles, Randy's Ring & Pinion is probably one of the best online retailers, but there are a lot of places including junkyards. Junkyards would probably be the cheapest place.

I dont plan on going crazy with it, and 35 will be as big as my tires will ever get (Once I get my 4 inch lift). I just want to have something beefy that I dont have to worry about breaking on me. Im pretty sure that you can get the 10 bolts pretty cheap, but am I wrong?

10 bolts are pretty much everywhere and alot of times people hate them so much they will just give them to you, ive been thrown a few sets of 10 bolts over the year due to people upgrading to one tons. the 12bolt/dana44 are basically the same thing as 10 bolts, theres some stupid minor differences. the ring gear on the 12 bolt is a hair bigger and the dana44 has slightly bigger shafts, but the neck gets skinny where it goes into the ring gear so thats the weak spot.

10 bolts and 35s you might be ok with. i ran 38s with 10 bolts for years i just took it easy and never really broke anything, parts just wear out like crazy, ball joints, bearings, etc

Due to my exhaust (Its right under the leafs) I doubt ill be lifiting any time soon, could afford a lift but couldnt afford exhaust work and I love the way my truck sounds now and wouldnt want to mess it up haha. Thanks for all ur help, Ill be on the look out for people giving away 10 bolts haha

I know this isnt on topic with what the original question was but would anyone happen to know the price of a 10 bolt 6 lug rear axle? One came up on craigslist today and was wondering what they are worth. It came out of a half ton 87 Chevy pickup with the factory gearing, would it have lockers? He's also asking 40 for it and was wondering if thats a good price

40 bucks? id probably buy it for that. they vary so much, its kinda one of those things its whatever someone will pay for it. if i needed a set quickly id pay maybe 200 for them. but take into consideration what gears are in them "stock gearing" may mean 273 gears. so then you have to spend money and time to replace the gears to something useable. and the brake rotors are probably crap but you can probably use all your stuff on it

I paid $30 for a HD 10-bolt front axle with 3.73's just to use the 8-lug outers on my Dana 44 when I swap in the 14BFF I saved from a truck we scrapped 16 or so years ago.