Is it worth upgrading to 14-bolt from 12?
 

hello,

ive got an '87 k5 blazer that used to be my daily driver until i bought a newer dodge, now shes just my toy. been parked for a while but im looking to get her goin' again.

shes got a 350, 6" lift, 35s, 12 bolt posi rear and 10 bolt front with 4:10 gears, warn manual hubs, warn winch. a few teeth on the ring gear had been chipped at the tips by someone trying to do gear work that shouldnt have. improper spacing between ring/pinion but after chipping, spacing corrected no additional damage done. also some other minor issues that would be resolved by a rebuild/axle swap.

my question is: i plan to use for bumming around town occassionaly nights/weekends, camping trips, offroading but not rock crawling/body damage trails. more like wheeling out to the lake, moderate mud pits, etc. would i be better served to do a full swap or to stick with the 12/10 combo and just keep up on the maintenance? in the case of swapping to a 14, could i keep the 10 bolt front for a while to avoid shelling out for a d60 at same time?

i literally plan to keep the truck forever and would actually sell the newer dodge if i had to, before letting my blazer go. so im more concerned about long term strength/dependability but also dont want to waste money for no reason.

thanks, all opinions welcome
hassel

Its such a gray area on these questions. I wheeled blazers and suburbans with the same 10 bolt axles and 38 inch tires for like 7-8 years and never broke anything. The same axles are still in use today under my s10 with 33 inch boggers. If you behave and keep in mind you have 1/2 axles you should be fine. The one time I floored it in 4-low on gravel I broke a front axle shaft