Chevy axles, Spring-over lift

[lindstromjd]

So I've never done a spring over lift before and was thinking of doing it on my '77. I can get a hold of a good chevy axle from an old k5 blazer, but was wondering just how in-depth does it get to change out the gears in the differential? Is it legal to run wider axles than what came on the Scouts if I just find a good matching pair so I don't have to worry about matching the gear ratios?

[WarlordX]

OK Legality wise.. I wouldn't worry too much about the wider axles, im here in California and my brothers and my jeep we bought a couple years ago has no flares, and the tires must stick 4-5" out, Im sure TECHNICALLY its illegal.. but i doubt most cops care, shit im in San Luis obispo and theyve never stopped us.. and they have NOTHING to do .

As for your spring over question, ive done it with the scout axles. Hardest part is defeintey modifying the housing. I don't really like em sticking out much more than an inch. To beef them up since they are only 44's i plan on building a custom truss for the front and I have a nice axle truss for the back as well. Eventually i might just get a d60 tho...

And u asked about changing the gear ratios.. everyone i have talked to says its easy to put gears in, but its very hard to get them "back lashed" perfectly and ull just be ruining rings and pinions way prematurely so that's something Ive never done myself and always gone to American Gear that we have in town


I actually just tack welded my perches on today. Gonna take it to a friend who has a spot welder and hes gonna weld it up for me since the one on the housing is welding milled / cast steel it is a very hard weld, also they don't line up because u have to modify the pumpkin quite substantially to get the leaf to the same height...

im prolly forgetting some stuff ask any questions u got haha


And for your entertainment, here's my cat gibsy in a drawer

[lindstromjd]

Lol. Nice cat. I'm thinking of maybe just going with a complete switch-over to the chevy axles then. I found another complete pair that I'm sure I can make work. I'm not mechanically dis-inclined, so if I decide I'm gonna do something, I can almost always make it work somehow.

[WarlordX]

So what axles were you looking at..? a corp 14 bolt and a d.. 60? up front or what, and... will u need to do a transfer-case swap or anything? you need to make sure the pumpkin is also on the correct side which would be drivers side if your using d20/300

[lindstromjd]

They're 10 bolt (I think) 6 lug half ton axles, from a 79 K10 pickup. There are others, but these ones are the cheapest and seem to be in good condition. I don't think I'll have to do a transfer case swap... at least I'm really hoping I don't have to... that would negate the whole "cheaper and easier" part of switching to chevy axles.

[lindstromjd]

Just as an update, I ended up buying a set of axles off an '85 chevy half ton. 6 lug, front disc and rear drum, 3.07 gears. The front axle is a 10 bolt and the rear is a 12 bolt limited slip. Guess I'll let everyone know how everything goes with the swap once I can find the time to get to work on it.