M1009 Axle Swap

[motormayhem]

Well I finally dumped the 10 bolt crap and got myself a D44/14 bolt combo. I ended up buying a civvy blazer (minus the engine) that already had a 4" lift and my axles under it. Then I pulled the axles and u bolts and sold the rest for the same price I bought it for! Since these axles were out of a 3/4 ton they were bolt in and need no modification whatsoever. The total work time on the swap was about 6 hours to do the front and back and have it on the road. Also the truck is re geared from 3.08 to 4.10 which to me sounds like a big difference in engine rpms (although I was running 35's on the 3.08 and now have 36's on the 4.10s), but according to the gear calc I used only raised the rpms by about 300rpm from stock axles and tires. Everything was simple and the only change that needed to be made was to swap the rear u-joint to a conversion joint. The front calipers are the same on the 10 bolt and d44 so you don't even have to bleed the front brakes. I also had to switch to 8 lug wheels and ended up going with a set of the 36x12.5x16.5 bias ply wrangler RTII Military-oz tires which can be bought for around $350 for 5 new almost new ones here.

Here are the pics:

 

[motormayhem]

Oh and yes the wheels have been painted no more white

 

[notsosanestan]

how much lift do you have?

 

[motormayhem]

4" so I was able to use the u-bolts off the donor truck.

 

[Cucvnut]

looks good man ! i love the color combo

 

[ragedracer]

4" so I was able to use the u-bolts off the donor truck.

You really should consider replacing the u-bolts. Re-using them really isn't a great plan. It will work, but you might find your axles coming loose after a while.

Pick up some new ones at any spring shop. They'll custom make them to your specs for ~$50 an axle.

 

[4bogginchevys]

around here thier 10.00 each up to 12" w/ tall nuts and washers. I only reuse u-bolts that I have purchased....not anything stock that's 15-30 years old. A local bolt company probably has a supply of them too, but they will be more like 18.00 each, in Idaho anyways.

 

[jakwi]

Wow that looks great! What year was the donor blazer?

 

[Cucvnut]

no blazer ever came with a 14FF so the 14ff is in its third gm truck.

 

[motormayhem]

no blazer ever came with a 14FF so the 14ff is in its third gm truck.

you are correct.

As for the re-used u Bolt they are taller aftermaket ones to accomodatw the lift blocks and the reason I re used them is they are fairly new and I kept my front ones as the 10 bolt abs d44 are almost the same so most things interchage.

Thanks guys...it changes how the whole truck drives and has much bigger rear drums and better braking

 

[84cucv1ton]

looks good...

 

[fitz]

That 14 bolt is a great upgrade for your truck? Do you have any problems with your rear brakes locking up under hard braking cond?
I've been down that road before and found that a Willwood adjustable proportioning valve is a great fix.

 

[motormayhem]

That 14 bolt is a great upgrade for your truck? Do you have any problems with your rear brakes locking up under hard braking cond?
I've been down that road before and found that a Willwood adjustable proportioning valve is a great fix.

So far I can only lock them if I am breaking in a panic stop situation which was the same as the old axles so there isn't much of a difference. They need to be adjusted a little but they work well. If they are working correctly you should be able to lock up the tires at full braking as there is no abs. Thatnks for the tip on the valve if it gets to be a problem I will probably go with that.

 

[kapnklug]

I'm getting together parts for the same swap...do you recall the part # for the rear conversion u-joint? Also, did you need a drop steering arm for the front?

 

[abarkus]

i did it 4 months ago with axles from suburan same size and 14 bolt 9.5 SF