I didn't find much on this...

I know with the later trucks, the diff gear sets were interchangeable...just pull the old one out, put the new one in. Maybe you had to drill some new holes for the driveshaft bolts to line up but otherwise a straight swap between 4 cylinder pickups.

Anyone know if the same is true for 78 2wd pickups?

I actually want to put some 4.56 gears in my 78 camper. I'm actually pretty ok with the gears, except for first gear. It's just not low enough to really get this thing moving, especially when I stop on hills. But I'm cool with just gearing it all down a little.

Where do people like getting their gears from? At least if I got advice on good shops, I could just work with them to see if they have something that would fit my truck.

 

To me regearing is one of the best thing you can do to improve performance, driving pleasure and economy, I love short gears especially with a ''weak'' motor.

Is your rear axle 7.5 or 8''?

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....well, you'd have to look around, possibly on 4x4wire but iirc those 2wd were a 7.5" r&p....

....Also, you can search thru gearinstalls.com or PM Zuk.....

 

Thanks! I think I read that they went to 8" in 77...but I'll have to look back again to see. Is it in my gear codes on the VIN plate?

PMing Zuk is probably a good idea.

 

wether it is 7.5 or 8'' there is a gear kit available, and most will be fine for your aplication since you are not going to give it hell and bounce off rocks (I imagine? ) I would go into a gear ratio calculator, enter your transmission ratio, axle gear ratio of your choice and your tire size then you can check at what rpms you will be at your cruising speed and what your are confortable with.