I came across an 84 k5 blazer today with a 10 bolt ( I believe its a gm 10 bolt on this year blazer. Correct me if I'm wrong) front axle pass side low pinion that I can purchase for $160. I have a 94 pick up and I want to do a sas with full width axles. I plan on running 37"s and doing some trails and light crawling. My question is, should I buy this axle since I can get it for only $160 disc to disc, or should I pass on gm 10 bolts altogether?

 

pass...it is a weak POS.

 

Aight cool. But what actually makes it a pos?

 

I believe it's similar to a dana44. The axle tubes will bend with large tires and heavy wheeling and depending on the gearing they are only good for 33 inch and smaller tires. Lots of Chevy guys run them with 35s and a 350 V8 which is a much heavier setup than a Toyota would be, but with a light foot and moderate trails it could work fine, at least until it breaks! J/k haha

 

Good info thanks! Ideally I'd like to find a full width Dana 44 pass side high pinion but I'm not sure what vehicles to find them on in the junk yard, or if they even exist for that matter. Thinking the Dana 60 would be too heavy for my 22re. Any advice?

 

You won't find a high pinion pass side diff, they were never produced. If you go GM, get a Dana 44 over a 10 bolt (you can tell the difference by the diff cover, 10 bolt is a round/oval cover, 44 is a 6 sided "Dana" shaped cover). The Dana will be much easier to outfit with aftermarket shafts and diff parts to strengthen it up for 37's.

My opinion is that with good parts in the axle and stock Toyota power, you could easily get a 44 to live a long, healthy life under your truck.

 

And don't forget to figure in the misc. costs/hassle for parts if you run a sort of non-typical front axle. Little things like moving spring perches, matching front/rear gear ratios, adapting drive shafts to fit the pinions, custom brake hoses w/ metric/SAE ends, custom steering arms/linkage, etc.

 

[QUOTE=russ_;51825502]You won't find a high pinion pass side diff, they were never produced. If you go GM, get a Dana 44 over a 10 bolt (you can tell the difference by the diff cover, 10 bolt is a round/oval cover, 44 is a 6 sided "Dana" shaped cover).

Well now I'm starting to think it was a Dana 44 ( it had a boxier shaped diff cover) which is what I originally thought it was, but when looked up what 84 k5 blazers came with stock, it said they came with gm 10 bolts. Did the 84 k5 blazers possibly have a packaged with a Dana 44?

 

I don't know GM stuff very well, as far as what years came with what stuff, but it seems like they used the 10 bolt and the 44 pretty interchangeably over the years. If it has the flat top knuckles, it's a much easier swap to a hi-steer setup.

This place has good GM full size info:
http://offroaddesign.com/

I've wheeled with the guys from there many times, and they know
about GM stuff. Personally I'm a Ford guy, but whatever floats your boat.

 

[quote=mapple83;51825566]Wheeled full sized Chevy's for years, if it came out from under an 84" K5, it's a 10 bolt. They stopped putting the D44 in trucks in the late 70's. A lot of parts are interchangable between the 10 bolt and Dana 44, but the D44 under the 3/4 tons had flat top knuckles for high steer arms from the factory. As far as strength, it's comparable to the Toy axle, but would be alot more hassle unless you want a wider stance. Just my 2 cents.

 

X2

Waste of time. Much better axle choices.

:wabbit2:

 

Dana 44 and 10I bolt are pretty much the same. Under my understanding is Dana has a bigger ring gear and smaller shafts. 10 bolt has smaller ring gear but bigger shafts . 10 bolts are more available and had just as much in after market as 44. Chevy quit using 44 in mid 70. They used 10 bolt up to 90 under the k5 blazer. They will bold up to small block Chevy and 38. Depending on how you drive.

 

Check out ”road worthy sas” under sas on this site.I explain how to set a 44 up for toyota.;-)

 

Just wondering, why do you want to get a dana 44 or GM 10 bolt over a Toyota axle? If you are looking at it for the cost factor, I would think again as after either getting the axle shortened or matching it with a rear axle, your cost will already be more than a comparable or in some cases stronger Toyota axle.

 

I agree 100%.The only reason I did it was because I had 10 d44s laying around and no toy axles.

 

I'm a Chevy guy thru and thru. I had a complete set of axles sitting in my garage. I have 6-8 axle shafts for one side and like 10 for the other. I have 5-7 rear axle shafts. It was a cost factor and convenience factor. Plus I bought a rust free frame that was bare so I could set it up how ever I wanted.I have had multiple chevy k5's and pickup with 33 and larger tires Up to 39.5 with a 10-12 bolt set with lockers and had little to no problems. I used the truck with 35's and lockers for rock crawling. I have a k5 with 39.5 opening axles for mud. Had very good luck. I do not know much about Toyota axles. When I get further along with project ill start posting pics.

 

I understand if you have the axles sitting around why you would use them, I would also, personally I like the look of full widths on a Toyota. The OP was saying that he was buying the front axle though and for more money then what I spent on my Toyota axle. To each their own, its not my truck I was just curious.

 

I dont like full width,plus for the axle to work correct caster needs to be adjusted,so why not narrow it.

 

Why does caster need corrected? Looling at how the axle is sitting the pinion and everything looks good. Plus means extra work. I'm fine with full width and what I can tell I haven't measured but my axles are only like 4 or so inches wider then the Toyota. I'm building a rock Crawler not a truck I drive on road.

 

Did you read ” road worthy sas”.The caster and pinion angles are not correct for toyota,but its your truck.