1996 K1500 GMC Suburban

[justcuz]

Just for information the 14bsf I got supposedly came out of a 1997 z71 1500 pickup.

As I recall it also came as a 1500 option with an F44 heavy duty chassis package. I THINK it was available in 6 lug configuration in C/K1500 standard cab long beds and extra cab long or short beds, but not standard cab short beds. The 2wd axle is 3" narrower though. Also the same body styles of the lighter GVW K2500 trucks. The only 5 lug application was in a 454SS pickup and it was also 3" narrower than a K series truck rear axle.

 

[chilliwak]

Hey flyboat how did your new rear axel swap turn out? Got any pics?

 

[Flyboat]

Oh sorry for the late reply Chill, turned out great. Very happy with it. I did a u bolt flip from off road design and a conversion u joint. What do you want pics of, I'll shoot some for you.

 

[Flyboat]

In fact I picked this up yesterday

 

[justcuz]

What did that come out of?
Looks like a drivers drop low pinion front axle.
From the looks of the brakes, I'd say Ford.
I'm guessing an early Super Duty front axle, Dana 50?

 

[chilliwak]

Wow:Wow1: that looks cool Flyboat. I am looking forward to seeing a sas project!:drool:

 

[Flyboat]

What did that come out of?
Looks like a drivers drop low pinion front axle.
From the looks of the brakes, I'd say Ford.
I'm guessing an early Super Duty front axle, Dana 50?

That was listed as a 76 F250 Dana 44, but it is a high pinion dana 44 with disk brakes with some booty fab that is getting cut off.....

 

[justcuz]

I can't tell from the picture that well. I will tell you what I know;
1976 was the first year F250 4x4's had disc brakes and open knuckle front axles, but it was a low pinion front end.
1976.5 (for the 1977 model year) had disk brakes, open knuckle front axles and a high pinion front axle.
Both were Dana 44 8 lug front axles.
The change from low pinion to high pinion was when Ford lowered the F250 for the 1977 model year and used the reverse arch front springs like Chevy did since 1967. An F250 from 1977 on was no longer, technically, a High Boy.
There was also a low pinion Dana 60 built around this time, pretty sure it was a low pinion, king pin, disc braked open knuckle front axle. Installed in F250's with the Snow Fighter package. Pretty rare and not a popular front axle, but I would own one!
Check the front of your housing, looking at the front cover the lower right will be cast with a 44 or 60.
You can use Chevy knuckles, hubs, spindles, rotors and calipers to convert this front axle to 6 lug if you wanted to.
Or you may be able to find 8 lug axles, rotors, caliper brackets and calipers to convert your semi-float 6 lug to 8 lug.
A 2000-2006 Suburban K2500 with a 6.0 engine would be your best option for the 8 lug semi-float stuff.
The same years Suburban with the big block will get a 14 bolt full float with disc brakes.
If the pinion shaft of that front axle is even with or below the center line of the axle it is a low pinion front end.
Not a bad axle, but a high pinion is better for your SAS conversion.
Hope this is helpful.

Your helper is going to be a big boy when he grows into those hands of his!

 

[Flyboat]

Justcuz you have been a wealth of information for me, I appreciate all that you share. This axle was last under a GM truck with a u bolt flip. I think they ground down the web at the marking point, but I'll look again. I don't think the guy I got it from knew exactly what it came from. I'll take some more pictures but the pinion shaft looks to me to be above the center line of the axle.


So the 'burb currently has a 3" body lift and 285/75/16 tires. I am shooting for adding 4 inches with a SAS and shackle flip and running a 35" tire with 4.56 gears, mild mannered locker in front and rear. I live in Texas and it seems all the stuff I wanna go see is on the other side of the state. I still need to get on the highway and do 75 without screaming RPM's. My opinion is why have 4 wheel drive if you slip when a tire loses traction, but a selectable is a little steep for my budget yet. And I'm nervous I will not like the height, wheel, tire combo after I see it all together.

I haven't decided which conversion route to take yet. Both ends will need gears to 4.56. The ford axle has some booty fab, ground down and welded calipers, with snapped off caliper clip retaining bolts. Swapping to 6 lug means new knuckles and that means aftermarket flat top or finding hen's teeth 74-78 chevy knuckles with flat tops and having the passenger one machined. And less capable brakes.

I thought about buying a complete chevy 1/2 ton dana44 and moving over the parts and replacing the wear items.

I don't think any 14 bolt came with 4.56 unless is was a cucv and I don't think in my model group GMT400, but I could be wrong.

I'm also little nervous about finding a drive shaft that will work with my Np243 and coming up with a shock arrangement.

The whole point of this is I feel like I'm out of improvements on the current IFS if I want to add a winch and front bumper. I also like the fact of more serviceability and customizing ability. I want a good solid family truckster, and believe me I had the discussion with the wife that this would be easier to just cut bait and get a square body, but the wife likes this suburban and has given me the go ahead to make it a long term project. So with that said, it stays and we build it to fit and paint to match

 

[Flyboat]

Let me tell you the story of naming the fly boat. My kids used to watch this tv show called wonder pets. They went on adventures to rescue baby animals. The name of their vehicle was the flyboat. The kids called the burb the flyboat and the name stuck.

 

[justcuz]

I think with 4" of suspension lift you won't need the body lift.
Take a look at nojeepshere's Tahoe SAS conversion, he did a nice job on his.
As far as a driveshaft for your NP243, I presume you are talking about the front.
I think you can convert that to the fixed front flange from a NP241 and make a driveshaft using the parts from that.
My 1993 Suburban has a 241 in it and I can take a picture of it if you need one.
Also for the rear driveshaft, I am fairly certain the output splines are all the same for the rear output.
You can get a rear driveshaft from the axle you swap in and have it sized to fit the Suburban.
A standard cab long bed driveshaft will bolt right in to a Suburban.
I also believe the output splines in the slip yokes of the 208,231,241 and 243 are the same as any GM 2wd automatic transmission, not positive but I can check it.

 

[Flyboat]

On the body lift, I have none of the orginal parts to go back and I have a custom fan shroud. So I'm really not wanting to remove it if I can help it. It's a tight fit on the front drive shaft let me see if I can get this pic to show.

 

[Flyboat]

space between joint and shifting electric shift

 

[Flyboat]

Here is some more of this axle. And ground welded caliper crap

 

[Flyboat]

So option A would be go Chevy 6 lug on the front.
Change everything from the knuckles out to Chevy.

Option B would be to clean up or replace ford parts on this front axle and swap the rear axle to a 14 bolt Ff.