- Joined
- November 29, 2000
- Messages
- 10,355
- Reaction score
- 4,591
- Location
- USA
- City, State
- San Diego, PRofK
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1994 XLT
I don't have anything going with the Explorer, but I do have with another vehicle. I have a 2008 Crew Cab 5.3 V8 4L60E trans Silverado 1500 that I bought new. It's a great truck. Very comfortable, easy to drive, smooth on the highway for a truck, etc. Plenty of power from that old school push rod V8 and the trans is an electronic version of the 700R4 so very stout. It's only got 142,000 miles on it, and the engine has about 50,000. It started burning oil at 85,000 miles while still under warranty. My brother worked at a Chevy dealership, same one I bought it from. They usually replace the heads, or the pistons and rings for that. My brother warrantied it for both fixes, so the only thing not replaced was the crankshaft. The truck is a keeper. I also like it because the engineers seemed to have practicality in mind when they designed it. Everything is where you think it should be.
The only thing I don't like about it is it has rear drum brakes and a weak rear 10 bolt axle (8.6"). I downshift on grades, but the drums suffer from severe brake fade, and warping. I have gone through three drums, not from wear, but from warping. I have used it since it was new to pull the horse trailers, our boat, and other trailers. It has a tow rating of 7,700 pounds and I stay under that.
I recently started getting a little chattering when accelerating from a stop up to about 10 MPH, which can only mean the G80 GovLock is failing. It's a weird locker that runs off inertia and only works up to 20 MPH. They are prone to failure with the 10 bolts. There were some models of the 1500 that had a 6.2 liter engine and a 14 bolt rear axle. The 14 bolt is a very strong axle. They are six lug bolt pattern, same as the rest of the 1500's, have disc brakes, and are about as bolt in as any axle swap can be. I shopped around and located one in Corona, California with only 78,000 miles on the donor truck. Drove up today, looked at and bought it. This one was out of a 2010 LTZ model, same gear ratio as my current axle, and with posi-traction. They removed the diff cover, and it looks very nice in there. The soft brake lines look great, and from what I understand they are the same lines as the 10 bolt. They threw in the U-bolts and plates, park brake lines, drive shaft, basically all the attachments. It even has the factory helper air bags that appear intact. All of that with a 90 day warranty. The cost of the axle was less than it would have cost me to replace the locker in my 8.6 diff. Win-Win.
The plan is, after I get someone to help me get the 550 pound axle out of the back of my truck and onto my 4 wheel cart, is to clean it up, paint it, pull the brakes apart, and check the calipers. I already ordered new Powerstop slotted rotors and pads. The brake lines are the same as the 10 bolt, and have the same ABS sensors. Same axle width, same spring perches, etc. The only real difference is the U-joints on the driveshaft and the yoke. I think the 14 bolt has 1350's and the 10 bolt has 1330's. The donor was a 4wd, mine is a 2wd, so the driveshaft will not swap over, and this one has a big dent in it anyway. From what I have found on-line, I can change the yoke to the 10 bolt yoke and that should work, or I can get a adaptor U-joint. The only issue that might come up is if the pinyon output is too long for my drive shaft, but from what I have seen with a bunch of swaps on-line, its not an issue. I hope not, because it has an aluminum composite drive shaft, and you can't just take them to the local drive shaft shop and get them shortened. I'll get some rough measurements soon to see if that's going to be a potential problem.
I'm excited to get rid of the only potential issue with that truck, and get rid of the drum brakes. I think the only fabrication I will have to do is make some upper air bag mounts. They were not attached, and I forgot to ask about them. Looking at pictures, it appears they are part of a different cross member than I have. They take the place of the bump stop mounts so I think I can modify those. Air bags is something I did not plan on, but now that I have them...... If they hold air, they are getting installed. I'll call the yard tomorrow and ask about the upper mounts.
What sucks is I have been waiting on any big mods or work on vehicles until I get the Arizona house built. With the 45x55 shop and two-post lift it would make this job a lot easier, but I will have to do one more driveway axle swap. I would also like to add if you need any used truck parts in Southern California, call Indiana Truck Salvage in Corona and ask for Troy.
Notes on the swap:
This is a swap for a 2008 Crew Cab (4 door), short bed (5'8") two-wheel drive 1500 Silverado with the 5.3 V8 and a 10 bolt, 8.6" rear axle.
Donor vehicle is a 2010 Crew Cab 1500, standard bed (6'5"), four-wheel drive 1500 Silverado with the 6.2 V8 and a 14 bolt, 9.5" rear axle.
It is an almost direct bolt in swap. The 14 bolt that was in this generation of Silverado's with the larger 6.2 engine is sometimes referred to as a "baby 14 bolt". It is not the same as the full float 14 bolt, which have a larger housing and ring gear. This axle is semi-float with C-clips and 9.5" gears. A 2008-2013 donor truck is what I recommend. I found mine through car-part.com search at a salvage yard. Some of the 2014 and up 14 bolts have a 9.75" ring gear. The axles have the same housings and look identical, but nothing internal is interchangeable. No aftermarket support, no aftermarket lockers/carriers available, and limited gearing options. The 9.5" gear 14 bolts have lots of aftermarket support.
Get the VIN of the donor vehicle, write it down somewhere handy, like in your owner's manual. GM made at least two axles for this generation of Silverado. Finding parts is confusing as most on-line vendors don't list the axles the parts fit. You can call any GM dealership and get OEM part numbers with the VIN.
Axles are the same width.
Brake lines and ABS wires are the same on both vehicles.
U-bolts, plates and nuts are the same on both vehicles.
Both are 6 lug bolt pattern (same).
Shock mounts are the same.
Bump stops and plates are in the same location. If axle comes with air bags, need both top and bottom brackets and they replace the bump stops.
10 bolt Drive shaft does bolt to the yoke of the 14 bolt, but the 14 bolt is a little bit longer.
Two parts are different:
Drive shaft will need to be shortened 1" to regain the slip yoke play. This might be different with a 4x4 model, might have more play in the slip yokes. If your aluminum drive shaft has welded ends, it can be shortened.
Park brake cables are about a foot longer but the sheaths are the same length and mount exactly the same. Will need the intermediate park brake cable off the donor, or shorten your existing cable. I did not pull the park brake cables on my old axle to see if they would fit. It will be easier to shorten the intermediate park brake cable if they are the same on both trucks.
If your old axle is failing, like mine is (G80 locker is clunking), ask the junk yard if they will take it for scrap. They will usually take them off your hands and if saves figuring out what to do with them.
If you have a lift and a helper, and a modified drive shaft, I imagine you could get this swap finished in 2-4 hours. The added braking power of the rear discs is worth the swap all by itself.
The only thing I don't like about it is it has rear drum brakes and a weak rear 10 bolt axle (8.6"). I downshift on grades, but the drums suffer from severe brake fade, and warping. I have gone through three drums, not from wear, but from warping. I have used it since it was new to pull the horse trailers, our boat, and other trailers. It has a tow rating of 7,700 pounds and I stay under that.
I recently started getting a little chattering when accelerating from a stop up to about 10 MPH, which can only mean the G80 GovLock is failing. It's a weird locker that runs off inertia and only works up to 20 MPH. They are prone to failure with the 10 bolts. There were some models of the 1500 that had a 6.2 liter engine and a 14 bolt rear axle. The 14 bolt is a very strong axle. They are six lug bolt pattern, same as the rest of the 1500's, have disc brakes, and are about as bolt in as any axle swap can be. I shopped around and located one in Corona, California with only 78,000 miles on the donor truck. Drove up today, looked at and bought it. This one was out of a 2010 LTZ model, same gear ratio as my current axle, and with posi-traction. They removed the diff cover, and it looks very nice in there. The soft brake lines look great, and from what I understand they are the same lines as the 10 bolt. They threw in the U-bolts and plates, park brake lines, drive shaft, basically all the attachments. It even has the factory helper air bags that appear intact. All of that with a 90 day warranty. The cost of the axle was less than it would have cost me to replace the locker in my 8.6 diff. Win-Win.
The plan is, after I get someone to help me get the 550 pound axle out of the back of my truck and onto my 4 wheel cart, is to clean it up, paint it, pull the brakes apart, and check the calipers. I already ordered new Powerstop slotted rotors and pads. The brake lines are the same as the 10 bolt, and have the same ABS sensors. Same axle width, same spring perches, etc. The only real difference is the U-joints on the driveshaft and the yoke. I think the 14 bolt has 1350's and the 10 bolt has 1330's. The donor was a 4wd, mine is a 2wd, so the driveshaft will not swap over, and this one has a big dent in it anyway. From what I have found on-line, I can change the yoke to the 10 bolt yoke and that should work, or I can get a adaptor U-joint. The only issue that might come up is if the pinyon output is too long for my drive shaft, but from what I have seen with a bunch of swaps on-line, its not an issue. I hope not, because it has an aluminum composite drive shaft, and you can't just take them to the local drive shaft shop and get them shortened. I'll get some rough measurements soon to see if that's going to be a potential problem.
I'm excited to get rid of the only potential issue with that truck, and get rid of the drum brakes. I think the only fabrication I will have to do is make some upper air bag mounts. They were not attached, and I forgot to ask about them. Looking at pictures, it appears they are part of a different cross member than I have. They take the place of the bump stop mounts so I think I can modify those. Air bags is something I did not plan on, but now that I have them...... If they hold air, they are getting installed. I'll call the yard tomorrow and ask about the upper mounts.
What sucks is I have been waiting on any big mods or work on vehicles until I get the Arizona house built. With the 45x55 shop and two-post lift it would make this job a lot easier, but I will have to do one more driveway axle swap. I would also like to add if you need any used truck parts in Southern California, call Indiana Truck Salvage in Corona and ask for Troy.
Notes on the swap:
This is a swap for a 2008 Crew Cab (4 door), short bed (5'8") two-wheel drive 1500 Silverado with the 5.3 V8 and a 10 bolt, 8.6" rear axle.
Donor vehicle is a 2010 Crew Cab 1500, standard bed (6'5"), four-wheel drive 1500 Silverado with the 6.2 V8 and a 14 bolt, 9.5" rear axle.
It is an almost direct bolt in swap. The 14 bolt that was in this generation of Silverado's with the larger 6.2 engine is sometimes referred to as a "baby 14 bolt". It is not the same as the full float 14 bolt, which have a larger housing and ring gear. This axle is semi-float with C-clips and 9.5" gears. A 2008-2013 donor truck is what I recommend. I found mine through car-part.com search at a salvage yard. Some of the 2014 and up 14 bolts have a 9.75" ring gear. The axles have the same housings and look identical, but nothing internal is interchangeable. No aftermarket support, no aftermarket lockers/carriers available, and limited gearing options. The 9.5" gear 14 bolts have lots of aftermarket support.
Get the VIN of the donor vehicle, write it down somewhere handy, like in your owner's manual. GM made at least two axles for this generation of Silverado. Finding parts is confusing as most on-line vendors don't list the axles the parts fit. You can call any GM dealership and get OEM part numbers with the VIN.
Axles are the same width.
Brake lines and ABS wires are the same on both vehicles.
U-bolts, plates and nuts are the same on both vehicles.
Both are 6 lug bolt pattern (same).
Shock mounts are the same.
Bump stops and plates are in the same location. If axle comes with air bags, need both top and bottom brackets and they replace the bump stops.
10 bolt Drive shaft does bolt to the yoke of the 14 bolt, but the 14 bolt is a little bit longer.
Two parts are different:
Drive shaft will need to be shortened 1" to regain the slip yoke play. This might be different with a 4x4 model, might have more play in the slip yokes. If your aluminum drive shaft has welded ends, it can be shortened.
Park brake cables are about a foot longer but the sheaths are the same length and mount exactly the same. Will need the intermediate park brake cable off the donor, or shorten your existing cable. I did not pull the park brake cables on my old axle to see if they would fit. It will be easier to shorten the intermediate park brake cable if they are the same on both trucks.
If your old axle is failing, like mine is (G80 locker is clunking), ask the junk yard if they will take it for scrap. They will usually take them off your hands and if saves figuring out what to do with them.
If you have a lift and a helper, and a modified drive shaft, I imagine you could get this swap finished in 2-4 hours. The added braking power of the rear discs is worth the swap all by itself.
