Axle Swap

[gophergunner]

So i have a 1979 chev k2500 which had a 14-bolt full floating axle. i also have a 1989 chev blazer with a 6.2 which i thought needed that heavy axle since it has a locker and is completely rebuilt.

I got the axles swapped between the two so now my blazer has the 14 bolt on the rear, and i still need to swap the front axles too, but the problem i had after i did the rear ends is that the park brake cable is not the same between the two vehicles. I unhooked the cable from within the brake drums on the blazer before i pulled the axle off hoping that it would hook into the brakes from the 14-bolt. Of course after all my work, they do not match.

So now i'm hoping i can just swap the whole park brake cable system from one vehicle to the next, of course i will probably have to lengthen and shorten the cables to accomodate the vehicles. But i'm hoping maybe someone here can provide me a little info if this is the best route to go or is there something else i should be considering.

Thanks

[More Power]

Without looking at the parts, I'd probably try to use the cables that match your rear axle, then adapt them to your Blazer e-brake cable. This is what I had to do with the rear disc brake conversion installed in Lil Red (http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/tdpforum/showthread.php?t=20409).

Jim

[Goose]

In '85 GM redesigned the parking brake routing and cable system. You may be able to swap from the cab back to make it work.

[gophergunner]

that was kinda the plan now after i looked at it. but i'm still going from a long box to a blazer. so there is one piece that goes to both brake dums and is just hooked to the other piece from the cab. the piece to the drums might have to be shortened to make it work, but other than that i'm hoping it all turns out.

just had to get one special u-joint and everything else seems to have bolted in just great so far. 4.10 gears now, can't wait to try it out:D

[88 K30]

How was your pinion angle after the swap? I am curious as I did the same swap into my old K10. I used a 14-bolt from a '79 and the pinion angle was way off after it was installed. I think it actually pointed slightly down at the ground and caused a heck of a vibration in the driveline. From what I could tell it was due to the difference in the frame mounting and length of the rear spring hangers. I had to make custom wedges to correct it, because I didn't have the time or resources to cut the perches off and have them re-welded... :(

[gophergunner]

well i never paid too close of attention to that just yet......but as i recall the yoke on the pinion shaft seemed to be quite level when it was all bolted in place. i may have to take a closer look at it before i get too excited and drive it. but if need be, all i'm going to do is buy or make wedges to correct it

[88 K30]

I don't recall the excat angle I had originally, but I calculated the correction and ended up having a piece of 3/4" thick plate band-saw cut diagonally into wedges to correct mine. It was definitely way more correction than the commercially available wedges that I had bought to fix it. I drilled holes in the plates and then put longer bolts through the spring pack (I used my old main leaf, but the rest of the pack from the donor truck) with an extra nut under the head to make the bolt head long enough to catch the perches and keep the rear aligned.

Hopefully, you won't have the same problems, but it never hurts to check! It was a great upgrade, though!

[Ebrown]

Here is what my buddy did to solve the rear drive shaft angle. He dripped the trans cross member 1" and used some mfg degree shims to correct that problem.

Check here for axle swap info http://coloradok5.com/axleswap.shtml

or here

for tech http://coloradok5.com/axleswap.shtml