I recently bought a 86' suburban and it has 1 ton axles under it. I am rebuilding my 68 FJ40 and was wondering if it would be wise to put the 1 ton axles under it or is it not worth the work. I am putting a 350 motor with a TH400 transmission in it and I'm going to use it for daily driver and moderate 4wheelin.
1 ton chevy axles
- Thread starter 68AKCruiser
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A lot of that plans on how you plan to do the conversion. Your 1ton axles would need to be narowed a lot. If you did, you could avoid the need for Adaptors and use the Chev tcase. What tcase does it have?
For moderate wheeling stock axles will stand up fine... Probly worth keeping your front TLC axle... The back is more debatable.
Drivetrain length is a major consideration in a 40... You need some space for a rear driveshafts.
I kept the stock axles and transmission when I did my swap... To do it over, I might go auto and??
For moderate wheeling stock axles will stand up fine... Probly worth keeping your front TLC axle... The back is more debatable.
Drivetrain length is a major consideration in a 40... You need some space for a rear driveshafts.
I kept the stock axles and transmission when I did my swap... To do it over, I might go auto and??
I have been pondering this for a REALLY LONG TIME. What are you gonna do with your build? I mean tire height and power plant. 350 sbc can easily become a potent rodent with just a set of good flowing heads. Are you ready to become a full width FJ or are you just gonna cut them down to a more stock width? I built up a pretty good set of stock axles and find myself breaking little things here and there. For the money... looking back at it all, shouldve just bit bullet and went to 1tons. I like having TEQ stuff under there and it hasnt let me down for 90% of it all.
If it was me doing it all over, which is basically my next step. Gonna leave the axle width alone and run stock H1 12 bolt wheels to suck the tires in. The rear 14ff would just have the all the hangers and shock tabs ground off. Ruffstuff mounts and tabs welded on. The front would just need to be outboarded with some 2x6x.250 rectangle and some ruffstuff tabs.
If it was me doing it all over, which is basically my next step. Gonna leave the axle width alone and run stock H1 12 bolt wheels to suck the tires in. The rear 14ff would just have the all the hangers and shock tabs ground off. Ruffstuff mounts and tabs welded on. The front would just need to be outboarded with some 2x6x.250 rectangle and some ruffstuff tabs.
Not even worth the work. The Toyota axles with some easy mods are plenty strong.
- Thread starter
- #6
I was planning on just grinding all of the original mounts off of the 1 ton axles and rewelding all the new mounts that I need. I wasn't gonna cut the axles down either, just keep them there original width. If the original axles are sufficient for moderate 4wheeling then I will probably just keep them. I don't plan on having over 350 hp in the motor.
Yeah, seriously dont mess with the meat on the diffs. Just outboard and be done with it. Makes life easy and will open up some options for you to go to larger/longer springs. You will need to step up to cross over steering, by far the best thing regardless of which axle setup.
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
You sure about the 1 ton thing? A Suburban would come with a 14 bolt rear which is a one ton axle, but the front is likely a Dana44 or Corporate 10 bolt which is not a one ton axle. I don't think there is such a beast as a 1 ton Suburban (could be wrong though!)
The rear would be a good swap if you can find a Dana60 font to go with it. Otherwise having 2 lug patterns would be a pain.
It all depends what you want to do. Cruiser axles are strong if upgraded, but not 1 ton strong.
The rear would be a good swap if you can find a Dana60 font to go with it. Otherwise having 2 lug patterns would be a pain.
It all depends what you want to do. Cruiser axles are strong if upgraded, but not 1 ton strong.
Not from the factory, but quite a few dealers had them added in. We had three in our family. The other thing Miller Brothers did for us was have the K20's upgraded to D60 fronts for a few years. It was something you would just have to talk to the sales folks for.
Aftermarket companies were producing a dually one for a while as well.
I saw a few of those in NC, but not really many in MD. My uncle bought one of those 4 door broncos with a 351W and F250 suspension. Was pretty neat for a short time, wished the burbs had a removable rear. Then I remembered that all of ours had rear AC.
- Thread starter
- #15
So if I'm better of staying with the stock FJ40 axles what should I do with them? I would like disk brake, but do I need them? I'm not sure if the suburban axles are for sure 1 tons I have looked at the pumkin case.
The 68 axles are ball and claw and coarse spline. So they are really the weakest axles that were put in 40's. Under moserate wheeling they work fine. However, converting to disc brakes is difficult and expensive.
Upgrading to later model toyota axles (pretty much a bolt up deal except for brake lines and driveshafts) is the easiest route.
If the axles in the suburban are stock. You would be putting a lot of work into getting them to fit and upgrading the strength (at least in the front)
BTW, what tcase were you planning on using?
Upgrading to later model toyota axles (pretty much a bolt up deal except for brake lines and driveshafts) is the easiest route.
If the axles in the suburban are stock. You would be putting a lot of work into getting them to fit and upgrading the strength (at least in the front)
BTW, what tcase were you planning on using?
- Thread starter
- #17
I was planning on using the one that is in the suburban now. I believe it is a 203 or 205. I'm looking to do the start of a frame off restoration this winter. I would like to do it farely inexpensive. I plan on only doing the frame down for now. Any adice.
frame off and inexpensive don't tend to work well together.
The 203/205 you have the the burban are centered rear outputs. The cruiser rear axle is offset to the passenger side. With the drivetrain length it may not work out well.
Outlining exactly what you want to do is the first step in figuring out what you should do..
The 203/205 you have the the burban are centered rear outputs. The cruiser rear axle is offset to the passenger side. With the drivetrain length it may not work out well.
Outlining exactly what you want to do is the first step in figuring out what you should do..
- Thread starter
- #19
I have always wanted a old fj40 fixed up. I have patients and want to do most of the work myself as I can. I just don't know were to start.
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
On a budget you don't want to be swapping in any Chevy Axles.
Try and find a later 40 axle and swap that in to get the disc brakes.
Seriously, if you are on a budget, don't do too much. Keep the truck in running order all the time or it will will become disassembled junk before you know it.
Try and find a later 40 axle and swap that in to get the disc brakes.
Seriously, if you are on a budget, don't do too much. Keep the truck in running order all the time or it will will become disassembled junk before you know it.
