Posted by Caleb in Kansas [172.68.34.43] on Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 22:00:29 :
Well, I accidentally engaged the switch for the front diff on the suburban after I turned off the black top into gravel... couldn't use the chevy one in the dodge case when I did the Cummins swap so i have several un labeled switches on the dash,
the top is 4x4 followed by lights, then trans cooler fan ...and i digress ... there are lots of bad sounds coming from the front end. When I say lots, it wasn't so much the grinding, but the near stoppage of a wheel combined with the sound of stuff being crushed in gears... tried it today at even lower speeds and nothing.. no grinding, no front wheel binding on turning... nothing. Looked underneath and there is an obvious distortion in the side of the diff above the oil level.. shot. Well, I can't find a used one with 4.10 gears and less than 200k on it so Im looking at near 2k with no core, since mine is shot, for a new one. Not going to happen. Got ahold of a buddy and he has an early 90's Ford high pinion dana 60 with 4.10 gears and king pins, the ford springs, shocks, steering linkage, and the shock towers all for $750... I'm going solid axle. I know I'll probably end up having the same money as a replacement gm diff in it, but I'll have serviceable bearings and simple suspension, I'll also be able do drop the motor down another inch to get a little bit more hood clearance and actually habe access to the bottom of the motor without all of the other crap in the way.
Anyone done a sas on an IFS chevy? Seems pretty straight forward but Im sure I'll run into something odd along the way. Plan is to pick up one of the bracket kits, take some leaves out of a set of 1 ton rear chevy springs, order longer brake lines, and run the ford steering linkage for now till I can justify the chunk of change for the high steer bracket. Should be able to knock it out over a weekend with the plasma and a sleeve of flapper wheels for the grinder.