[Drivetrain] blazer vs bronco axles

[jaredp181]

im buying either a 87-96 ford bronco or a 73-91 chevy k5 blazer in the next few days but need some help deciding mainly due to the axles. id rather the blazer due to the add ons are cheaper and im on a tight budget. the blazer i will be putting a 8 inch lift ($750) on 38s if i go with the bronco ill be putting a 6 inch lift ($1300) on 35s so you can see why i want the blazer more for less money. my concern is the axles the blazer is a gm 10 bolt front and rear axle and the bronco is front dana 44 TTB and rear is a ford 8.8 axle. it will be driven daily and i plan on putting it in the mud pretty often nothing to bad though due to the places around me dont have anything major.

now to the point the gm 10 bolts ive heard alot of bad stories about that they are real weak so it worries me to run 38s on them as i would have to for a while if i got the blazer untill i can afford to swap the axles an when i do i was thinking of swapping them with a dana 60 front and rear axles from a 99 f250. now the bronco the ford 8.8 is said to be very strong but the dana 44 TTB is a weak setup. and keep in mind either vehicle will be used with anywhere from 120,000-200,000 miles already on them.

as i said id rather the blazer so would i be ok running 38s on the stock 10 bolt axle with 4.88 gears for a good amount of time if im not doing any extreme wheelin on them? when i do the swap would going with the dana 60s be a good choice and easy swap or is there some other axles i should go with that would bolt right up and be strong enough for some hard wheelin?

any thoughts on the broncos vs the blazers

[USMCMP5811]

First off, the 73-early 80's blazers had 12 bolt axels in the rear. I believe it was 1984 that they started putting the 10 bolt in the rear.

Just my opinion, IMHO, the ford 8.8 is just as weak as the Chevy 10 bolt. I wouldn't put anything over a 33x12.5 tire on either axel. If you want to go with 38's, swap Dana 60's or a GM Corperate 14 bolt FF in the Blazer.

[outalne94z71]

(10-19-2011 03:59 AM)USMCMP5811 Wrote:  First off, the 73-early 80's blazers had 12 bolt axels in the rear. I believe it was 1984 that they started putting the 10 bolt in the rear.

Just my opinion, IMHO, the ford 8.8 is just as weak as the Chevy 10 bolt. I wouldn't put anything over a 33x12.5 tire on either axel. If you want to go with 38's, swap Dana 60's or a GM Corperate 14 bolt FF in the Blazer.

78 was when the 10 bolt came out

he also says he wants to use a ford d60 which will not work in that k5 as the pumpkin is on the wrong side. he needs the chevy/dodge d60 front

the consensus is a 35 is the limit for the 10 bolt front and i would still carry spare shafts with that(make sure you have right spline count 88-91 had 30 spline), the rear becomes a issue if it has a g80 unit in it

[jrodxj]

I would find a set of tons before i did any other mods. You wont be very happy with your 38's when all you get done doing is changing shafts. Just my $.02.