Help Identifying

[John-Ryan]

Hey All! We have an 88 V10 Burb per the title..under the shell we have a 14 bolt rear end, a 10 bolt front end, and a 700R4. It has a 5.7 that runs strong and smooth and am going to jack the back end and rotate the driveshaft to see what gears are in the axle. When hunting for parts do I look for V20 suspension parts or something else. Needing to mess with the alignment soon and get rid of the play in the front driveshaft. Also, how does one tell if its 3/4 or 1 ton parts. Thanks for any help. Added pics for clarification.

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[75gmck25]

On the pickups the 1 ton frame is beefier, but 3/4 ton and 1/2 frames are the same. I found this info in another article "1/2 and 3/4 have a 6" thick frame under the cab. 1 ton has an 8" thick frame under the cab."

Most standard trucks have 52" rear springs (measure from eye to eye), while some HD 3/4 ton and all 1 tons have 56" springs. The frame should have holes for both rear perches.

There is supposed to be a VIN number stamped on the top of the frame rail on the passenger side, but I've never looked for it on my truck. If you can find that number it might help figure out what you have. Swapping heavy duty suspension and axles into a 1/2 ton is a pretty common backyard upgrade, so maybe that is whet you have.

Bruce

 

[nvrenuf]

That 14 bolt is a pre '88 axle, you can tell because it does not have the vertical cooling fins on the yoke side of the center section. OE gears will have the manufacture date and ratio counts stamped in the ring gear so if you pull the cover you can change the fluid, see if you have a Gov Lock and possibly find the year and ratio (unless the gears have been swapped).

To source parts for the axles you can use any K20 type truck from '78+ for the 10 bolt but the 14 bolt will be a little trickier. The 14 bolt is super common and used forever but when buying parts you'll need to be careful to get parts for a K20 with the higher GVW, in the 80's GM had light and heavy duty K20's so the axle wasn't always the big 14 bolt. Your's is the 10.5" ring gear version. Also, the '88+ finned version uses different pinion bearings and pinion support so be careful with that.

 

[John-Ryan]

On the pickups the 1 ton frame is beefier, but 3/4 ton and 1/2 frames are the same. I found this info in another article "1/2 and 3/4 have a 6" thick frame under the cab. 1 ton has an 8" thick frame under the cab."

Most standard trucks have 52" rear springs (measure from eye to eye), while some HD 3/4 ton and all 1 tons have 56" springs. The frame should have holes for both rear perches.

There is supposed to be a VIN number stamped on the top of the frame rail on the passenger side, but I've never looked for it on my truck. If you can find that number it might help figure out what you have. Swapping heavy duty suspension and axles into a 1/2 ton is a pretty common backyard upgrade, so maybe that is whet you have.

Bruce

Thanks a lot - BIG help!

 

[John-Ryan]

That 14 bolt is a pre '88 axle, you can tell because it does not have the vertical cooling fins on the yoke side of the center section. OE gears will have the manufacture date and ratio counts stamped in the ring gear so if you pull the cover you can change the fluid, see if you have a Gov Lock and possibly find the year and ratio (unless the gears have been swapped).

To source parts for the axles you can use any K20 type truck from '78+ for the 10 bolt but the 14 bolt will be a little trickier. The 14 bolt is super common and used forever but when buying parts you'll need to be careful to get parts for a K20 with the higher GVW, in the 80's GM had light and heavy duty K20's so the axle wasn't always the big 14 bolt. Your's is the 10.5" ring gear version. Also, the '88+ finned version uses different pinion bearings and pinion support so be careful with that.

Great info - thanks a bunch