1973 - 1987 Chevy K10 Squarebody 10-bolt Front Axle Rebuild / Gear Swap

This video documents the process of tearing down, swapping gears and re-building a 10-bolt Front Axle in a 73-87 Chevy/GM Squarebody truck
Key Moments
00:58 Axle Teardown
08:16 Carrier Set-Up
13:27 Pinion Adjustment Contact Pattern Info
17:53 Setting Pinion Pre-load
21:27 Carrier Adjustment Contact Pattern Info
25:10 Measuring Backlash
26:25 Reviewing Contact Pattern
35:05 Axle Reassembly
Corrections
00:02 "Dana 44" should read "Corporate 10-bolt"
00:22 Correction: Not a Dana 44, it's a corporate 10-bolt. However, process for rebuild is the same
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[@bradleycrenshaw6778]

Man, I can't say thank you enough. I was fixing to pay dang near 500 bucks just for the install into my axel tube that only had the third member in it until I watched your video a hundred times. I can't give you enough thumbs up. You are a very good instructor. Now I have a new dial indicator and a rotational torque wrench. Let's hope I never use them again but if I do, I will know how.

[@midatlanticcustoms]

Thank you for the feedback! Glad things worked out for you

[@diesel1586]

Top notch video, I’m going through the same thing, just finished the rear, went from 3:08s to 3:73s, ‘85 K10, 8.5 10 bolt, so now I’m just doing a little research before I get started on the front and this video is perfect for me so thank you for that

[@midatlanticcustoms]

Thank you for the feedback, glad it was helpful. Good luck with the gear swap!

[@xpslinger8171]

That’s a corporate 10 bolt bud, not a Dana 44. Beautiful truck

[@midatlanticcustoms]

Thanks! And you're 100% correct. Not a Dana 44, good catch

[@MrRomance86]

What's the break in period for new gears?

[@midatlanticcustoms]

@@MrRomance86 the first 100 miles you want to heat cycle the gears several times. Generally, you want to vary vehicle speed, but keep it under 60 mph (no highway driving). After 15-20 minutes of driving, shut vehicle off and let gears cool. Do this 2-3x.
You typically want to limit towing, racing and hard pulls before 500 miles. Once you hit 500 miles on the gears: remove cover, drain fluid, inspect gears and refill with fresh fluid. From here, you can resume normal driving.
Hope this helps.

[@Niche879]

Pretty much 79-91 not 73-87. Dana 44 was up until 78 from my understanding and from 79-91 was the gm 8.5 corporate 10 bolt. Based off the Dana 44 kinda similar axle small differences. Also in 89-91 they went from 28spline to 30spline axles like what Dana 44 had.

[@MrRomance86]

@@midatlanticcustoms thank you very much for the information

[@spartan6724]

Great video

[@midatlanticcustoms]

Thanks !

[@miguelamartinez1411]

Thanks, well explained video.

[@midatlanticcustoms]

You're welcome!

[@TempoDrift1480]

So just fill it up till it drips out. 10-fuckin-4 on that one.

[@midatlanticcustoms]

Yupp! Fill-to-spill