yeah, that is one of the stronger rear ends put in a light truck. I think the reason parts aren't readily available is because it hasn't been in production for a while, and there weren't a bunch of them made. What tire size do you have? You might keep your eyes open for a set of 4.11 gears--that would help out quite a bit on the top end. I have 4.56 gears in mine, and with 235/85/R16 tires, I turn 2700 rpm at 50 mph (and i don't get much over that
). Going to 4.11's should drop about 500 rpm off of that. Here's a link to a pretty good chart on tire size v. gearing
ratio chart Do you haul much with your truck? If you're just going to be doing freeway driving and not pulling anything very much, a Dana 44 would probably work. For much of a load, though, I'd go with a 14 bolt from a later model 3/4 or 1 ton chevy. They're pretty strong, and parts are abundant.
