The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Straight Axle swap

Ok this one is probably going to upset a few people out there, but here it goes, I have a straight axle from a 1/2 54 GMC can it be swapped to my 52 1 ton in the front? The reasoning is to switch to new disc breaks and yet continue to us the stock suspension? It looks like everything lines up. I am concerned about the spring width as it looks like the 1/2 was slightly larger than 1 3/4" and the other looks to be 2". Do I need to swap out the springs too? otherwise I would guess it would work without any hitches, but I figured I would ask the experts. This would allow me to go to a 5 lug and get disk brakes.

Thanks

Any thoughts?

Go for it!

I think the steering box is the same on both a 1/2-ton and 1-ton so it should be easy to adapt the steerng related parts.

I don't know about the difference in spring width, but I'd try to make the 1/2-ton axle fit the 1-ton springs perhaps by moving the u-bolt holes or perhaps drilling them out larger.

Springs, shocks, steering and brakes are the only places the axle touches the truck, and springs the only one that might be a challenge.

The 1/2-ton axle is not as strong as the 1-ton so your max load capacity will be reduced by that change.

The swap to disk brakes will probably improve your braking, but not improve it to current 1-ton specs. Also the disk brake conversions, either 5-lug or 6-lug will mean using wheels that are likely not 1-ton load rated.

If you won't be hauling 1-ton loads I don't see those issues as significant. But remember you no will no longer really have the original 8800 weight rating. If that doesn't matter go for it!

ok , here it goes. i'm not an expert, but i will share what i have learned. the spring center to center on all models is 26 13/16". so the axle will fit between the springs. the 1 ton springs are 2" wide and the 1/2 ton springs are 1 3/4". so the mounting pad u-bolt holes and the shock plate on the axles will be different, and the 1 ton u-bolts are 9/16" dia. while the 1/2 ton are 1/2 " dia. you probably can't use the 1 3/4" springs without changing the spring end and shackle perches on the frame [different width].. also, the model 3100 and the model 3600 have a spring length of 38", while the 3700 through 5700 models spring length is 40". i hope this all helps. garyg

Another option, there's a thread on here on adapting disk brakes to the 1 ton axle. Might be worth looking at.
here's the link http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=012145#000000