Axle or gear swap?

[Flightman91]

So I have 2 Dana 60 full floats. The one in my truck, has 3.73 gears and the smaller drum brakes. The other has 4.10 gears and no brakes on it. I have a set of camper special drum brakes.

I need to get the 4.10s in the truck and the camper special brakes. My grandfather said the 4.10 rear end worked 14 years ago.

I'm a decent home mechanic but I've never done either of these things.

Would it be easier to swap in the 4.10 rear end and hope it works possibly needing to change carrier and pinion bearings, or to change the gear set over to the rear end in the truck? Either way I'll be installing the new drum brakes on whatever ends up in the truck.

Any advise or experience would be greatly appreciated.

[colnago]

Disclaimer: I haven't done a gear swap, so I have no real, practical experience with this.

This being said, if it were me, I would rebuild the 4.10 rear end, axle, and brakes as a unit, then swap it into the truck. This way, you could keep driving while doing the work, then spend a weekend doing the swap. This way, you could take your time doing everything right, and not stress out about getting the truck back on the road.

I take it that you are wanting to get back to the original configuration. I'm looking at going the opposite way. I have a '67 CS with the 4.10 rear end, and I would like to swap in 3.54 gearing to give me a bit more stretch on the road.



Joseph

[Flightman91]

Honestly I want the 4wd to work, wrong ratio, and I need the brakes as I intend to pull a 5th wheel 100 miles this summer. What do I need to do to rebuild the axle? I've already got the brakes ready to bolt up.