If you are considering buying this part see if you can just get the 3rd member, that's all you need, not the axles, axle housing & all the brake parts. It should cost less than the asking price of the entire axle assembly and the shipping should be about a third the cost for the entire assembly. The 3rd should be an easy bolt-in swap & will mate to everything currently in your truck. If you try to swap in the entire axle assembly you will have to mod the p-brake cables at least, that system is different than a '79, plus who knows the condition of the brakes or axle bearings? It looks like the pinion seal has been weeping, so plan on replacing that, it's a bit tricky getting the pinion shaft nut back to the correct tightness, I can tell you how I have done it in the past when you get to that point. The bottom two passenger side bolts or studs that attach the 3rd member to the axle housing may be a different length than yours, just swap them for the correct length if they are different. You will have to change the driven speedometer gear to one with fewer teeth, yours is probably a 6/20 (4.10 gears), the stock auto trans gear was a 6/17 (3.73 gears). Changing the rear end will change the effective tranny gear ratios by close to 10%, your current 3.53 first gear will feel more like a 3.21 ratio, the other gears will be effected the same. '78-'80 2wd gas trucks with auto trannies came with the same 3.73 rears, I don't know for sure about other years.
_________________ '78 Chevy LUV,1.9,4sp,headers,31's,SAS Dana 30,Dana 20,SOA rear w/Aussie Locker, rough body, bought new 12/4/78. '87 Trooper,2.3,5sp,headers,31's,ball joint flip & spacer,Aussie Locker rear,Superwinch hubs,brush guard w/5.5K winch,more to come.
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