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I am looking at a rear axle from a 81-82 Diesel Luv 2wd with a 3.73 gear for my 79 4 spd 2wd . It is currently on ebay. Most threads I have read talk about the Pup 5 spd and rear for a upgrade or just the rear with a yoke change. I would like to avoid a trans and yoke change. My goal is to make it more highway friendly for my 30 mile commute to work. Is this 81-82 2wd Diesel rear a direct bolt in to my current set up or will it require some work to the driveshaft?
Is it correct that the pre 81 automatic Luvs will have this 3.73 gear that I think I need?
Thank you for your help.

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79 2WD Stepside project
86 Trooper Turbo Diesel
78 2WD Stepside Diesel project

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.

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'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.

Thank you for the detailed help Luv Masta! Changing the 3rd member out sounds like the way to go. I will inquire about the pinion shaft nut when I get there.Thanks again!
Mark

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79 2WD Stepside project
86 Trooper Turbo Diesel
78 2WD Stepside Diesel project

Changing the carrier is pretty easy to do but in my opinion a 3.73 won't be enough of a change. I ran a 3.42 for 2 years and it was just adequate for freeway driving. You can run a tall rear tire to gain a little extra ratio but you should hold out for a 3.42 carrier if you want highway gears. Look for an 81 Luv/Pup with the 3.42 and you will be happy. I found mine on http://www.car-part.com/

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