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I have been considering putting in a 4.3 w/ s-10 tranny and xfer case. Now i know that the front driveshaft is on the opposite side. I checked and the halfshafts are the same for both sides. My question is why cant i flip the ft diff so that it will line up with the s-10 xfer case.

it'll spin backwards

You say that like its a bad thing!

Spin backwards? As long as I dont rotate the axle end to end but just flip it over. the rotational direction should be the same. Unless the s-10 rotates the other direction. I guess I'm just confused as to how it would change direction of rotation. If you took a plate and marked a spot with an arrow pointing right, then turned the plate so that the arrow was at the bottom, the direction of the arrow would be the same. It would show the direction of rotation at 1/2 a revolution, left. Maybe this just works in my mind but unless I'm missing something, it seems to me that it would work.

If you are flipping it to move the Diff to the other side you will change direction. The best way to see this is takw a marker or any other round rod. Roll it across the table and note the direction of spin continue that spin and flip the rod end over end and BAM your got reversal.

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`79 LUV 2WD Stocky
`80 LUV 4WD Stocky

You might consider doing a solid axle swap to go with the 4.3 motor. The LUV front axle setup isn't up to taking a lot of power. If you are doing much off road with it you'll be breaking CVs and/or shafts without having to try too hard. If you swap in a solid axle you could get something with the diff on the other side, plus go for something beefier to handle putting more power to the ground. I'm not sure what would make a good donor for this, I've mostly looked at stuff with right sided diffs like wagoneer D44s. Not sure what would be the right width without being far too wide.

Flipping it will make it spin the tires the other way. It might be hard to wrap the brain around how it would, but it does. It is sort of like turning a nut and bolt. If you have either facing you, it is righty tighty, lefty loosy. But, if you are turning the end facing away from you, its the opposite.

Hey all thanks for the great replies. I figured out where I was going wrong on the rotation. I forgot to account for a change in direction from the input shaft to the output shafts. I was thinking of only the input shaft still rotating in the same direction, but everyone is correct when they say it will turn the tires the wrong direction. Oh well, I may have to go to a solid axle swap. Again thanks for all the info.