Well the zr2 axle swap is at the mid way point as of 30 min ago the old axle was out.. So far the only hang ups and casualties have been the breather line, the aluminium band holding the e-brake cable to the axle tube and 2 smashed fingers one with a blood blister. All and all it is going pretty smooth. Next I will strip down the 8.5 since I decided to remove the backing plates and leave them hooked to the e-brake cables. Also with the brakes and axle shafts out the assembly gets much lighter. This is important as I still have only one hand to work with for the most part.
I decided not to drop the rear of the springs. I was hoping to install lift shackles but at this point that idea had to be put off for now. I think leaving the springs in place and stripping the brake parts and axle shafts off made the job easier. I think HJ was trying to tell me that before.
For help my 10 y/o son has been wrench chasing and wife was on stand by in case I needed any lifting help. I was able to balance the axle on my floor jack and wheel the center over to the spring. With the center balanced on the spring I just slid it onto my dolly then wheel it out. Not bad for basically a one armed man huh!
Anyway trying to figure out what to take pics of. Hj did a pretty good job in his swap post. Anything anyone want to see?
I thought I would post this little update here then make one post under the zr2 axle swap page instead of cluttering up the swap thread.
fallvitals wrote: I never really read into it, but what advantage does the zr2 rear end give you?
I had to ask that when the swap was first talked about awhile ago before anyone here had done one to my knowledge. The answer is basically everything gets beefed up. larger ring gear,thicker axle shafts with more splines. The zr2 Axle uses the same center section as the full size 1500 trucks. It is also 4" wider but the spring perches are the same as ours. As far as I can tell by reading all zr2 axles are G-80 lockers and all are 3.73 gears. Another plus is they are more supported by the after market for gears,lockers and LSDs.
So far from what I can see it is a beefer axle and will be worth the upgrade. The only down side is it looks like the ZR2 axle will loose us about an inch of ground clearance under the diff.
