Hey--IT WORKED!!! rides beautifully. I LOVE having the discs in place of those lousy drums!!

The swap was fairly straight forward, with the only issues having been:

rusty bolts (duuh), but they all came out OK, and I didn't even have to replace my old U-bolts.

The wheel bolt pattern was the same, however, the SIZE of the wheel studs was not. I had to get a proper size set of lug nuts for the new rear, so now my front ones are smaller than the rear.

I had to go with a braided stainless brake line to go from the chassis of the truck to the rear end due to the condition of the factory piece on my '97. After 150k miles, certain bolts and fittings did NOT want to cooperate.

Shocks lined and bolted right up. No problem.

The rear, being bigger than the 8.8 that WAS in it, stuck out farther toward the front, but there was enough play to the length of the driveshaft going into the tranny that it cleared fine.

I had to go back to the salvage yard and get the brake booster from the '02, and then got a brand new master cylinder for it. It was fun trying to get the old booster out, and was horrified to see the almost double size of the new booster to try to get it in, but things went in after unbolting other things and moving them out of the way. All brake lines and electrical plugs matched up perfectly. Same with the rear end itself. The anti-slip line plugged right in. No brake light or warning indicator.

WORKS GREAT!! I LOVE IT!!

 

hey man i was thinking about doing this EXACT same thing. If you dont mind me asking how much did this set you back? I would rather have Disc rear but im really after the 9.75!

 

trimble: which do you want? the disc 9.75 or the drum. make up your mind. i need to know what we're going to be up against.

 

9.75 perferrably but the disc would be nice!

 

ah, i knew eventually we would convince you to convert to the disc! after reading the OP's post, it doesn't look to be too bad.

 

The rear was $650 from a local salvage yard, complete, lugs to lugs. BTW--limited slip, as well. I went to PML Inc and added an aluminum diff cover--THAT little critter was almost $200, but I got a great deal from a local shop for powder coating it--$10. I got a set of Rough Country 9000 gas shocks from JC Whitney for $135 (all 4, fronts and rear) delivered, with boots. The brake booster was $40, and the master cylinder was $50, brand new, delivered.

Overall, it was a moderately expensive project, but with the larger diff, limited slip, and those wonderful discs, I feel confident when towing, and don't have to worry about those lousy drums dragging on me anymore, much less locking up for no reason at all. My truck has 150k on it, and this rear only had 71k, so there's the added bonus of less wear on it, as well.

To say I'm extremely happy with the end result would be an understatement.