14 bolt swap: spring perches
The 14 bolt semi-float axle that I bought for my suburban had recently been in a ‘70 chevy pickup (it was originally out of an ‘88) and the distance between spring perches was not right for the ‘82 suburban. So, first I pulled out the stock 10 bolt rear and put it next to the 14 bolt for comparison.
Next I ground off the welds with a 4 1/2″ angle grinder and knocked off the perches with a hammer. Then I cleaned them up and champhered the edge in preparation for re-welding them.
I needed to be able to measure the center to center distance of the perches, but the differential prevents you from being able to just measure them with a tape measure. So what I did is use a set of outside calipers to measure the width of the center section.
Then I could use a set of inside calipers to set the distance from the perches to the center section.
I also needed to set the angle. I the angle between the perches the the yoke with a magnetic protractor, setting it to be the same as the stock 10 bolt.
Then it was just welding them on.
