S10 On 1 Tons And 40's Build

Recently, I contemplated selling my 74' CJ5. It's fairly built, it has lockers, 35" tires, low compound gears, and a beefed up frame from TDK. All in all it has been a good off roader, but it lacks the cargo/passenger space and creature comforts (A/C and heat) that I desire for longer, multi day trips. I've decided now that I'm going to keep my CJ, but I have started a new project which will become my primary off road vehicle.

Ultimately I decided on a 98-2004 S10 as my desired platform for this next build. It has very similar dimensions to a Tacoma, but without the price premium. They also come with a 4.3 Vortec V6, and 4L60E transmission which I think is a perfect drivetrain combo to build off. This will also make it pretty easy for me to swap to a 5.3 or 5.7 V8 down the road if I want to.

I decided I'd start this thread to share and document my build as I go.

 

The first step of this project was to pick out a truck. I wanted a 6' bed, but also wanted some extra room in the cab so I decided upon an extended cab. I also decided it would be best to start with a 2WD truck, because it would be less stuff to cut out on the front end, and I planned on doing a divorced transfer case so the 2WD tailhousing would work perfectly (more on that later).

I found this 2000 S10 Xtreme for a pretty good price. It had just over 160k miles, runs well and the interior was in pretty good shape. The Xtreme wheels had been removed, and the body kit was in pretty poor shape so I don't feel too bad chopping this truck up.

 

One of the biggest and most important pieces of this truck will be the axles. After some research I decided I wanted a set of axles from a 1999-2004 Ford F250 or F350 super duty. These trucks came with a front high pinion Dana 60, and a rear full float Sterling 10.5 which is named for it's huge 10.5" ring gear. A lot of people prefer the 14 bolt over the sterling due to better pinion support, but I decided I'd build the sterling because it will be plenty strong for my application, and I'd share the same bolt pattern as the front 60. The sterling also comes with factory disc brakes, and has better clearance than the 14 bolt.

I spent a few weeks searching craigslist and marketplace, and I was hard pressed to find anyone selling a set of these axles for less than $1500. Working within a pretty constrained budget, I wanted to get the axles as cheap as possible so I could allocate that money on other parts. A buddy and I set out to our local Pick N Pull, and we were shocked to find two F350's within a few minutes that had the exact axles I needed.

After a lot of cutting, cursing, and throwing out our backs, we got the axles out and had them loaded into my truck. It was well worth the effort, as I got both axles for just under $500.

I got them home and spent my next weekend cutting off all the brackets, removing the old carriers, and cleaning the tubes down to bare metal.

I read on a few forums, there had been some rare instances where people broke the factory plug welds and spun the tubes on their sterling rear ends. It's overkill, but I wanted to play it safe and ensure I wouldn't have to worry about that with my rear axle. I found a compact truss on Barne's, and welded that up on the sterling. This gets both tubes, and the center housing all tied into each other which will ensure the tubes don't spin. It also gives me a good spot to mount 4-link brackets down the road.

 

.......

 

I love that you hauled home the axles in the S10.

 

I was going to say the same.

 

I haven’t made a ton of progress the last two weeks. Snow has finally melted and the weather has been nice, so I’ve been focused on some much needed maintenance around the house and yard. Hoping over the next couple weeks to get the gears and lockers done on the axles.

Today my much awaited tires showed up. I went with Pro Comp MT2 40x13.50R17’s, and KMC Machete 17x9 beadlocks.

These tires are huge!! Some serious trimming will be needed for sure.

Got one of the tires mounted on a wheel. It’ll probably take a few hours to get all 5 mounted up.

 

This should make for an interesting rig when you are done for sure..

 

I sent the passenger side D60 knuckle to Sky’s Manufacturing for machining. They machine the top flat and drill/tap 5 bolt holes to mount a steering arm. The knuckle just arrived back yesterday along with one of their hi-steer arms and a mounting kit.

 

That is pretty slick with those tapered inserts. No wiggle room for wear.

 

I’ve been super busy at work the last several weeks, haven’t had a ton of time to work on the S10. I gave up on setting up the differentials myself, and dropped off both axles at a local shop to save time on that job.

In the meantime, my magnum 205 doubler from Offroad Designs showed up after about a 12 week lead time.

Very satisfied with the build quality of this piece! It’ll bolt up to the front of the NP205 I acquired for this project, essentially creating a 4 speed, ultra low range transfer case. The transfer case ratio in double low will be about 5.44:1.

The NP205 I’m using is from a 78 Ford F250, and has the driver side drop I needed for this project. I’ll be running a divorced setup which should work nicely with my 2wd transmission.

Over the last couple days, I was able to get the S10 into the garage, and began the tear down process.

I got the bed, bumpers, and rear axle removed today. Next will be to completely remove the front IFS, and then start planning for building my transfer case crossmember and beefing up the rear section of the frame.

 

What are the individual ratios in the doubler and np205?

 

I looked it up again, magnum box is 2.72:1, and the NP205 is 1.96:1. So both combined will be 5.33:1 actually.

 

This is going to be interesting.

 

Yea. I'm liking the project. Should be fun to watch the build then the beating.

 

I do like this one but i'ld have to start with a crew cab pickup and graft the rear of a 2 door blazer on it. Then I'll have a s10 suburban

 

OK, I gotta watch. Interested.
We had an '83 S-10 blazer that was a pretty good wheelin' rig when I was in HS.

 

Finished putting the 205 and underdrive together, I picked up a set of Northwest fab twin stick rails which fully unlock the case to allow front wheel drive, and 2wd low. Not sure how much I’ll use it but I wanted the option to do a front dig