It's a better axle. It has disc brakes, rather than the drums the Sierra has had until now. It has a 10.5"-dia. ring gear, rather than 8.625". It has 4.10;1 gearing, rather than 3.23:1. It has 8 lug rather than 6. I don't expect to finish this before July 4, 2010. And for the bolt pattern issue, I'm just going to carry 2 spares. This'll be even better when I get the 6.8L LSx into the truck.
I found a real 2500HD bare frame for $250, with a clear title. Just gotta get the C-20 running before I get to this frame swap.
I still haven't finished my stroker 6.2L for this truck, I'm wanting a 6L80E, and these 4.10:1 gears in this big axle are returning 22 MPG, but I still believe I'd be seeing 23 if I had gone with 3.73:1. Still, it's better than the 20 MPG it did with 3.23:1 gears.
Way too late for that. It has the 2500HD rear springs and a pair of Bell Tech 2" drop shackles. Ride quality is still surprisingly decent.
Next week I'll get more pics, with a few tons of iron on the trailer.
Today I finished wiring the trailer, only to discover why the electric brakes weren't working: So much bailing twine had gotten so tangled that as the trailer was towed, the twine pulled the wires loose. So now I have to cut all the twine, then re-splice the wires. But at least I have turn signals and brake lights and safety chains now.
I'm also eager to see what the scales show. That should be Tuesday.