Chevy Straight Axle
 

Im thinkin about a straight axle conversion for my 05 Dmax. Was wondering if anyone has done it and how much of a headache and wallet straining it was:humm:

everyone who has one will say you will love it, personally I have one and am not a fan. If you don't wanna go big put a CST or cognito 4" on it. or a 6" turned down with 35s. Bigger than that it's probably worth it.

I have 35's now and only want to go to 36's but this is my first truck with ifs and I really dont like it for off road... i know i can fit 36 with minor finder mods but i miss my straight axle

offroad i can see how you'd like it. Mine's just a pavement pounder/recovery vehicle. You wanting to spend the money to buy a complete kit or build it?

i like the kit but im gonna build the front axle... been looking around junk yards for an empty 14 bolt to throw gears in. no luck so far though

I'd go with a Dana 60 and a coil-over setup the dual rate springs are a must for a soft street ride and solid off road setup. Also if you spend the extra $ and go with a set of king coil-overs they will let you swap the springs until you find the spring rate you like. If you want to save a little money you could always find a set of lifted springs for a older 3500 they should support the dmax weight, and spring hangers are fairly easy to fab up. Make sure you hang it square and use long enough shackles so ur springs will compress and drop out correctly. just dont do this https://www.dieselbombers.com/chevy-...amax-jump.html

I swapped my 2005 duramax to straight axle, I went with the oru kit and it was relatively easy to install as long as you have the right dana 60 out of a 78-79 ford. No welding just have to drill a few bolt holes

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I swapped my 05 duramax to solid axle and I went with the oru kits and it went really well and was relatively cheap

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I swapped my 05 duramax to solid axle and its great and doesn't ride all that much worse

Do a ton of research on all the kits, cheap or expensive and see where your budget gets you because there are the cheap ways that will get you lifted and running a S/A but the better riding set ups will cost you.

i have installed 9 or 10 kits from offroad direct, very stout products especially for the cost. offroad unlimited i think your bigtime paying for the name. it isnt necesarilly a hard swap if you know how to weld/ torch/ grind etc. its just more money binding than anything else

if you go leaf sprung, use super dty ford springs, they ride soooooooooo much better than the 73-87 chevy springs, and hold the diesel weight. you get a pretty soft ride between that and a good sway bar up front my truck drives like a Cadillac damn near