express van 2500 rear any good?

[dragn91]

I'm doing a 6 lug conversion on my c20 I bought some spindles and front brakes off this van I'm going to try to run I noticed it has a pretty beefy looking 6 lug rear in it as well. I can prolly pick it up for 100-150 bucks. Are these rears any good I can get a free 6 lug rear from a 95 ish truck but it looks pretty wimpy or a squarebody 12 bolt for 50 bucks. Anyone know what rears they put in those 2500 express vans it's around a 1999 or 2000

[dragn91]

Also how do I determine the gear ratio of a rear like this without taking the cover off?

[Blessed66]

If you can access the VIN, you can usually either decode it online or call a dealership and have them verify. Granted, that is just under the assumption it's all factory.

As far as if I know anything good or bad, I don't. Sorry.

[Valarius_Starchaser]

Pm sent

[dragn91]

So I found out its a 14 bolt 3.42 open rear looks to be a good match for my truck. Around and inch wider I need to decide if I want to keep the drop shackles and hangers or do a flip kit to get it a little lower that way I don't have to weld the axle saddles on twice.

[slotard]

I was gonna say it's probably a 14SF, I seem to find most of them under late square Suburbans. It's a good axle.

[andrewmp6]

What about the width of the axle?

[dragn91]

The van rear is 68 inches wide I believe mine is 67 so I think it should fit good just need to make sure the transport 22s don't hit the leaf springs with the deeper offset but I'm hoping they will clear. If not I'll run a spacer

[NorCalAnthony]

Might be worth checking to see if they have any newer vans while you're at it. I think 2004+ had factory disc brakes on the 6 lug semi float axles which might save you some money in the long run if you ever plan to go disks in the future. Van axles are kind of odd balls for most people so a lot of wrecking yards are glad to get rid of them and let them go cheaper than you can usually find a disc conversion kit...

[dragn91]

I'm getting this one for 150 and there pulling it free if I find a new disc rear or a posi one I'll slide this one under my 66 c10 hopefully I can sell the 14 bolt ff posi out of my crew for enough to buy a posi unit for this one

[NorCalAnthony]

Originally Posted by dragn91

I'm getting this one for 150 and there pulling it free if I find a new disc rear or a posi one I'll slide this one under my 66 c10 hopefully I can sell the 14 bolt ff posi out of my crew for enough to buy a posi unit for this one

Yeah you really can't go wrong for $150 lol. I picked up my 6 lug 14BSF from an early 90's 4x4 for $220 and that was a pretty good deal for where I'm at. FWIW it's real easy to swap to discs later on using the brake setup from a 2000+ truck/suv. That's what I'm doing on mine after seeing a few threads on performancetrucks.com