[jayd_2]

I want to change out my drum brake S10 rearend for a disc, found one but it has 200,000 miles on it. Is 200,000 too many miles, would it still be good if it was taken care of during those miles?

The drum brake rearend has 3.73 gears and the disc has 3.42, is there that much difference between these ratio's, would I get any better fuel economy with the 3.42?

[big gear head]

At 200,000 miles I would want to at least put in new bearings. The gears would probably be fine. I would check the axles to see if they were worn where the bearings run on them. This is a very comon wear area and requires replacement of the axles if they are worn. A 3.42 gear will help some with the gas mileage.

[RWENUTS]

Is your S10 a 2 wheel drive?
Disc rearends are 4 to 8 inches wider!! Might not fit.

[jayd_2]

It's a 2WD, S10 2WD Blazers are supposed to be the same width.

[jayd_2]

They made S10's with a 2WD 2.73 ratio, I know a higher gear ratio should help some on fuel economy, but does it really make that much difference? I currently get about 15mpg with the 3.73, is a 2.73 ratio going to make enough difference to be worth changing out the rearend?

This is a 1937 Dodge Pickup mounted on an S10 frame, it's got a 350 SB with about 220hp and a Turbo 350 tranny.

I found a 2WD 1999 S10 Blazer with disc brakes and was thinking about upgrading to disc brakes, the complete rearend is 100.00 but its got 200,000 miles. The disc brake parts are supposed to bolt right on any stock S10 2WD rearend.

There's nothing wrong with the rearend I've got now, plus the speedometer is right on, if I change the gear ratio I'll have to change out the speedometer drive gears.

What should I do, keep the rearend I have now and add the disc brakes to it, or find a 2.73 2WD rearend and upgrade it to disc?

[big gear head]

The early S10 rear ends had a 3 bolt pattern on the brakes. One large bolt at the top and 2 small bolts at the bottom. Somewhere in the late '80s or early '90s they went back to the old 4 bolt pattern that was used on the old Chevy car rear ends in the '60s and '70s. The disc brakes use this 4 bolt pattern. If you have the older type rear end with the 3 bolt brakes then the disc brakes will not fit.

[RWENUTS]

Measure WMS to WMS on yours and the one with discs.
WMS means wheel mounting surface.
S10 rears are 54.25, some disc ones are 58, ZR2 ones are 62 inches wide.
If you use the disc rearend then get a speedo ratio adaptor like in this link.
Speedometer Gear, Speedometer Gears, Ford, GM, Dodge 700R4