hey all... new poster to this forum here, but have been wheeling for a couple of years now...  i have a '95 chevy full-size 1 ton van that i want to convert to 4 wheel drive...  i was given an '87 GMC 3/4 ton suburban that i'd like to swap the front axle & t-case into...  i haven't gotten the 'burb to my house yet, so i can't get measurements...  i'm pretty sure the front is a dana-44, but i dont know what the transfer case is...   anyone have frame dimensions for a suburban...?  i know a f/s van is 3 inches wider than a f/s truck...  anyone  have any experience in this...?  i pl;an to only run 35's or so, and i wheel at least once a week... thanks for any help...

I'm no expert on this but check the axle lengths on the van axles. Some axles on vans are a few inches wider wheelbase than light truck axles. I've heard of folks who didn't notice until the work is done and the front tires stick out a few inches more than the rear tires. Looks weird! I've seen this on a few old trucks on the highway.  

yea, i know the van's axles are 3" wider, compared to a full-sized chevy truck, but i figured i could add 1.5" wheel spacers to the front to make up the track diff...  is there anywhere i could find out info on what kind of transfer case is under that suburban...?  or to make sure it's got a D-44 under it...?   

Wheel spacers are bad news dude, they tend to crack, and if they come off your truck at highway speeds you'll flip the truck before you know what happened. I've heard pretty much the same thing from everyone I've asked on that subject except for the people who make, or sell them, of course. They just want your money, and don't care about the rest - in my opinion. My interest in them initially was to widen the wheel-base on my '02 S-10 DD truck.

I'm not expert on axles and t-cases on burbs, but I'd say get under there and count the housing plate bolts on the front axles. Dana-44's and I belive the Dana-60's too had 10-bolts on 'em. I don't belive they installed GM-10 bolt axles on burbs not sure about the '60's either, I know they came on some Fords & Dodge trucks.  The rears are probably GM 14-bolt, or GM 12-bolt axles.  The D-44's also have lettering on the 'Web's' ( where the pumpkin meets the axle tubes) next to the housing cover on the front - It should read "44" or "44-HD" on them. I think the "HD's" were only on Ford trucks too.

If you don't know T-cases, the New Process cases had tags on them that read model # ( NP-203, 205, 208, etc ) plus the ratio and serial number info. Usually wou have to wipe away several layers of mud & dirt to read them though. Don't use anything that will scratch the numbers off the tags though, they're just a small aluminum plate with black ink lettering printed on them.

I'm no expert on any of this, so don't take my word as Gospel on any of this. Just trying to be of some help to ya.