A 700R4 swap is not hard on your body style because they started using it in 82 and it was standard around 86 so you could use bone yard parts. The easiest way to do swap would be to find a 700R4/NP208 combo bolted together and crossmember and driveshafts and swap Tcase and tranny.(front shaft should be a little longer and rear shaft a bit shorter after swap) As far as axle swap, there is no strength advantage 3/4 ton front axle over current axle to speak of. While yours is a 10 bolt and the other is a D44 they are about same strength. The only different between a 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton front axle be it D44 or 10 bolt was hubs for 6 or 8 lug wheels.If you plan to run 31's or so your stock axles in your 80 are totally up to task and no need to add a rear axle that is over 100 lbs heavier and costs a lot more to regear too. I am by no means knocking the 14 bolt rear axle the 74 should have but you really do not need it in your setup or needs as you stated. Stock 1/2 ton axle do a fine job with near stock tires and if you are splitting hairs, the stock axle will use less fuel because of weight and reduces power loss in axle because in has 2 pinion bearing and efficient roller bearing on semi floating axle while the 14 bolt has three pinion bearing and a double tapered and preloaded roller bearing in hubs that have more load capacity but add more drag too. (especailly in cold weather plowing and at $4 a gallon for fuel, every little bit helps.)  You would be best served by piecing that truck together to run after you get needed plow parts of it and selling it. Plus if that is a old plow truck (the 74) the front axle ball joints are likely shot now and a bear to change. My son bought a used 87 burb that had been a plow truck for several year but someone had spent money to get front axle rebuilt before he got it and plow had been gone for a few years when he got it too. THis is not to discourage you from using a plow on your truck but rather to tell you why to not use other axle. Also, when you get plow setup on your 80, REMOVE PLOW when not plowing for a few days and do not just drive around with it on and it will save a lot of wear and tear on front axle. Yes it is a little extra work but truck and plow will last longer. Some times when I go out to spread salt, I will dump plow and leave it behind if I know I will not need it. Sorry if a ran on a bit here. (BTW, GM switched to a NP241/700R4 combo around 88 on 88 thru 91 fullsize suburbans and blazer which were same body style as yours and used same driveline parts.)  

Sounds like a good deal i will save alot of work. I'll keep my eyes out for a 700R4 i want to put one in my 68 camaro so i may just stick with the 350 in the truck. Thanks again for all the help. I'll post back what gears the truck currently has when i get it up in the air and spin the tire.  

You can read option code in glove box if it is still there. It will be like GU4, GU6, GT4 or GT5 that model year.  

im sure the drill is the best way but im throwin other ways he can try, i stated watch out for the rim.this is a 4x4 site anyway doubt hes pushin lexanies,if a nic concerns ppl on here they probley need to keep it on the street.  

fedspunisher,

 I have a similar problem with my 85 K10 6 lug, I had stripped lug nuts, I got them off by using a long standard screw driver and keeping pressure on the back of rim while my son spun the lug nut off.  However now I have found out I got a stripped stud, did you come across this? How did you go about fixing this?
 I am not sure how to go about this. It appears I have to take the spindle off but I do not know how to go about this. Any ideas? thanks

 Tab  

Title is a little off sorry. I should have titled it Rounded off lug nuts. I do either have a couple stripped lug nuts or studs or the studs are loose in the axle hub. I have yet to work on this as 5 out of the 6 of 2 wheels are okay. Probably start working on the truck tonight. We will see what all the problems are!  

Got some bolt outs this worked on all but on nut which on this nut all it managed to do was remove any material that is larger than the bolt out. So now i have a perfectly round nut. The smaller bolt out fit on it now so figured what the heck. Now i have a really small round nut. I thought hey ill just keep this process up until there is no more nut left or the whole in the rim fits over what is left. Well the next size down is way to small to fit. After thinking about even if i got this part of the lug nut small enough the flared end is still inside the wheel enough to keep the rim from coming off. I hope there is enough material left and i can remove all the rest of the lug nuts and wiggle the rim enough to maybe take some of the force off the nut and manage to remove what is left of the nut some how. Im really not wanting to drill this sucker out that just sounds like a whole lot of no fun.  

Have you tired drilling them out with a Cobalt bit? (do not waste time with regular hispeed steel bits as Cobalt will cut studs)  

Last night i decided that lug nut was coming off not matter what. After making that tiny round nut i took at 17mm socket and beat it on with a sledge pulled it off and noticed not much of it was grabbing so moved down to a 16mm socket beat it on. as this was the only lug not left i lowered the truck down until the wheel made contact with the ground and turned the steering wheel to try and break the rim loose and relieve any force that might be on the nut. After doing this i used a breaker bar and was finally able to remove this last stubborn nut. Going to the parts store tonight to pick up correct lug nuts for this application. Thanks for your help. Glad i didnt have to turn to the cobalt drill bit but it was the next step.