New buyer 84 Dolphin anything I should know to be safe

[ss67ls]

hello just got a 84 dolphin for my family of 4 paid 3500 runs drives a lot of stuff has been replaced and almost everything works no water damage that I could find.i would like it to be safe any recommendations I read something about the rearend it is 5 lug the guy is giving me a complete full float 6 lug that he bought for it cause he read something to.i don't know how much work to put it in or if its worth it.so any opinions or thoughts would be great.i just want a cozy little safe rv for my family last couple times tent camping it rained and I had rv envy LOL.plus I have a Toyota 4x4 and it has been the most reliable go anywhere truck so I hope the rv is to.thank you for any input I appreciate it very much

[zero]

That full-floater rear-axle might be a bolt-in swap.  It depends on what it came out of.  Measure the distance between your rear leaf springs and see if the distance on the mounting pads on the FF are the same.  

[ss67ls]

so started putting the 6 lug axle in and its newer so its like a inch and a half wider where leafs mounts .I did get it to sit on the pins the leafs are angled not straight and flat and I am going to try u bolts and plates from a Toyota 4x4 rear end .any ideas on the leaf perches to get then straight.i was thinking of drilling new holes as far out as I can on the diff housing perch.any ideas around this problem

[Derek up North]

Without actually being there to see what you have, I believe the 'safe/correct' way to fix what you've got is to find someone competent to cut off and relocate the spring perches on your new axle.

[ss67ls]

so the width is aprox 1 1/2 wider I was thinking if I drill the spring perch on the axle as far out as I can to fit the bolt that goes through  the spring I should be able to get I hope 1/2 inch each side then the springs would only be a 1/4 of a inch in on each side that should not affect the spring I hope.the springs bolt up but the tilt towards the inside of rig do you think that would be bad

[fred heath]

Derek has it right.

If you don't know what your doing, hire someone who does.

There is much more engineering involved that just the spring perch alone.

[zero]

16 hours ago, ss67ls said:

so started putting the 6 lug axle in and its newer so its like a inch and a half wider where leafs mounts .I did get it to sit on the pins the leafs are angled not straight and flat and I am going to try u bolts and plates from a Toyota 4x4 rear end .any ideas on the leaf perches to get then straight.i was thinking of drilling new holes as far out as I can on the diff housing perch.any ideas around this problem

It is a 2 1/4" difference overall.   Older trucks used rear-axles with the spring-perches on 37" centers. Newer trucks have the spring perches on 39 1/4" centers.  So each perch has to be cut off and moved 1 1/8".  Not exactly a high-tech job and anyone with a little arc-welding experience and a cheap Lincoln buzz-box should be able to do it just fine.  Mild steel, 120 amps and some 6011 rod used carefully and all will be fine. Main thing is NOT the quality of the weld.  It is getting the perch angle correct and in the same plane as the rear you removed.  One other possible issue is rear-axle-tube diameter.  Early axles are 2 1/2" OD and later ones are 3 1/8" OD.  You need U-bolts to match whatever diameter axle you have.   Yet another possible issue are the shock mounts.  Early trucks have both shocks mounted on the front of the axle and later trucks and rears have staggered shocks.

[zero]

Some photos.