Transmissions and DrivetrainNeed help with your trans? Problems with your axle?
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i tried searching for specific info on what year diff. to get and i didnt get any specific answers. basically the 10 bolt posi in my 86 iroc gave out. no more posi, just peg leggers from here on out. anyways i here a good upgrade is a 4th gen rear other than the fact that itll stick out about an inch more on each side. so basically im asking. my iroc has 4 wheel discs so i wont have to swap out the proportioning valve, but what years came with a good gear ratio and disc brakes? also is it a straight forward swap? hook up the brake lines, attach driveshaft and all the other suspension stuff or will the brake lines need anything special. thanks
I dont know everything but here's what I do know. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
1. Other than the axle width difference, 4th gen rears are exactly the same as 3rd gen ones aside from brakes. 98-02 models have a Zexel-Torsen posi which is nice for road racing/autoX. Their e-brake setup is different and will require some fab work.
2. 4th gen rears stick out 2 inches farther on each side. In my opinion it's noticable and looks bad with stock wheels. Some guys like it. To each his own.
3. I am not positive, but I think your 3rd gen brakes will swap right over to LT1-style disc rears. But there'd be no point. You might as well just use those.
4. Gear ratio depends on a lot of things. Manual cars got 3.42's usually, though. Try to find a rear from a manual car.
5. Everything bolts up about the same. No crazy fab work needed. The worst thing will be figuring out a way to get a functioning e-brake with the 98-02 rears. Other than that it's pretty much bolt-in.
Wow, that's sweet that Ed finally got the conversion cables up for sale! I've had a complete set of LS1 rear brakes sitting in the garage for about a year now, but I've held off on putting them on due to the headache of adapting the e-brake cables.
__________________ 89RS w/350 TPI; 69RS/SS w/450 HP 350/Muncie 4-Speed "Too weird to live, too rare to die."