Breazlan

iTrader: (1)

What year did the WS6 no longer require disc brakes in the rear? My '85 brochure says they still required the discs then and I believe some '87 formulas came without them.

cg91ta

My 91 T/A has WS6 and Alum. drums. Something about a brake shortage that year..

kizz

iTrader: (1)

I don't know if this helps but sometime during the 2nd gen there a "WS7" which was basically everything in WS6 except it came w/ rear drums instead of discs. this WS7 carried on into the third gen but I'm not sure how long it lasted as such. I definitely know of 2nd gen WS7's and 1982 WS7's but not sure about any newer year. sounds unlikely that they kept the RPO for long, but maybe they did.
hope this helps somehow.

ps: chris those ronal wheels are looking fine...

Breazlan

iTrader: (1)

I am aware of the WS7. When the third gens started, the WS6 had to have the rear discs or else they named the package something other than WS6. But at some point, 86 or 87 from what I have seen, discs where no longer a part of the suspension package. It seems it become part of a powertrain package which included a suspension upgrade. My example is the formula. If it came with the base engine it had drums standard, but if a high end powerplant was ordered then discs were usually found on the car. I am just wondering what year was the last year discs where required in the WS6.

MdFormula350

yeah i have heard of some weird things, but having drum brakes on a perfomance firebird is weird. i forgot where i saw this but someone has like the same car as me, but their car came with rear drum brakes.. weird i think.

Breazlan

iTrader: (1)

Upon further and further research, I find that in 1987 the rear disc brakes and limited slip differential are not part of the WS6. I also found in the 'standard catalog of Pontiac' (not known for accuracy) that the rear disc brakes and limited slip are still retained in 1986. If anyone has anything to contradict this, put it here.

82 TRANS AM

My '83 WS6 did not come factory equiped with posi. It could be deleted out, but i can't figure out what option delete code it is on the build sheet.

Breazlan

iTrader: (1)

Are you the original owner?
Once you have done one, a carrier swap is pretty easy.
If that was done, I hope it was because he used the thing up and not because he thought it would be nice to have a spare on the shelf before he sold it.

Guest

I'm not sure posi was ever a part of the WS6 package. Disc brakes were optional starting sometime in 1986. I have proof in print besides the fact I own one.

I have a whole list of WS6 info at home, and probably in a post on here. I bet if you do a search of WS6 and me, you'll find it, covers almost every year. I have info to fill in my blanks now too, maybe I'll do that soon.

Breazlan

iTrader: (1)

I have yet to see anything listed for the WS6 that says it does not come with posi (82-85).

As far as what someone has means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I talked about parts swapping above. More common than I ever imagined. I bought 5 third gens in the last 18 months and 3 (maybe more once I check the other two over better) had non-original engines. That is just the beginning.

If you have something in print then that is worth looking at. Just list your source and in quotes phrase word for word the info. This helps make the information credible.

82 TRANS AM

No, i'm not the original owner, (second) but i have the build sheet in front of me. WS6, no G80.

I could really care less, it's a 67k mile parts car. The year i did drive it, i can assure you it is a peg leg. I need to scan it for Kizz so i can send anyone who really thinks this matters a copy. A few weeks.

I believe within the codes, or a code right in front of my face, there is a delete code, or it just was'nt part of the WS6.

The axle code on the top of the build sheet, not RPO, number 11, has axle 5PH. My 82 posi has code 3JZ. FWIW.

Heres the RPO's for the whole car, FWIW,

AK1, AM9,AR9,AU3,AO1,A31,A90,BU8,B20,B23,B34,B48,B84,B91,CC1,CD4,C25,C49,C60,DG7,D27,D42,D80,GU5,J65,K19,K64,LG4,MD8,MXO,NA5,NB1,NO9,N10,N33,N89,PB4,QYZ,TR9,T93,UP8,UN9,UT1,U21,U23,U25,U29,UU6,U75,VD6,VK3,WS4,WS6,YT1,YO6,642,64I,75L,19M,2DR

Build date: 6/29/83, Norwood. Other than the LG4, the absence of posi, and special editions, i think it has pretty much everything 83 had to offer.

Guest

Oh, so I'm just an idiot who doesnt know what came on my car huh? So much for me giving you any information at all, jerk. I have no need to list my sources to prove a damn thing to you, I already know my sources and they're good enough for me.

Thats why I hate this board sometimes, everyone is a know-it-all and most of the time they know nothing.

Grim Reaper

I agree with Madmax that WS6 does not include rear disk brakes.

I have a 1991 L98 GTA with WS6 and all the typical RPO codes associated with 91 GTAs and I too have the aluminum rear drum. I am also the original owner and I have "in writing" the actual RPO codes from GM Historical Services. And, it specifically lists, "J42 - Brake Drums (Alum)".

Yet, if you look at ALL of the 1991 brochures for Firebirds from GM they specify "4 wheel disk brakes are stock on GTAs". I brought this to GM's attention when I bought my car in 1991 and their reply was "we reserve the right to change parts and/or specifications at any time without notification or announcement" (basically they can do whatever we want and their brochures mean nothing).

Breazlan

iTrader: (1)

Whew, guess it got hot in here today.

I am looking for the cutoff. As I said before, I found that the 87s don't have the brakes and the diff. listed as standard WS6 parts. Sorry, I did not mention that meant everything after that as well.

And now I must make some corrections to things I stated. Upon, inspecting my info very, very closely, here is what I find on the WS6 brakes and carrier issue.

Yes, included No, not included

1982 brakes, yes posi, yes
1983 brakes, yes posi, yes & no -oh great
1984 brakes, yes posi, no
1985 brakes, yes posi, yes
1986 ??
1987 brakes, no posi, no
1988 and beyond, I quit there

This is what I found and could just be a pile of crap. Some years list a spare tire. There probably was never a cutoff. This could have changed from week to week.

Thank you 82 TRANS AM, your info inspired me to continue on and create that list above. That list really shed some light on what we all have to deal with when trying to find out what is going with these cars. It is really, really hard to find good info. Either the materials we have to work with are terribly incorrect or the guys at the factory drank way too much and made decisions like this. Just look at that list.

I assumed there was going to be a cutoff for the brakes and then the diffential too in 87 because the cost conscience formula model had the WS6 standard. I think it was standard; does someone have one with no sway bars to prove it.

Oh, by the way, if someone reads this and becomes pissed, I apologize. It is the way I write I guess. I am trying to be conversational. If I am not then you will definately know it.

Drive defensively, don't read that way.

OûtlåwFørmûlå

Well I have a 91 Formula and Im the 2nd owner, and when I bought the car it had 36K on it. I got my buildsheet right in front of me and mine came with J41 steel drum and GU2 2.73 open rear-end from the factory.

Breazlan

iTrader: (1)

Same stuff for me on my 90 formula. Again, the years in question for this post have been 82-86. Later years don't list these items anyway. These years some did.

okfoz

Some facts that I have found:
-All 87-92 Formulas came Standard with WS6
-All 87-92 Formulas came standard with Drum brakes. the disk brakes were optional.
-The borg & Warner (Australlian) rear axel seems to ONLY be available with Disk brakes
-A Formula 350 came standard with Disk brakes (Unless they were produced in that time when they ran low on stock in 91)
-According to an 88 Brochure, A TPI engine came standard with the Borg & warner rear axel, therefore they should have disk brakes. (same goes for 89 borchure)

So in short, from 87-92, the TPI engine defined the Disk brakes, It may have been possible to delete disk brakes tho...

Its like the GTA, they came standard with a 350, but could be orderd with a 305...

John

Randy82WS7

my 82 trans am has rear sway bar and drum rears and is a trans am, rear is not posi, or could be worn out posi maybe- if posi was even available with 2.73 ratio in 82 anwyays