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It would take a lot of fabrication because of the IRS...

 

I'm sure you can get a straight axle Dana 36 or 44????right????

Ron

 

Guys,
It has been done before but, as was stated there is ALOT of fabrication needed. First the gas tank must be removed (you'll need a fuel cell where the trunk used to be) Plus custom exhaust, lots of rear subframe renforcement, custom driveshaft, good luck with the rear control arm mounting points, and don't forget the alignment shop that you will need on your payroll Thats just for starters I'm sure there is more I haven't even thought of. GM has done this conversion before to study feasibility & cost (Check out the FIREFOX cars they had this rear) It would be neat to see done but have a boatload of money ready. Good Luck.

 

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Dana 44 would be the correct answer.

I say the best axle choice is a Ford 8.8 from a 95-up Explorer (rear disc). 31 splines, 8.8" ring gear and its 2" narrower so you can run slightly wider tires; but it's definitely not a direct bolt in rear. Basically any other axle that isn't from a 82-up F-Body is going to require some fabrication.

There was an old thread in this forum where a guy on here did the swap and posted pics, I'll try and find it.

 

I swapped in a 91 10 bolt posi 3.23 pbr disc rear and did the 1le brakes up front and couldn't be happier. A ten bolt rear should be plenty adequate strength wise for a tbi car. A lot of guys use the ten bolt over the nine bolt anyways due to the availability and lower cost for replacement parts. So even if you did end up grenading a ten bolt, you can buy new parts for it all day long just about anywhere.

 

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Josh, I don't know what conflicting info you're talking about; but the answer is, and continues to be, quite simple.

The 4th gen rear is a direct bolt-in as far as bolting in is concerned. Suspension, springs, drive shaft, etc. all just hook right up. You'll have to get different parking brake cables to hook that up to your car. The rear is about 1¾" longer on each side, so if you stick 3rd gen wheels on it (which would have ot be 16"), you'll end up with that silly-looking r¡cer skateboard effect.

Your small wheels will not fit any rear with the good brakes; 3rd gen or 4th gen. But, since you'll have to get some other wheels to fit it, just get ones with the right offset for a 4th gen, to avoid the error mentioned above.

 

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Josh,
The 16" wheels will work on any year 3rd or 4th gen f-body. If you decide to go with the 4th gen rear the 4th gen wheels will just bolt up no mods to the rear,but the front wheels will require a spacer to work. If you look you can find the stock 4th gen 16" wheels pretty cheap (check out SLPONLINE) Good Luck.

 

In general, 16" wheels will work.

However:

There is one notable exception. A number of people report that their stock 16" GTA wheels DO NOT fit over PBRs. If you're going to go out and get 16" wheels, avoid those, in spite of their other appealing features. Although, if you're going to belooking for wheels with 4th gen offset, this won't matter; but just something to watch out for. There's some sort of extra lip or ridge of metall around the inside of them, that interferes; it's not impossible that othe rwheels (aftermarket especially) could have the same issue.

If you go with aftermarket wheels, you could also get ones with the correct front offset for your car, and the correct rear offset for the 4th gen rear. That avoids spacers and all that.

 

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Just thought I'd give you one more tip which may help or confuse you even more. I don't know about firebird wheels for sure, but I know the 15" camaro five spoke rims will actually clear a third gen rear with the pbr discs. I checked it out on mine before I got a set of 16" wheels. It's close but they do clear. I don't really see the point in getting a fourth gen rear anyways unless you're planning on running a ridiculous set of rims like the zo6 corvette or fourth gen wheels. Don't get me wrong, I think the zo6 rims look awesome, but the expense and hassle of adapting them to our cars doesn't seem worth it to me. If you're just planning on upgrading to a 16" rim with normal backspacing for a third gen, there's no point in getting a fourth gen rear. They always seem to be priced higher than a third gen rear anyway, even though they're almost identical parts wise to the 89-92 rears. A third gen rear with posi, 28 spline axles, and pbr calipers can usually be had for between $300 to $350 if you shop around some. Plus, if you go that route, you won't even have to run right out and buy bigger wheels and tires right away. Just my .02 again.

 

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All I know for sure Josh is that the Camaro 15" five spoke rims will clear the pbr third gen 10 bolt very narrowly because I tried it out on my car. I don't know if the firebird 15" rims will clear for sure. They seem to be about the same as the camaro rims, so I would think so, but don't quote me on that! The nine bolt shouldn't make any difference either as I think the calipers are mounted in the same position as the 10 bolt, but once again, don't quote me on that either.