I got a rearend from an ls1 4th gen for free. I realize the rear is wider than the rearend in my 89 camaro. If i have the 4th gen axle narrowed will the axles from my 89 drop in? I dont want to buy new rims since i just spent 2k on a paintjob. First post by the way, so go easy on me.

 

Axles are about 1-5/8" different length.

Other than that, they are the same.

Assuming of course, that your 89 has a 10-bolt, not a 9-bolt; and that it was one of the relatively few 89s that got the "new" for that year (late production only) 28-spline axles.

Not sure how narrowing a rear is cheeeeeper, let alone better, than wheels; but I guess we all have different ways of comparing things.

 

Well, I'd like to keep my factory PW7s, so I've thought about narrowing a 4th gen axle. But I have not priced the cost of narrowing that wide 4th gen housing.

Could the guts be transferred from a 4th gen housing to a narrower 3rd gen., and have the axles cut and re-splined? Might this be cheaper?

 

Thanks for the info Sofa. I dont want new rims cause i want to keep the rims i have. They have been painted to match the cars paint job. Disk brakes and posi to replace my open drum brake rear sounds good to me. Dynodave i priced having the rear narrowed. I found a shop near me with a jig. They said 250 for the housing and another 150 to cut the axles. I would like to save the 150 if I can. This rear just dropped into my lap out of the blue. So I was wondering if i could make it work on the cheap.

 

Couldn't you save the $250 but transferring all the guts from the 4th gen into the 3rd gen housing, and just having the axle shafts done?

Those prices sounds pretty good to me, but I have nothing to compare them with.

 

Fourth gen axles and carrier will be 28 spline. Although the carrier (posi) can be transfered over to the third gen diff, your 89's axles will be 26 spline. You'll need to either find 90-92 third gen axles or buy new ones in 28 spline.

To narrow the fourth gen diff, you're still going to need new axles since those third gen axles 26 spline still won't fit in the fourth gen carrier even if the diff has been narrowed.

By the time you're done converting and modifying to make it all work, you'll have an expensive 10 bolt.