Can anyone suggest a correct replacement rear-end for my third gen? It making a bad whining noise and i assume it's about time it was retired

 

If you are replacing the whole rear, any 3rd gen can donate a rear. For a little more kick in the pants (at a loss of a little hwy milage) the best bet is to find a 91 or 92 auto v6 camaro/firebird. These rears have 3.42's, 28 spline axles, but no posi.... But, for $99 or less (Sometimes they go on sale) from http://www.slponline.com you can score a torsen take-off. Then all you need is an assortment of carrier shims, pull the center section, unbolt the ring, slap it on the torsen and drop it in and set backlash. Can be done in less than 1/2 hour!

Another possibility for deeper (prolly too deep...) gears is a rear from an early "G" car (8th VIN digit) these have "5.0 High Output" under the Z28 ground effect emblems. These are usually posi, 3.73 rears... But 26 spline and the posi may not be functional with excessive milage.

 

can you provide any help on this, i don't have a shop to work in and i'm still learning about my T/A, will a novice be able to do this?
Thanks for the reply

 

Basically, the whole center section is held in by two caps. Theres bearings pressed on both sides of the carrier. The slp take off already has bearings on them, although they don't recommend using them I did. They looked fine.

The important thing is the backlash setting. There's shims on both sides to move the center section side to side. Toward the drivers side increases backlash and vice versa...

There must be a gap between the pinion and the ring gear. This is measured by holding the pinion still and rocking the carrier back and forth. Rock it one way then zero a dial indicator off the case to a tooth on the ring to see how much play. I usually set this around .007" to .009" if I could as tighter=stronger.

You need to pack shims on both sides of the races to remove all side to side play then adjust the backlash by moving shims from one side to the other. When your done you need to 'load' the bearings by taking a .005" shim and forcing it into the pass side, then you can bolt the caps on for the final time and torque them to spec.

It sounds intimidating with all the measurments, but you can basically 'eyeball' this. As long as there's the smallest amount of play between the pinion and carrier it all good; but since you never did this before you should measure it. Or check this amount of play on the rear before you disassemble it, and try to duplicate it by feel. The rule of eyeballing it is can be the same amount of play, or less... but no more but it has to have some. I guess measure it...

Too much backlash = noisy rear, clunky shifts and power transistions, breakage.

No backlash or bindup = noisy rear, overheated bearings, breakage.

With the rear out of the car this is very simple and only requires tools to remove the cover and remove the bolts from the caps, and a small prybar to get the carrier out.

 

the carrier will seem like it is really really stuck in there, but its due to the case pinching it in place, you can spread the case out with less force than you think would be required to do so. sometiems they slide right out, hehe

3.73 is common ratio on third gen f body, look under t5 and 700r4 cars, lots have 3.73,. thats all i seem to ever find, i have a couple i can sell cheap

good luck

 

If your ta has a 9 bolt, the slp stuff won't work. Count the number of bolts on the rear cover (you need 10), also, you will need 28 spline axles (you probably have 26). Also, before you set the backlash, you have to set the pinion depth. If you have not set up rears before, I would not recommend it (especially without the proper tools). It only takes a few hundred miles to destroy a set of gears if not properly setup.

Miles
Diff Solutions
www.diffsolutions.com

 

If he got a 90-92 v6 rear he wouldn't have to worry about all that.

It has 28 spline axles, and since you're not removing the pinion, setting depth isn't needed. Just a simple ring off, ring on job.

 

Wish You werent so far away. Took the complete rear axle out of my 87 Camaro... 3.42 gears. Going to let the whole axle go for $50. will through in torque arm, panhard bar and track brace. Putting in narrowed Ford 9 with 4.33 gears.

 

i just moved from Ohio too!
Is the whining noise the bearings going bad?
It is high pitched especially when i give it gas, what does a decent replacement rear-end cost?
thanks again!