I was talking to a friend's mecahnic one day about swapping the gears in my rear when he told me he knew a guy with an 01 camaro rearend. He said it was discs with 3.42 gears and a posi. He told me I could get it for $500-$600. Just want to know what does it take to swap in a 4th gen rear and if there's any difference(length, etc.) Thanks.

 

I think they are 2" or so wider on each end, and if you have drum brakes now you would need a new prop valve and/or master cylinder.

 

There is a tech on this. Mentions the ebrake cable and brackets need relocating, as well as the drum/disc conflict. Overall it's a worthwhile read, and I will be performing the swap myself after my head/cam work.

 

if you get the 4th gen rear get the brakes, e-brake cables and brake lines.
hte brakes that are on the 93-97 are PBR brakes and are a dream to service.
the 4th gen is 1 1/2 -2 in wider . you will notice a wider track on your wheels when you get it assembled. the kool thing bout having a 4th gen rear is you are one step in the right direction to using 4th gen wheels.
you wont need adapters for the rear like you will for the front.
i dont know what gear ratio you are running now but if its lower than a 3.42 then you will feel a considerable "punch" in its driving.
its fairly easy, like 88 roc1le stated theres an article on this swap.
if you are running drums i would highly recomend this swap. its a total plus in my book.
get the proprtioning valve also, i think its required for the disk app.

 

$500????


i got mine for $200 dude


look around you should be able to find a better price

 

Yeah, there is a Junk yard by my house that quoted me 200$$ for a 95Z28 axle.

 

Thanks for all the info, guys. I'm assuming the tech article has a hardware list of everything I'll need. It seems like a worthwhile swap, just like the auto to 5 speed I'll be doing in a few weeks . Does the extra 2" make it look strange or does it give a cool mean big rear tires look? I was planning on swapping the gears in mine anyway but it seems I can get the gears with the new rear for cheaper(4th gens have 3.42 posi's right?) That'll be a big step up from my open 2.73's. I'll keep looking around and maybe I'll find one at a better price.

 

Yeah, I'm looking for one of those $200 deals, too. I had a quote of $500 thrown at me...no thank you. I'll just wait.

 

I swapped in a 4th gen rear and put in new 3.42 gears. The rear is only about 1.5" wider on each side (not 2"). I had my ZR1 rims on the 3rd gen rear with 2" spacers, so now with the 4th gen rear, the rims actually sit IN further about 1/2" on each side. No big deal, really, they still look sweet and everyone comments on them!

I also swapped in new GM brakes for a '00 SS (that's what rear I have). I did not change the master or add a proportioning valve and my brakes seem to work just fine. No noises or pulling and they stop very well. I need to figure out the e-brake cables as we just left the stock ones hanging. No e-brake is no big deal to me since I have an auto trans...

If you do swap in a 4th gen rear, I highly suggest you at least get an adjustable panhard bar. This will allow you to properly center the rear end under the car. Adjustable LCAs are also highly recommended. These will allow you to have infinite adjustment of the rear both side to side and front to back. I found out that I needed the adjustable LCAs after getting an alignment. They couldn't get the rear into spec because it needs to be adjusted front to back as well as side to side. One side was further back than the other, causing the rear to sit off axis and the car to track incorrectly.