I may have a good deal on an LS1 rear with low miles, 3.42 gears, and disc brakes. Will this rear fit in our cars? Will the driveshaft match right up? The rear doesn't have calipers and I have drums right now so I'll need to find calipers and the proportioning valve right? Anything else I should know, any thoughts about this? Thanks.

 

In short, yes it will fit.

It will be 1.5 inches wider on each side than your thirdgen rear axle assembly.

You will need the calipers and some kind of proportioning valve as the drum brake one will not feed enough power to the rear brakes to make them any more effective than the drum brakes. You can look into putting an adjustable valve in as well.

I have an LT1 axle and I know the parking brake cables can be made to work with it, but I have not looked at LS1 style cables. I would think it can be made to work, but that is the only thing I can think of right now that would be different than an LT1 axle swap like the one I did.

Oh, you will have to bend up a new line for the driver side and rebend the end of the passenger side line that come on the 4th gen axle to get them to work with the flexible body to axle line on your car if the axle came from a 4th gen with Traction Control.....

 

Got a question about that rear, Im a rookie at this gear stuff but will those 3.42 gears only work with a manual transmission or will they work with both, thanks for the help

 

Now i am certainly not the most knowledgeable person here, but i dont think it matters. I have never heard of a auto/manual tranny affecting whether rear gears work. DS length will affect it, if you change the tranny, but that depends on the car. Should work w/ either transmission. Good luck
matt